Policy analyst, PR consultant and freelance writer focused on the intersection of disability, climate change, and urbanism. BA Geography and MPP from UC Berkeley, founder of DisabilitYIMBY.
Note: I'm a bit overextended and will need to make these newsletters every-other-week for the next couple months. I'll also be trimming back the "in other news" section for the time being. Saturday was the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the
On July 17, the city of Oakland announced a settlement agreement to drastically improve the accessibility of pedestrian rights-of-way across the city over the next 25 years. The settlement is the result of a class-action lawsuit filed by Disability Rights Advocates and 3 other firms on behalf of Michael Curran,
NYC's congestion pricing is a huge boon to disability independence; the Texas flood response shows the importance of government competence; and a few disability wins of the week.
Today is my Crippiversary – 21 years to the day since I broke my neck – which to me is a strange cosmic joke given the whole concept of Independence and disability. Temporarily able-bodied folks often think that they are Independent because they do their own chores and wipe their own ass.
A lot has happened these past 7 days. The Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill is moving to a floor vote, threatening the largest Medicaid and second-largest SNAP cuts in history and a death sentence for clean energy in America. Here in California, lawmakers passed a budget that
Caregivers – the workers that support people with disabilities (PWDs) with activities of daily living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, and housework – are in crisis. You might have heard them called personal care attendants (PCAs), “attendants,” home health aides, or direct support professionals (DSPs, who only work with people with intellectual and
I had minor surgery on Friday (with Interventional Radiology – a first for me) and am going to take the week off from the writing part of the newsletter. So, I leave you with lots of links; feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! In other news: The Department
There’s a dearth of data, and especially granular data, about disability and traffic injuries and deaths. That needs to change.
Plus an urgent call-to-action for Californians at the end of the newsletter… Apologies for my absence. I've been battling a pressure sore since early 2024 (long story, trust me), and a few weeks ago, a backup home health nurse did a dressing wrong and got the sore infected
News
I’m almost 3 weeks out from my first positive Covid test and finally tested negative a few days ago. Unfortunately, though, I have a lingering cough that’s been getting in the way of writing (voice dictation software + coughing = sad), so I’m going to keep things brief for this week.
Alex's note: I think it's important to be frank about the moment we are facing, so this issue will be more in line with my post from a couple weeks ago – "Trump 2.0 is a Disability Catastrophe (and it's Bad for Urbanism,
What's good these days? Not everything is as doom and gloom as last week 's newsletter made it out to be. The Guardian has a nice feature on street tree-planting initiatives from London to Philly to Singapore. Community members come together to plant, tend, and replace street