I’m Sick of Seeing Old Building That are Inaccessible

Published: Jun 05, 2017

I have seen way to many shops and stores with inaccessible entrances in Downtown Seattle (I’m looking at you, Pioneer Square). Whenever I’ve researched why these buildings are allowed to remain inaccessible, I read excuses about “preserving the historical value and appearance” of the main exterior of the building. Shit, If you want to preserve the true cultural heritage of a building, why not extend that to the inside as well? Leave the lead in the pipes and the asbestos in the ceiling. What they’re really preserving is a culture of ignoring the fact that people with disabilities fucking exist and that’s why the only wheelchair accessible buildings created in the late 19th and early 20th century were the “hospitals” and “institutions” they kept us locked away in.

It’s fucking ridiculous that, in the year 2017, there are brand new shops in downtown Seattle that I cannot access. It’s fucking stupid. I don’t give a fuck about preserving the “heritage” of a society that did nothing to include people like me in civic life and daily commerce.