Introduction
As I stood on a corner waiting for the pedestrian walk signal, I had several thoughts come to my head. The subject was on the Americans Disability Act and how my designs strove for its compliance. I attempted to place them in a logical order but decided to write them as they came to me.
What on Earth is ADA?
What on Earth is ADA? Nothing really. The whole world is out of compliance in its eyes. ADA only dwells intact in the fairy city. There, every street is a complete street. Completely without cars, that is. Pedestrians are the main mode of travel. In this city, there are no backyard NIMBYs because there are no backyards. It is in this gemstone of a metropolis every square inch conforms to the demands of ADA.
There are two problems that need pointing out however. The first is that this utopia doesn’t exist and the second is that humanity lives on Earth and not in crystal palaces. There are two laws which keep us grounded in this reality. The first is that the Earth is round and the second is that the Earth is bumpy. This second law is what literally knocks us off our feet and is what ADA wars against. It is a fight with no possible hope for a decisive victory but there are worthy battles to be had. Worthy of even being called Christian to partake in. For it was the church who first set out to help the weakest of the community. Likewise, there are some battles that are not worthy and not Christian. I argue this because ADA compliance in some settings would wipe out the community to help the community.
Allow me to explain what I said with two pictures. Replacing sidewalk in front of the recently retired Mr. Jones’s house is a noble task. If the old sidewalk was such that Mr. Jones would fall and break his neck, then the answer is clear before us. Replacing the sidewalk is preferable to replacing Mr. Jones’s neck.
I offer a second picture with our old man Mr. Jones. Suppose the road Mr. Jones lived on was being massively redone so that the crosswalk at a nearby intersection would be ADA compliant. This supposed construction (handsomely designed by some dashing fellow like me) required Mr. Jones’s house to be purchased by the city and demolished. In a virtuous effort to make the crosswalk more accessible for people like Mr. Jones, the city wiped out Mr. Jones’s house.
This second picture is the sort of ADA compliance that is not noble and works against its initial virtuous goal. Some might praise or lament the removal of Mr. Jones depending on if he was a saint or a scoundrel. But I differ from them in this. Even if he were a saint, I wouldn’t equate the demolition of Mr. Jones’s house to the demolition of Job’s house. Likewise, the losing of one’s house would not satisfy the judgement against Mr. Jones if he truly was a scoundrel. All I argue is, whether saint or scoundrel, ADA compliance is bad for a community when it means the loss of a community member’s property.
Second Point
I leave that point however poorly I constructed it (probably out of compliance) and will move onto another. I said earlier that ADA only dwells intact in the fairy city but this is not true. The fairy city has all sorts of hills and skewed intersections. Our cities in Tennessee are not as old as the fairy city but they are as fantastic. The suburbs around Nashville gained most of their weight during the era of the automobile. The adjacent sidewalks (if there are any) were never the main concern for roadway design because most folks drove. Compare this to a city like London which will soon celebrate its 2000th anniversary. Its streets were built (and destroyed and so on) for walking. What I mean to say is, cities and towns are built for their times. It does people no good bemoaning the previous partisans’ decisions from a century ago. A greater error would be grieving Nashville for not being London. That isn’t just bad, it is devoid of any understanding of history, which is un-Christian and Modern.
Conclusion
ADA compliance is a recent development in roadway design but the church thought of it a long time ago under a different name, that is, “Love one another.” Churches always had steep stairs but they also always took care of those who couldn’t climb them. I rejoice to see governments create standards that help those who need helping. I’m glad to see their agreement on that Christian attitude towards people. I won’t hurl rocks outside the offices of whoever set the ADA requirements, though arbitrary as they may seem. I have no clue how I would have done it otherwise. You will find me raising a toast to ADA and its compliance, because it is a Christian virtue. You will also find me raising a warning flag when ADA compliance turns into an ADA crusade that sacks the very town it strove to set right.
I stood at that corner for quite some time. Once the beacon glowed green, I walked down the crosswalk. My foot caught a lip on the curb ramp and I almost bit the concrete. The people nearby blinked and returned their gazes to their phones. “Woah,” I laughed to no one, “that’s out of compliance! That’s gonna need fixing!”
