People with handicaps and urban settings

I work in downtown Denver. It has a fairly active city center. I live out in suburbia.

I’ve noticed that there seems to be far more handicapped people in the downtown area, per capita, than out in my suburb area. Downtown it’s not unusual to see sight limited people using white canes or electric wheelchairs. They’re a comparitive rarity in the suburbs.

I realize that there a much higher density of people in the city than in the suburbs but there’s still seems to be a much higher percentage of those with physical limitations in the city center.

I’ve got two theories, neither or both, of course, may be right.

  1. Density of services. Since most of these people may be limited in their abilty to operate a car, the higher concentration of public transportation & businesses may make daily life easier. The counter to this argument is that while there’s many more businesses downtown per linear foot, the business variety isn’t very convenient. There’s no supermarket or video store, for example, downtown. The city is a entertainment/tourist center first. I’ve got a supermarket, gas station, video store, etc. all within a mile of my house in the suburbs.

  2. Controlled situation. This theory is based on the idea that controlled intersections, prevalent sidewalks, etc. make it easier to get around that the less organized suburbs. While that supermarket is a mile away from me, the shortest route down a dirt/gravel path. The non-path route isn’t fully covered by sidewalks - some “four-wheeling” would be necessary.

So - what’s the dope - am I flat-out wrong about the ratio of handicapped people in urban areas? If not, what’s the attraction?

-B

That’s pretty much it, I believe. My sister is in a wheelchair and loves living in Manhattan in part because the bus system is so wheelchair-friendly. She lives just a few blocks from work so that’s not a problem. If she gets stuck somehow there’s always someone willing to help. She can have groceries delivered, can wheel to the Broadway shows she likes so much, and so on. It’s just so much easier.

She can operate a car, too, but it’s a hassle getting in and out.

While there may not be a supermarket or video store in the downtown area, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in the residential parts of the city, which may not be far from downtown.I live in a residential neighborhood of NYC (in Queens).It is very easy to live without a car here. The businesses I need for daily life- video stores ,supermarkets ,dry cleaners banks - are located within walking distance of my home.If I want to go to a more commercial area- to see a movie or go to a mall, for example , there are buses (with wheelchair lifts) and trains within blocks of my home.
Another possibility is that the disabled in suburbia simply aren’t as visible as those in the city. It’s entirely possible that most disabled people in suburbia live with non-disabled people, and therefore aren’t traveling a mile to the supermarket in a wheelchair or with a cane, but are being driven there by others (or even driving themselves). And you won’t necessarily notice that a passenger in a car is blind or needs a wheelchair.