I currently live in Alameda, Ca. I often take walks with my wife and daughter and many of times take pictures of the sites around us. I’m happy to say that Alameda is very friendly when comes to accesibility. The pictures below tell that story.
The first picture is my daughter outside of our home which is a townhouse community. This week’s post was not just about me but also about my child growing up in a safe home atmosphere. If I was impaired this community would be perfect. All of the homes have easy walk ways for wheelchair access and handicap guest spaces. What makes me think differently is that most of the homes are 3 stories. We did not have to think about impairment when we purchased, if we did, this home would be for us.
My daughter and I love going grocery shopping. It’s such an adventure for her and I. This grocery store has easy access with ramps, wide aisles, bus stops right on the side of the store. This is Nob Hill Grocery store. You can tell that many of the builds are ADA compliant, even the bathrooms are very friendly for any type of impaired customers.
This is Alameda Beach. One of the issues about the beach is that there is not a bathroom anywhere in site. For people who are not imparied that is difficult so I could only imagine for someone who may have a hard getting around find that stressful. The beach does not have any handicap spaces on the street which could make visiting difficult.
My daughter and I this past weekend at the park. This Park is very friendly and has ramps for wheelchairs. Also ramps for children and not just stairs. For children who may be be blind, they have many of interactive games at the park that provide sounds and the crosswalks all talk when giving direction of when to walk and when to stop.
Five minutes from our home is the Oakland A’s stadium. Of all the structures I found this one to be the most disappointing. Many of the seats do not provide ramps for the bleachers seats. There are sections for wheelchair but compared to other seating it isn’t the best options. The stadium could have more handicap spaces and more ramps for wheelchair access and also provide buses that drop you off inside the stadium and not outside of it.
Health is Wealth. 
Hi Chauncey,
I want to applaud you for shining a new light on the Oakland coliseum. It has been a while since I have last been, and I did not realized how many issues there could be for people with impairments. I did not know that people in wheelchairs were not dropped off inside of the stadium. Like you I also decided to write about a park in my post. The park I wrote about is being designed specifically for children with disabilities. I am happy that your local park caters to all children. If someone in your family did have an impairment, what would be your criteria be for picking somewhere to live?
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Hey Chauncey,
that is some great details you gave about made me think about how safe Alameda can be. The tow definitely has its perks on being accessible for everyone and does make that difference when walking around the town. AS for the colosseum, I agree with you, it has its easy access walking around to the nearest gate but it is not enough for someone with disabilities. I’m hoping when the new stadium gets built it will have a better access for people with disabilities.
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