At our public library, there is a bathroom near the kids play area that has a regular size toilet and a small toilet. I love this. But, it has an automatic flusher! Anyone who has taken a kid to a bathroom with an automatic flusher knows... these do not pair well.
My kids have learned to cover them with toilet paper while in the stall, but it doesn't work for wall mounted ones. One mom told me she carries post-its in her purse for this purpose.
I need to carry post its! I know of other moms who do this too. My kids hold the toilet seat tight with their hands and then when they hear the flusher they clap their hands over their ears and grooooosssss
But still, if you're designing a bathroom *for* kids, push flushers are better.
The central branch of our county public library was recently remodeled with an overhauled children's room, and the bathrooms in this area are wonderful for kids and families! Two "family/unisex" restrooms both equipped with changing table, stools, short toilet, and paper towels. But the newish library branch closer to our house (opened 2020) has the worst bathroom! The sink sticks out of the wall at the exact height a young toddler will whack their head on, the toilet is normal adult size and they helpfully provided a step stool that is too short for anything. Also, the paper towel dispenser is mounted about 5 feet off the ground. I'm not sure it's even wheelchair accessible! The only thing going for it is a changing table. Every time I took a potty training toddler in that bathroom I got so grumpy. Lol
It’s such a relief anytime we encounter public restrooms that are fully accessible to adults and children of all ages-I.e., changing tables, stall partitions to the floor or baby seats on the walls, quiet flushers and dryers, step-stools, stalls large enough to comfortably fit multiple people or pregnant women and fully operate the door, hooks!, waste bins in the stalls, sinks & mirrors at kid height or more step stools, automatic doors, etc. So many places have one or two of these features that don’t account for universal needs.
To our frustration, we’ve seen many many places that now limit “family pricing” to 2 adults & 2 children, requiring full charge for each additional person. Our local children’s museum charges full admission (not cheap) for any child over 1. Similarly, library museum passes have many more restrictions that seem to defeat their purpose.
I’ll also add a vote in favor of more accommodating library/pool/gym hours. I love our local library systems and we use them heavily, but they’re not really a great place to bring toddlers because they don’t open until *10 AM* (!) most days, which is practically lunch time when you’ve been chasing around tiny people since 6 AM.
Oh! And re-imagined family medical practices also came to mind. I understand that the realities of insurance and specialization make this challenging nowadays, but I can’t tell you the number of times I reached out to dental practices that advertised for pediatric patients after we moved, only to discover that many practices will only see kids above a certain age, necessitating higher administrative and logistical burden for all our appointments. This makes standard care more difficult for everyone. What I would give if we could all go to the same place and do our checkups simultaneously, or even go to just one place for all my annual exams in one day without having to coordinate childcare.
Kaiser used to do a pretty solid job of this design. Not to speak to their current practices but there’s a number of great books and papers done about their original approach to “whole family” care. You could come with the whole family, be seen by the same doctors, walk over to some specialists if you were referred, same day, and often could do optometry and sometimes even dental in the same space. They also used to have schedulers who would put all of that together for you across your whole family needs. Kind of the only HMO model left but it’s a solid one. Much of what they used to do isn’t reimbursable under current rules so they’ve had to pare back or raise rates which has complicated things a lot, but for those interested in this kind of design, the books and papers from the 90s and early 2000s were pretty good design manuals, with real experiences and trade offs discussed
My Kaiser experience has included double-board-certified family practitioners, and I recall with gratitude a particular season after the birth of a child when my wonderful PCP would regularly see me as an adult and also my infant/kids for pediatric care. She supported me through mastitis, rounds of strep I kept catching from the preschoolers, annual exams, baby and toddler well checks, etc. She knew the whole family, and even within the KP "system" our care was personal and specific. With Kaiser's integrated model, she was also easily available by message/phone/telehealth, which was gold.
I agree with Jeff that their built environment encourages family care and "one-stop-shop" convenience with pharmacy, labs, imaging, etc typically all under one roof. Truly SO helpful. Just yesterday I took a kid to a same-day Kaiser appointment, in my neighborhood, with my own current PCP, and did labs on-site, all in about an hour from home and back.
Another Other Feminisms thought, Leah, is that since my kids and I all receive care at the same facilities and via the same portals, interfaces, etc, it helps make *legible* to them the tasks and skills of participating in the healthcare system. Arriving on time with the right info in hand, looking up available appointments, calling an advice nurse, consulting the online symptom checker, vetting trusted sources of health info, going from the exam room to the pharmacy to pick up an Rx, checking in at the lab kiosk, and so forth. Their space is my space -- kid-friendly, but not kid-specific, aka accessible and inclusive to all. Because I can model being a patient based on doing the very same things for myself in the very same places, my children can observe and learn and build their own competence as healthcare patients as they grow -- versus enduring something abstract or vague that a grown-up does *for* them in a specifically *kid* space while they passively wait and watch.
One of my favorite places is the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Minneapolis. They have a child sized door at the entrance, animals in the floors, a canoe (upside down) on the ceiling, a little cave with books and critters... a chicken and cat who have free rein to explore with the kiddos. I remember it's magic from when I was a kid, and it's so beautiful to see my son experience that same magic now. It's set the standard for me: not just a built space that reflects its child-centeredness but one of whimsy, imagination-sparking joyfulness.
A policy that I love that we have here that's a bit more concrete: most of our brilliant child centered spaces in the Twin Cities (children's museum, science museum, zoos) are free or very heavily discounted for families on WIC/EBT/SNAP. Anyone can also check out passes to these and state and regional parks at their local library.
One last bit: many many local playgrounds are being converted to fully accessible playgrounds, for kids who use mobility aids or who like to elope. Love to see it.
That's wonderful! I loved visiting Fabled in Waco, a bookstore that has you enter the children's room though a wardrobe door lined with (faux-)fur coats.
1) baby holders in toilets like they have in Japan. Every family toilet stall has a little mounted seat where you can place a baby or toddler while you do your business (in addition to a changing table). It’s so convenient.
2) gates play areas and crèches! So many places used to have them, including McDonalds, cafes, pubs, libraries, IKEA, even gyms. They’ve all been gotten rid of over the last 20 years. I don’t know a single place anymore except a play cafe where you have to book in advance and pay where you can just put your kid in a corner to play in a secure area. This might be due to over-regulation, general child-unfriendliness, or fewer kids around, but it makes me so sad.
The non-advertising signage around the subway stations here in Singapore is remarkably verbose and paternalistic, at least to Western eyes. There are very detailed markings on the floor of where to stand (to the side of the door, to let those exiting the train get out first). There's also an animated cartoon series with five alliterative characters teaching the elements of "gracious commuting": "Stand Up Stacey", "Move-In Martin", "Give-Way Glenda", "Bag-Down Benny", and "Hush-Hush Hannah".
For a long time, I just chalked this contrast up to the difference between adult cultures in the US and Singapore -- Americans are just much more cynical, I thought. But only once I had kids, and those kids started to watch the cartoons playing on the trains, did I realize that these campaigns likely make their biggest impact in educating kids about how to behave on the train.
The real difference, then, seems to be that subway systems in the US simply aren't built for kids. This realization was further driven home by a recent visit to Boston, where we discovered that all of the subway elevators reeked of weed and/or urine. How else were stroller-aged kids supposed to get around? Well, we learned that all our friends who had kids had bought a car and moved out to the suburbs. That's the pattern in the US -- suburbs are for families, and city centers and their accompanying subways, are for able-bodied adults who don't have to use the elevators.
But yes, your question was about the positive, to which I'd say I've come much more to appreciate Singapore's public transportation after having kids. We've been in elevators hundreds of times here and zero of them have had any weird smells. But the public awareness campaigns don't just settle for "don't urinate" messages -- they intentionally try to teach graciousness, which I appreciate, with things like cartoons that don't explicitly say "this is for kids" but definitely attract their attention.
I live on a rural road and my oldest is getting to a stage where he could bike to the park on his own...if it weren't for the intermittent 45+ mph drivers, no shoulder, no bike or walking facilities, no apparent consideration for anyone besides Car. Our neighbors, who have lived here for years and years, say it hasn't always been this way, but I'm not sure they have considered how it got to be this way over time. Designing for car dependence is bad for everyone, but especially the youngest and oldest among us!
A local children's museum has a full/adult sized changing table in the bathroom, which is much larger than most of us need but welcomes those whose needs are rarely accommodated.
Also- It looks like there is a copy of Lost in Space on Thriftbooks at the moment, if you haven't seen it already.
Several months ago we got a family membership to the Y - it’s pretty incredible. Their “family membership” explicitly states that it’s for 2 adults and all children in their household under the age of 26 or of any age for disabled children. And then they provide members with onsite childcare for ages 0-8yrs that you can use for 2hrs every day. Granted the room is kinda nutso with kids, but it’s been so helpful! Honestly, it was a significant part of my healing from PPD.
I stopped going to the Y when someone complained about my 5yo son in the women's locker room. They instituted a policy that 5 and up had to be in the "correct" bathroom, and I said no thanks.
Hoooo boy, least family-friendly features of my neighborhood and why! *cracks knuckles* I will give an example of one that was poorly designed by changing uses and one more or less by neglect.
1. Poor design by changing use is the road that essentially bisects my first ring suburb. It long predates the incorporation of the suburb itself and used to be the primary route from a pre-statehood settlement to what eventually ended up being the state capitol. It is designated as a state highway, despite the 35 mph speed limit, two lanes, and zero lighted intersections, and our children's elementary school was built along this road because 90 years ago when the school was built, that was the major road in town! 10 years ago there was an effort by our suburb to study adding a sidewalk or bike trail to this road to give kids a way to safely walk to school. In addition to the (LOUD) residents who hated the idea, the state basically said, "Roads are for cars, we don't want to encourage bike and foot traffic along state highways." I may never recover. I dream of reverting it to a county road which would incorporate more local control.
2. Poor design ipso facto is the redesign of a playground in our neighborhood. The old structure was at least 30 years old and so it was not "accessible" by modern standards but it did have a ramp as well as steps, multiple entry points, lots of things to climb and twist and jump on (and off!) Fun for toddlers through at least preteens. It was made of (faded) plastic and had reached the end of its useful life so the replacement consisted of a tower structure which you climb up to via a net and one giant slide down (so not accessible at all and not suited for most kids under 6), a tiny house-themed play structure for toddlers (really only of interest to kids under 4) and adding a wheelchair accessible swing to the swingset. It really got a lot worse for the average user and it was such a disappointment. They're discussing redoing another playground and when they sent out the survey to gage resident feedback I basically said, "Don't do what you did to [park name], that was terrible. Make it like [fully accessible and well designed park in a neighboring suburb] instead."
"10 years ago there was an effort by our suburb to study adding a sidewalk or bike trail to this road to give kids a way to safely walk to school. In addition to the (LOUD) residents who hated the idea, the state basically said, "Roads are for cars, we don't want to encourage bike and foot traffic along state highways.""
It makes me sooo mad! It's only a state highway because when this road came into existence the only entity who could conceivably maintain it was the state! It should be a collector if you look only at the speed limit, maybe a county road at most to make it eligible for more pots of funding. Functionally it is not a state highway.
> I just cannot look at NEPA and other “write more reports” roadblocks and feel enthusiastic about adding one more speedbump, even when it’s aligned with my goals. I know Patrick and Elliot probably mean this kind of regulation to catch problems like the one I describe above, but, to be honest, I think I want to try to address it mainly through electing family-friendly politicians, and not with a new set of regs.
100% agreed. It seems to me like a lot of these regulations functionally add veto points, increase compliance costs, slow everything down, make it more expensive, etc. The bias is towards inaction, and the costs of changing course once started are higher, too. Are there policies we can embrace that lower the barriers to fixing these plans instead? Like in general biasing towards action and flexibility in response to feedback.
Some states have pushed to make daycares etc closer to by right in more of their zones, so they can just *happen* without having to run a gauntlet of veto points.
I recently traveled in Europe with a baby, and although I'm very familiar with European airports I noticed the proliferation of "baby rooms" beside the regular bathrooms for the first time. The baby rooms have a sink with a large counter space, a changing table (with a convenient roll of paper to cover it so you don't have to use your own portable mat), a bin, and a very tiny and uncomfortable fold-down metal chair.
It was interesting both what they contained and what they didn't contain--no toilet, so you can't use the bathroom after you change your baby's diaper. The chair miiiiiight have worked for some very uncomfortable bottle feeding or nursing, but was completely unsuitable for pumping, unlike other mother's rooms I had used in the US airports. There was also no outlet for a breast pump. On the other hand I appreciated the large counter for washing my bottles and pump parts, and the changing table was positively luxurious compared to the US standard.
Least family friendly feature of our neigbourhood is the family with a baby downstairs who moan about our 7 and 10 year old making too much noise. But in terms of the built environment: bin day! You can have the best designed pavement in the world but one morning a week it becomes a game of Mario Kart. Nightmare.
P.S - at the Diana Ross playground, can you go...upside down?
I registered for the hybrid book club event! I have friends at Feminists Choosing Life NY and at Restore Health and Wellness (best experience at a medical practice, you should have someone there send you pictures of the onsite chapel and the spa-like waiting area and beautiful bathrooms)! I'll probably call in from home, even though I'm in Rochester, as I'm recovering from a c-section for baby #3, but I'll be there!
I've lent my book out yet again so more Rochester friends can prepare for the event. :)
I recently came across the social media channels for a group out of the UK called Make Space for Girls, and I'm following with interest. https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk
Some quotes:
"Our Vision is a world where all parks and public spaces are designed to make teenage girls feel valued and included and where everyone feels welcome."
"Parks, play equipment and public spaces for older children and teenagers are currently designed for the default male. It’s time to make space for girls."
"Above all, we place teenage girls at the centre of all our work - they are the experts on their local spaces and understand how to make things better. And there is no ‘one size fits everyone’; all their voices need to be heard for change to happen.
We are working on a range of projects which improve parks and other outdoor spaces in order to support opportunities for teenage girls and improve their mental and physical well-being and their access to public space. We collaborate with a wide range of institutions, including universities, health trusts, councils and developers to create change."
Here’s an excerpt from our latest, please share it if you agree!
Would love to be there on the 13th! Here’s an excerpt from our latest - please share it if you agree!
"As the power of our Republic is more than 50% comprised by and composed of the Women who live in this Country, until we actively advocate for what is long overdue to them, we cannot expect our system to function as it is designed."
At our public library, there is a bathroom near the kids play area that has a regular size toilet and a small toilet. I love this. But, it has an automatic flusher! Anyone who has taken a kid to a bathroom with an automatic flusher knows... these do not pair well.
My kids have learned to cover them with toilet paper while in the stall, but it doesn't work for wall mounted ones. One mom told me she carries post-its in her purse for this purpose.
I need to carry post its! I know of other moms who do this too. My kids hold the toilet seat tight with their hands and then when they hear the flusher they clap their hands over their ears and grooooosssss
But still, if you're designing a bathroom *for* kids, push flushers are better.
The central branch of our county public library was recently remodeled with an overhauled children's room, and the bathrooms in this area are wonderful for kids and families! Two "family/unisex" restrooms both equipped with changing table, stools, short toilet, and paper towels. But the newish library branch closer to our house (opened 2020) has the worst bathroom! The sink sticks out of the wall at the exact height a young toddler will whack their head on, the toilet is normal adult size and they helpfully provided a step stool that is too short for anything. Also, the paper towel dispenser is mounted about 5 feet off the ground. I'm not sure it's even wheelchair accessible! The only thing going for it is a changing table. Every time I took a potty training toddler in that bathroom I got so grumpy. Lol
My kids walk into public restrooms with their hands over their ears because of automatic flushers!
It’s such a relief anytime we encounter public restrooms that are fully accessible to adults and children of all ages-I.e., changing tables, stall partitions to the floor or baby seats on the walls, quiet flushers and dryers, step-stools, stalls large enough to comfortably fit multiple people or pregnant women and fully operate the door, hooks!, waste bins in the stalls, sinks & mirrors at kid height or more step stools, automatic doors, etc. So many places have one or two of these features that don’t account for universal needs.
To our frustration, we’ve seen many many places that now limit “family pricing” to 2 adults & 2 children, requiring full charge for each additional person. Our local children’s museum charges full admission (not cheap) for any child over 1. Similarly, library museum passes have many more restrictions that seem to defeat their purpose.
I’ll also add a vote in favor of more accommodating library/pool/gym hours. I love our local library systems and we use them heavily, but they’re not really a great place to bring toddlers because they don’t open until *10 AM* (!) most days, which is practically lunch time when you’ve been chasing around tiny people since 6 AM.
Oh! And re-imagined family medical practices also came to mind. I understand that the realities of insurance and specialization make this challenging nowadays, but I can’t tell you the number of times I reached out to dental practices that advertised for pediatric patients after we moved, only to discover that many practices will only see kids above a certain age, necessitating higher administrative and logistical burden for all our appointments. This makes standard care more difficult for everyone. What I would give if we could all go to the same place and do our checkups simultaneously, or even go to just one place for all my annual exams in one day without having to coordinate childcare.
Kaiser used to do a pretty solid job of this design. Not to speak to their current practices but there’s a number of great books and papers done about their original approach to “whole family” care. You could come with the whole family, be seen by the same doctors, walk over to some specialists if you were referred, same day, and often could do optometry and sometimes even dental in the same space. They also used to have schedulers who would put all of that together for you across your whole family needs. Kind of the only HMO model left but it’s a solid one. Much of what they used to do isn’t reimbursable under current rules so they’ve had to pare back or raise rates which has complicated things a lot, but for those interested in this kind of design, the books and papers from the 90s and early 2000s were pretty good design manuals, with real experiences and trade offs discussed
My Kaiser experience has included double-board-certified family practitioners, and I recall with gratitude a particular season after the birth of a child when my wonderful PCP would regularly see me as an adult and also my infant/kids for pediatric care. She supported me through mastitis, rounds of strep I kept catching from the preschoolers, annual exams, baby and toddler well checks, etc. She knew the whole family, and even within the KP "system" our care was personal and specific. With Kaiser's integrated model, she was also easily available by message/phone/telehealth, which was gold.
I agree with Jeff that their built environment encourages family care and "one-stop-shop" convenience with pharmacy, labs, imaging, etc typically all under one roof. Truly SO helpful. Just yesterday I took a kid to a same-day Kaiser appointment, in my neighborhood, with my own current PCP, and did labs on-site, all in about an hour from home and back.
Another Other Feminisms thought, Leah, is that since my kids and I all receive care at the same facilities and via the same portals, interfaces, etc, it helps make *legible* to them the tasks and skills of participating in the healthcare system. Arriving on time with the right info in hand, looking up available appointments, calling an advice nurse, consulting the online symptom checker, vetting trusted sources of health info, going from the exam room to the pharmacy to pick up an Rx, checking in at the lab kiosk, and so forth. Their space is my space -- kid-friendly, but not kid-specific, aka accessible and inclusive to all. Because I can model being a patient based on doing the very same things for myself in the very same places, my children can observe and learn and build their own competence as healthcare patients as they grow -- versus enduring something abstract or vague that a grown-up does *for* them in a specifically *kid* space while they passively wait and watch.
One of my favorite places is the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Minneapolis. They have a child sized door at the entrance, animals in the floors, a canoe (upside down) on the ceiling, a little cave with books and critters... a chicken and cat who have free rein to explore with the kiddos. I remember it's magic from when I was a kid, and it's so beautiful to see my son experience that same magic now. It's set the standard for me: not just a built space that reflects its child-centeredness but one of whimsy, imagination-sparking joyfulness.
A policy that I love that we have here that's a bit more concrete: most of our brilliant child centered spaces in the Twin Cities (children's museum, science museum, zoos) are free or very heavily discounted for families on WIC/EBT/SNAP. Anyone can also check out passes to these and state and regional parks at their local library.
One last bit: many many local playgrounds are being converted to fully accessible playgrounds, for kids who use mobility aids or who like to elope. Love to see it.
That's wonderful! I loved visiting Fabled in Waco, a bookstore that has you enter the children's room though a wardrobe door lined with (faux-)fur coats.
A few things I would really love:
1) baby holders in toilets like they have in Japan. Every family toilet stall has a little mounted seat where you can place a baby or toddler while you do your business (in addition to a changing table). It’s so convenient.
2) gates play areas and crèches! So many places used to have them, including McDonalds, cafes, pubs, libraries, IKEA, even gyms. They’ve all been gotten rid of over the last 20 years. I don’t know a single place anymore except a play cafe where you have to book in advance and pay where you can just put your kid in a corner to play in a secure area. This might be due to over-regulation, general child-unfriendliness, or fewer kids around, but it makes me so sad.
The non-advertising signage around the subway stations here in Singapore is remarkably verbose and paternalistic, at least to Western eyes. There are very detailed markings on the floor of where to stand (to the side of the door, to let those exiting the train get out first). There's also an animated cartoon series with five alliterative characters teaching the elements of "gracious commuting": "Stand Up Stacey", "Move-In Martin", "Give-Way Glenda", "Bag-Down Benny", and "Hush-Hush Hannah".
https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/getting_around/public_transport/a_better_public_transport_experience/gracious_commuting.html
For a long time, I just chalked this contrast up to the difference between adult cultures in the US and Singapore -- Americans are just much more cynical, I thought. But only once I had kids, and those kids started to watch the cartoons playing on the trains, did I realize that these campaigns likely make their biggest impact in educating kids about how to behave on the train.
The real difference, then, seems to be that subway systems in the US simply aren't built for kids. This realization was further driven home by a recent visit to Boston, where we discovered that all of the subway elevators reeked of weed and/or urine. How else were stroller-aged kids supposed to get around? Well, we learned that all our friends who had kids had bought a car and moved out to the suburbs. That's the pattern in the US -- suburbs are for families, and city centers and their accompanying subways, are for able-bodied adults who don't have to use the elevators.
But yes, your question was about the positive, to which I'd say I've come much more to appreciate Singapore's public transportation after having kids. We've been in elevators hundreds of times here and zero of them have had any weird smells. But the public awareness campaigns don't just settle for "don't urinate" messages -- they intentionally try to teach graciousness, which I appreciate, with things like cartoons that don't explicitly say "this is for kids" but definitely attract their attention.
I live on a rural road and my oldest is getting to a stage where he could bike to the park on his own...if it weren't for the intermittent 45+ mph drivers, no shoulder, no bike or walking facilities, no apparent consideration for anyone besides Car. Our neighbors, who have lived here for years and years, say it hasn't always been this way, but I'm not sure they have considered how it got to be this way over time. Designing for car dependence is bad for everyone, but especially the youngest and oldest among us!
A local children's museum has a full/adult sized changing table in the bathroom, which is much larger than most of us need but welcomes those whose needs are rarely accommodated.
Also- It looks like there is a copy of Lost in Space on Thriftbooks at the moment, if you haven't seen it already.
Several months ago we got a family membership to the Y - it’s pretty incredible. Their “family membership” explicitly states that it’s for 2 adults and all children in their household under the age of 26 or of any age for disabled children. And then they provide members with onsite childcare for ages 0-8yrs that you can use for 2hrs every day. Granted the room is kinda nutso with kids, but it’s been so helpful! Honestly, it was a significant part of my healing from PPD.
I stopped going to the Y when someone complained about my 5yo son in the women's locker room. They instituted a policy that 5 and up had to be in the "correct" bathroom, and I said no thanks.
I just noticed in the accessible restroom of the Dallas Love Field airport, the changing table is adult-sized. I was delighted.
Hoooo boy, least family-friendly features of my neighborhood and why! *cracks knuckles* I will give an example of one that was poorly designed by changing uses and one more or less by neglect.
1. Poor design by changing use is the road that essentially bisects my first ring suburb. It long predates the incorporation of the suburb itself and used to be the primary route from a pre-statehood settlement to what eventually ended up being the state capitol. It is designated as a state highway, despite the 35 mph speed limit, two lanes, and zero lighted intersections, and our children's elementary school was built along this road because 90 years ago when the school was built, that was the major road in town! 10 years ago there was an effort by our suburb to study adding a sidewalk or bike trail to this road to give kids a way to safely walk to school. In addition to the (LOUD) residents who hated the idea, the state basically said, "Roads are for cars, we don't want to encourage bike and foot traffic along state highways." I may never recover. I dream of reverting it to a county road which would incorporate more local control.
2. Poor design ipso facto is the redesign of a playground in our neighborhood. The old structure was at least 30 years old and so it was not "accessible" by modern standards but it did have a ramp as well as steps, multiple entry points, lots of things to climb and twist and jump on (and off!) Fun for toddlers through at least preteens. It was made of (faded) plastic and had reached the end of its useful life so the replacement consisted of a tower structure which you climb up to via a net and one giant slide down (so not accessible at all and not suited for most kids under 6), a tiny house-themed play structure for toddlers (really only of interest to kids under 4) and adding a wheelchair accessible swing to the swingset. It really got a lot worse for the average user and it was such a disappointment. They're discussing redoing another playground and when they sent out the survey to gage resident feedback I basically said, "Don't do what you did to [park name], that was terrible. Make it like [fully accessible and well designed park in a neighboring suburb] instead."
BOOOOOO to this
"10 years ago there was an effort by our suburb to study adding a sidewalk or bike trail to this road to give kids a way to safely walk to school. In addition to the (LOUD) residents who hated the idea, the state basically said, "Roads are for cars, we don't want to encourage bike and foot traffic along state highways.""
It makes me sooo mad! It's only a state highway because when this road came into existence the only entity who could conceivably maintain it was the state! It should be a collector if you look only at the speed limit, maybe a county road at most to make it eligible for more pots of funding. Functionally it is not a state highway.
We have some contentious discussions about this in my area as well. Ugh!
> I just cannot look at NEPA and other “write more reports” roadblocks and feel enthusiastic about adding one more speedbump, even when it’s aligned with my goals. I know Patrick and Elliot probably mean this kind of regulation to catch problems like the one I describe above, but, to be honest, I think I want to try to address it mainly through electing family-friendly politicians, and not with a new set of regs.
100% agreed. It seems to me like a lot of these regulations functionally add veto points, increase compliance costs, slow everything down, make it more expensive, etc. The bias is towards inaction, and the costs of changing course once started are higher, too. Are there policies we can embrace that lower the barriers to fixing these plans instead? Like in general biasing towards action and flexibility in response to feedback.
Some states have pushed to make daycares etc closer to by right in more of their zones, so they can just *happen* without having to run a gauntlet of veto points.
I recently traveled in Europe with a baby, and although I'm very familiar with European airports I noticed the proliferation of "baby rooms" beside the regular bathrooms for the first time. The baby rooms have a sink with a large counter space, a changing table (with a convenient roll of paper to cover it so you don't have to use your own portable mat), a bin, and a very tiny and uncomfortable fold-down metal chair.
It was interesting both what they contained and what they didn't contain--no toilet, so you can't use the bathroom after you change your baby's diaper. The chair miiiiiight have worked for some very uncomfortable bottle feeding or nursing, but was completely unsuitable for pumping, unlike other mother's rooms I had used in the US airports. There was also no outlet for a breast pump. On the other hand I appreciated the large counter for washing my bottles and pump parts, and the changing table was positively luxurious compared to the US standard.
Least family friendly feature of our neigbourhood is the family with a baby downstairs who moan about our 7 and 10 year old making too much noise. But in terms of the built environment: bin day! You can have the best designed pavement in the world but one morning a week it becomes a game of Mario Kart. Nightmare.
P.S - at the Diana Ross playground, can you go...upside down?
I registered for the hybrid book club event! I have friends at Feminists Choosing Life NY and at Restore Health and Wellness (best experience at a medical practice, you should have someone there send you pictures of the onsite chapel and the spa-like waiting area and beautiful bathrooms)! I'll probably call in from home, even though I'm in Rochester, as I'm recovering from a c-section for baby #3, but I'll be there!
I've lent my book out yet again so more Rochester friends can prepare for the event. :)
Congratulations on the baby! Don't lift more than six copies of the book at once!
I recently came across the social media channels for a group out of the UK called Make Space for Girls, and I'm following with interest. https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk
Some quotes:
"Our Vision is a world where all parks and public spaces are designed to make teenage girls feel valued and included and where everyone feels welcome."
"Parks, play equipment and public spaces for older children and teenagers are currently designed for the default male. It’s time to make space for girls."
"Above all, we place teenage girls at the centre of all our work - they are the experts on their local spaces and understand how to make things better. And there is no ‘one size fits everyone’; all their voices need to be heard for change to happen.
We are working on a range of projects which improve parks and other outdoor spaces in order to support opportunities for teenage girls and improve their mental and physical well-being and their access to public space. We collaborate with a wide range of institutions, including universities, health trusts, councils and developers to create change."
The post that hooked me... communal swings in a conversation circle: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXOhrhrCFra/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Oh I love it! Reminds me of these face-to-face parent and child swings: https://mrcrec.com/expression-swing
I've never come across one of those. What a great concept!
Here’s an excerpt from our latest, please share it if you agree!
Would love to be there on the 13th! Here’s an excerpt from our latest - please share it if you agree!
"As the power of our Republic is more than 50% comprised by and composed of the Women who live in this Country, until we actively advocate for what is long overdue to them, we cannot expect our system to function as it is designed."
https://republia.substack.com/p/native-coequality-is-natural-law