Also, demand drives supply of minority needs.
Let's say you have a town of 100 people. Two are in wheelchairs.
Nobody sees why there should be. I mean, that's a lot of money to spend tearing out sidewalks and redoing everything for two people, and they hardly even go anywhere anyway (gee, I wonder why), it's not really worth it....ugh. The law says we have to. We can put them on the downtown main crossing I guess.
...oh, but hey, we also have two people with walkers, and one of them is Mrs. Jane Doe, who works a lot with the church and is deeply respected in town. Maybe it's not a great look if we're so nasty about putting these in. Okay. Two crossings and it looks good--
--oh. And we have...seven moms with strollers? Who've been saying how much they love those crossings because taking a stroller up and down a curb is such a hassle? Well...when you put it that way...and them being more easily able to shop has been stimulating the local economy...I guess we can do most of the downtown curbs, especially with the extra reven--
--what? And the mayor's wife broke her leg, and she's considering it such a blessing to not have to take curbs on crutches?
...oh hey. Twelve percent of the community is actively using those curb cuts now. And all seven of those moms have partners. That's nineteen percent who are in favor. And Jane Doe is a widow, but her pastor and the head of the ladies' Bible study and her son have all seen how much safer it is for her going from the church to her house. That's 22%. Oh--and the jogging group? There are six of them and they've had no slips, stumbles, sprains, or falls since the curb cuts went in. It's easier to cross in morning fog when you don't have to look for the edge.
Now elections are coming up. 28% of town is like "hell yeah curb cuts." We'll say 30% can't vote, because some of them are kids and some aren't citizens and, yes, some just can't be assed. That means you need 36 votes to win the mayorship.
One candidate says the town has already met their legal obligations and it's silly to add more curb cuts. The other says the curb cuts have been such a boon to so many townspeople, it seems only natural to have them on every corner.
Who do you think is winning this election?
Who do you think is more likely to be responsive to "hey, we have some blind folks in town, we should consider those street crossing buttons that talk to you"?
Which scenario--the one in which people say "oh, I can't use those, those are only for wheelchairs," or the one where everyone uses them and the two percent in wheelchairs go "heck yeah ma'am, I'm glad it helps you too"--do you think is more likely to result in the people in wheelchairs getting the resources they need?
If everyone else had said "those are only for wheelchairs," do you think full curb cut expansion would even have been on the mayoral candidates' radar?
Accessibility is not pie. It's the vending machine in the break room that gets taken away if nobody uses it.
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