Next Generation Homes
Inclusive Home Design:
Freedom of Movement for a Lifetime

Are your parents facing expensive modifications of their home to accommodate them as they age? Have you ever invited your neighbor over, only to find that his wheelchair couldn’t get up the front steps? Have you given any thought to the possibility that these things could also happen to you or someone close to you?

Many are now asking, why not build a house as if we were going to live in it for a lifetime - a home suitable for every stage of our lives - a home that can be easily adapted to fit our changing needs - a home for all seasons?

In response to the needs of a rapidly growing number of senior citizens and others with disabilities, the Pima County Board of Supervisors recently adopted the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance. Required of all new house plans for single-family houses, duplexes and triplexes in unincorporated Pima County, it means that new homes will finally have at least a basic level of accessibility.

Key Elements of the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance
1. At least one zero-step entrance to enter the home. This entrance should be accessible from the street or driveway, and may be at the front, back or side of the house.

2. Interior doors along the accessible route on the ground floor should be a minimum of 32 inches wide, with easy-open hardware.

3. Minimum 36-inch wide level route through the ground floor, except at doorways.

4. Ground floor bathroom walls reinforced to provide for the possibility of easy installation of grab bars at toilets, tubs and showers at a later time.

5. Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats and other controls installed at accessible heights.

Click here to download a copy of the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance from the County's website or contact the Pima County Development Services Department at 740-6490.

For more information on this and other disability issues, contact the Tucson Commission on Disability Issues at 791-4213 or P.O. Box 27210, Tucson 85726.

Please join in helping make our homes and our community a better place to live.

We are not disabled by accident or illness, but rather by our surroundings.

[With thanks to the Tucson Commission on Disability Issues and Pima County for this wonderful gift to the community, and to CODI for helping to organize this important aspect of the Tucson Innovative Home TourÏ]

Please help pass the word ...

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