When I was in my 50s, I got to participate in construction. The small nonprofit organization I helped establish (Hearth – see yesterday) worked with Affordable Housing Associates and architect Kava Massih and Toolworks and too many funders to name, to build University Neighborhood Apartments.

We were minority partners. Kava and AHA could have built it without us, but it wouldn’t have been UNA. For one thing, I named the project. More: we brought universal design and neighborhood support to it.

The plan was affordable apartments of varying size and for varying inhabitants, densely placed on a lot on University Avenue in Berkeley. Neighbors freaked out at the idea of a crowd of poor people moving in. “How often are you going to drug-test?” was the most common question I heard. “Whaddaya mean, less cars?” was the worried query whenever the locals learned we wouldn’t provide much off-street parking.

There were other challenges, besides those folks and the City Council to which they ran. By the time we broke ground the neighborhood was for the project, and the city of Berkeley put more money into UNA than it had ever before invested in land. The other hurdles were about finding the money and explaining universal design.

It broke my heart when funding agencies moaned: “Oh if only you were one hundred percent disabled (or senior, or some other sociological bucket), it would be much easier for us to provide money.” But we aimed at a diverse community. We didn’t want to add to the ghetto-ization of the disabled or elderly. That meant many applications, many masters, added cost to the project. This diffusion resembled a problem that Hearth was experiencing and also the state of San Francisco philanthropy: the attempt to do so much good in so many directions resulted in confusion, loss of focus, and reduced effectiveness.

The other issue was the lack of good press about universal design. Everyone seemed to think we were talking about accessibility. Yeah, but … UD is about visitability. The aim is to build with foresight. The goal is a future without retrofits. Universal design is smart building on the inside. 

UNA got built. It is attractive, durable, and award-winning. And not repeated, yet.