The Editor,
Our many candidates for mayor and council seem to all be espousing a concern for housing in Richmond.
I hope they will be including visitability standards for future builds. Visitability is an internationally espoused movement with the goal of ensuring all homes fit minimum accessibility standards.
This ensures that, as we “age in place,” we will be able to still make full use of our homes.
Visitability includes a zero-step entrance, a minimum bathroom on the ground floor, as well as no-cost adjustments inside that facilitate future adaptations when needed.
It’s similar to “Universal Design,” except the focus includes universal access while focusing on preventing harmful isolation.
The cost to the home buyer is negligible, but the added value (monetary and quality of living) is unmeasureable.
I invite you, also, to write your city representatives and contact your realtor and developer friends/etc. to urge them to place the utmost priority on this aspect of making this already excellent community even better for all our aging years.
George Pope
Richmond
