Master Plan - City of Troy

CITY OF TROY MASTER PLANVisitability StandardsThe concept of “visitability” emerged inthe 1980s and has been a growing trendnationwide. Some of the states and localitiesthat have already incorporated visitabilitystandards include Naperville, Bollingbrook,and Champagne, Illinois, Atlanta, Vermont,Texas, Kansas, and Arizona. The term refersto single-family housing designed to be livedin or visited by people with disabilities.(http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/housing/visitability)without necessarily stressing full accessibility forpersons with disabilities, or older adults: Thesedesign elements are far more important to thefunctionality and safety of a home than manytraditional full-accessibility standards, such aslower mirrors and sinks, etc. These features arecritical to even permit the entry of a disabled oraging person into the structure. The elementsinclude:• Each unit must have at least one no-stepentrance;• All doors and hallways wide enoughto navigate through with a walker orwheelchair; and,• There must be a bathroom on the first floorbig enough to get into in a wheelchair, andclose the door.In any new development or redevelopment,designers can easily gain a wider market bythinking about access and visitability at theconcept phase. The visitability movementargues all new homes should be made visitable,which allows for them to be more easilyconverted to full-accessibility for an agingresident or to a resident with disabilities, and toprovide for increased mobility for all persons,and therefore increased social equity. Theproponents of visitability argue that if only thosehomes occupied by disabled or older adults aredesigned for visitability or full accessibility, thathousing suitable for aging in place of older adultswill be effectively cut-off from the mainstreampublic.For those residents desiring a more structuredhousing situation or those that need a higherlevel of care or assistance, a wide variety ofhousing products are available. Traditionalage-restricted multiple-unit senior housingdevelopments continue to thrive in communitiesacross the United States. Assisted living andnursing home care centers, which can providedifferent levels of care from basic assistance tofull dementia care, are also growing.A newer concept taking hold in the seniorhousing industry is the “continuous care”facility. These developments provide a series ofdifferent independent living and assisted careoptions in one large campus or, in some cases,one building. Continuous care facilities marketthemselves as adaptable, safe environmentsfor seniors as they advance in age and requirehigher levels of care. Many facilities offerdetached, independent condominium stylehousing, multiple-unit independent housing,assisted living, nursing care, and dementia careon one site.Housing for the Knowledge EconomyIn order to capitalize on the quality of lifeelements this Plan suggests to create a livelyand vibrant community, the City must also havethe right housing to attract the knowledgeeconomy workforce it desires. As was discussedin Chapter 5, mobility and proximity betweencivic elements, quality parks, shopping, diningand other amenities is critical, but what is evenmore critical is the proximity of those elementsto innovative new housing.CHAPTER 8: POPULATION81