Home > AFB Research Projects Archive > Livable Communities 2003 > Livable Communities: Important Features
What Were the Most Important
Features According to Blind or Visually Impaired Participants?
By far, the most important feature that makes a community
more or less livable was . . . the availability of
public transportation.
According to the participants in the project, the
following criteria were considered important for making a
community "livable":
- Community integration/general sense of acceptance
(sense of tolerance towards diversity)
- Getting around (availability of public transit,
pedestrian-friendliness or "walkability," access to airports,
trains, and other intra-city transport)
- Safety (low crime rates, minimal automobile traffic,
few dangerous intersections)
- Employment (availability of jobs for people who are
blind or visually impaired at various skill levels)
- Education/arts/recreation (formal and informal
continuing education, theater and movies with described
audio, accessible sports arenas, restaurants with braille
menus)
- Cost of living/housing (affordable homes and apartments)
- Access to services/necessities of daily living (blindness
services, government offices for people with disabilities,
medical care, veterinarians, grocery stores, post offices
in close proximity).
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