The Americans with Disabilities acts mandates that buildings and other public spaces be made accessible to persons with disabilities. In practice the disability in question means wheelchair-bound. Many excellent improvements have come about as a result including ramps, elevators, and special motorized lifts next to swimming pools.
Some cities, though, remain difficult for the handicapped and I am thinking especially of San Francisco which is plagued by steep hills. It is really hard for a person in a manual wheelchair to ascend a steep hill. It is downright dangerous to descend, risking uncontrolled acceleration. Yet the sidewalk is a public space. Many businesses on these hills can be accessed only from the sidewalk, requiring wheelchair users to make the dangerous traverse.
I propose that steep hills in SF and similarly configured cities be made wheelchair-accessible. The exact method used to do this will of course vary according to locale and circumstance.-- bungston, Jul 13 2016 funicular orientation http://cinefex.com/...GBH-Funicular-1.jpg [xenzag, Jul 14 2016] San Andreas Fault https://en.wikipedi...i/San_Andreas_FaultOnly a matter of time ... [8th of 7, Jul 14 2016] Floats too! Almost_20unstoppable_20wheelchair [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 17 2016] Stairlifts like those you see in the movie 'Up.'-- RayfordSteele, Jul 13 2016 stairs, somewhat paradoxically.-- FlyingToaster, Jul 14 2016 A small HEMI engine with wheelchair attachment would make climbing hills a breeze, Bradford St. included.-- whatrock, Jul 14 2016 1. Wait until after the next Big One.
2. Slice the top off the city down to a few metres above water level and use the material to extend eastwards into the bay.
3. Rebuild.
4. GOTO 1-- 8th of 7, Jul 14 2016 Solution: Funicular Wheelchair. This modification enables a standard wheel chair to elevate its front wheels when descending a hill, or the opposite when in ascending mode. The net effect is that the wheelchair operator is always seated in an upright orientation, as per a funicular train. This won't assist with access to any building, but I have travelled those hills in SF many times, and know exactly the type of problems they present.-- xenzag, Jul 14 2016 I gather you're voting for Trump, then, [bungston].-- ytk, Jul 14 2016 Having been a San Franciscoite for 3 years, I understand your dilemma, but I think [xenzag] has provided an answer to your problem.
I want to add that the hills of the city are not something they are "plagued" by, it is what makes the city magical. That and so many other beautiful qualities. It is has some of the most stunning overlooks and vistas anywhere, because of the hills. (God I love the city).-- blissmiss, Jul 14 2016 Enjoy it while you can, then. It ain't gonna be there much longer.
<link>-- 8th of 7, Jul 14 2016 Why has the acronym "JATO" not yet made an appearance, in close proximity to the word "wheelchair"?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 14 2016 Because Martin-Baker have the patents all tied up already, that's why.-- 8th of 7, Jul 14 2016 8th, I left four years ago. I'm safely snoring in the Midwest, US now. The only thing shaking here is the tops of the corn stalks.-- blissmiss, Jul 14 2016 Perhaps we are looking at this the wrong way.
Ideally, San Francisco should be accessible to all. However, if that is not possible, it should at least be equally inaccessible to all.
I suggest that recirculating ball-bearing dispensers located at the top of every hill would achieve this latter aim, by making the uppermost regions of SF less accessible to pedestrians whilst only slightly impeding wheelchair users.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 16 2016 the city's biggest problem appears to be a homeless population that is truly beyond imagination, it has to be experienced to be believed. I mean this is how I would imagine India a few hundred years ago. It's so absurd, one feels almost like they are all actors participating in a mood shot.-- theircompetitor, Jul 16 2016 Is it possible that they all actually have homes, but located at the tops of very steep hills?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 16 2016 Could be. Most are not very vertical. To the inhabitants, they are less real than the Pokemon-- theircompetitor, Jul 16 2016 //JATO//
Project: 1) get ammonium perchlorate / sugar mixture declared a drug 2) get it legalized in SF-- lurch, Jul 16 2016 MB You make me laugh...I'm not justa kiddin either.-- blissmiss, Jul 16 2016 I got yer back. [link] (+)-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 17 2016 // recirculating ball-bearing dispensers //
That would turn the city into nothing more than a giant pachinko machine ...-- 8th of 7, Jul 17 2016 //MB You make me laugh//
Thank you. I always say - if you can make someone laugh, then you're halfway to making them laugh twice.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 17 2016 //MB You make me laugh//
[Max], pull your trousers up. Honestly, you get more like your siblings every day. It's not big, and it's not clever; but specifically, it's not big. No wonder women laugh ...-- 8th of 7, Jul 17 2016 I will, as soon as I can figure out how to fold this thing up again.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 17 2016 One is never too old for dick jokes, that's what Nixon used to say-- theircompetitor, Jul 17 2016 / I gather you're voting for Trump, then, [bungston].
— ytk, Jul 14 2016 [delete] /
I am puzzled by this. I did not think Trump concerned himself much with the welfare of the handicapped. But [ytk] I am ready to learn and maybe give the guy a second look!
Just kidding. I am totally unwilling to learn. Anything.-- bungston, Jul 27 2016 random, halfbakery