Older Homes
For newly built homes in the US, over the house's lifespan, there is a 60% probability that a house will be occupied by a person with a functional impairment. In addition, when visitors with disabilities are accounted for, the probability rises to 91%. That means that even if you don't have a disability, short term or long term, there is a high chance of someone living in or visiting the house you currently live in who will have a disability.
So, what does this mean? America needs more accessible and affordable housing options. When considering accessibility and affordability, the available options begin to dwindle quickly. Imagine putting a couple of filters in a home search and seeing all of the little markers disappear from your screen, leaving maybe a few options, if you're lucky.
There are 140 million homes in America. Now, if you pick one at random, it is likely to be older, not accommodating to all ages and abilities, designed and built with few accessible features, and not affordable. So, let's dig into these a little deeper, because all four characteristics of American homes lead to a housing stock that's not universally accessible and often unaffordable for many households.
First, we're going to start with the topic of older homes. The American Housing survey indicates that the median year in which homes were built in the United States was 1974. This makes the average age of homes 50 years old as of 2024. This is why we tend to see common design characteristics throughout American homes like lots of steps to get inside, split level floor plans with steps to get to different living areas of the house, bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, and narrow hallways and doorways.
From my experience working with people who go through life changing events, these design styles are not usable or livable for many people. And this just isn't about your home. It's important to be social and visit other people's homes too.
Our friend Tyler uses a wheelchair full time after having had a spinal cord injury for many years, and this is what he has to say.
So, what does this mean? America needs more accessible and affordable housing options. When considering accessibility and affordability, the available options begin to dwindle quickly. Imagine putting a couple of filters in a home search and seeing all of the little markers disappear from your screen, leaving maybe a few options, if you're lucky.
There are 140 million homes in America. Now, if you pick one at random, it is likely to be older, not accommodating to all ages and abilities, designed and built with few accessible features, and not affordable. So, let's dig into these a little deeper, because all four characteristics of American homes lead to a housing stock that's not universally accessible and often unaffordable for many households.
First, we're going to start with the topic of older homes. The American Housing survey indicates that the median year in which homes were built in the United States was 1974. This makes the average age of homes 50 years old as of 2024. This is why we tend to see common design characteristics throughout American homes like lots of steps to get inside, split level floor plans with steps to get to different living areas of the house, bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, and narrow hallways and doorways.
From my experience working with people who go through life changing events, these design styles are not usable or livable for many people. And this just isn't about your home. It's important to be social and visit other people's homes too.
Our friend Tyler uses a wheelchair full time after having had a spinal cord injury for many years, and this is what he has to say.
"About other people's homes, it sucks when your younger cousins and friends buy split levels because that's what all the local builders have been doing for decades because they're easier to sell as a starter home."
Many of us often don't think twice about how many steps there are to get into someone's home before we go visit or if we can get into a bathroom. But unfortunately, for Tyler and many others across our country, this experience is common. When homes aren't easy to get into, it makes it harder for people to engage with friends and family, causing a sense of isolation and frustration.
While older homes have a lot of charm, maybe you've experienced this negative scenario before due to the inaccessibility of an older home. Keep listening though, because we have three more factors to discuss that play a part in our inaccessible housing stock in the US and later in this course, you'll hear from more people on how a home designed to be a good fit has a positive impact on their life.