Visitability is a growing trend nationwide. The term refers to single-family or owner-occupied housing designed in such a way that it can be lived in or visited by people who have trouble with steps or who use wheelchairs or walkers.
A house is visitable when it meets three basic requirements:
- one zero-step entrance.
- doors with 32 inches of clear passage space.
- one bathroom on the main floor you can get into in a wheelchair.
“When someone builds a home, they’re not just building it for themselves — that home’s going to be around for 100 years,” Concrete Change founder Eleanor Smith told The New York Times. “These things hurt nobody — and they help a lot of other people.”
Who benefits from visitability? Everyone!
- The young mother with a baby in a stroller, who doesn’t have to hump it up and down steps when she visits her friends
- The UPS driver who brings your new cabinets and leaves them on your front porch
- The homeowner trying to get the new cabinets into the house from the front porch
- Grandma who wants to visit the grandkids but knows she won’t be able to use the bathroom when she visits
- The college kid moving out with all his boxes and belongings