I am 31 years old. I have Cerebral Palsy and, the majority of the time, I use a wheelchair, though sometimes I do also use a walker or crutches. I work in disability rights and have a beautiful Labrador Retriever as a service dog. Some of the sidewalks and streets in my neighborhood, which is a residential area in the city of Toledo, Ohio are so cracked or uneven, they make it difficult to use. I use the sidewalks and streets to walk my dog, but also to get to stores and restaurants near to my house. The sidewalks especially make me feel unsafe, because some of them are so cracked and broken, or steep due to changes in level that I cannot use them safely while in my wheelchair and have to go out in the street to continue travel.
While I am able to contact the city to let them know of the issue, sidewalks are so bad city-wide, that my issue seemed irrelevant compared to issues with sidewalk and street inaccessibility on some more major thoroughfares. I think local politicians would (or at least should) be more concerned if they were made conscious of how inaccessible sidewalks and streets can affect all constituents – not just those with disabilities – from accessing their communities and thriving within those communities.