0:00:03.237,0:00:06.228
So, stepping down out of the bus,

0:00:06.228,0:00:08.022
I headed back to the corner

0:00:08.022,0:00:11.454
to head west en route to a braille training session.

0:00:11.454,0:00:13.594
It was the winter of 2009,

0:00:13.594,0:00:15.924
and I had been blind for about a year.

0:00:15.924,0:00:17.980
Things were going pretty well.

0:00:17.980,0:00:19.886
Safely reaching the other side,

0:00:19.886,0:00:21.641
I turned to the left,

0:00:21.641,0:00:23.276
pushed the auto-button

0:00:23.276,0:00:25.005


0:00:25.005,9:59:59.000
and waited my turn.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As it went off, I took off

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and safely go to the other side.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Stepping on to the sidewalk,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I then heard the sound of a steel chair

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
slide across the concrete sidewalk in front of me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I know there's a cafe on the corner,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and they have chairs out in front,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so I just adjusted to the left

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to get closer to the street.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As I did, so slid the chair.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I just figured I'd made a mistake,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and went back to the right,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and so slid the chair in perfect synchronicity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I went back to the left,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and so slid the chair,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
blocking my path of travel.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, I was officially freaking out.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So I yelled,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Who the hell's out there? What's going on?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Just then, over my shout,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I heard something else, a familiar rattle.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It sounded familiar,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I quickly considered another possibility,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I reached out with my left hand,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as my fingers brushed against something fuzzy,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I came across an ear,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the ear of a dog, perhaps a golden retriever.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's leash had been tied to the chair

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as her master went in for coffee,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and she was just persistent in her efforts

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to greet me, perhaps get a scratch behind the ear.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Who knows, maybe she was volunteering for service.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But that little story is really about

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the fears and misconceptions that come along

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with the idea of moving through the city

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without sight,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
seemingly oblivious to the environment

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the people around you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So let me step back and set the stage a little bit.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
On St. Patrick's Day of 2008,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I reported to the hospital for surgery

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to remove a brain tumor.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The surgery was successful.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Two days later, my sight started to fail.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
On the third day, it was gone.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Immediately, I was struck by an incredible sense

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of fear, of confusion, of vulnerability,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like anybody would.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But as I had time to stop and think,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I actually started to realize

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I had a lot to be grateful for.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In particular, I thought about my dad,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who had passed away from complications

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from brain surgery.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He was 36. I was seven at the time.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So although I had every reason

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to be fearful of what was ahead,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and had no clue quite what was going to happen,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was alive.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My son still had his dad.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And besides, it's not like I was the first person

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
ever to lose their sight.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I knew there had to be all sorts of systems

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and techniques and training to have

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to live a full and meaningful, active life

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without sight.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So by the time I was discharged from the hospital

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a few days later, I left with a mission,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a mission to get out and get the best training

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as quickly as I could and get on to rebuilding my life.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Within six months, I had returned to work.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My training had started.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I even started riding a tandem bike

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with my old cycling buddies,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and was commuting to work on my own,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
walking through town and taking the bus.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was a lot of hard work.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But what I didn't anticipate

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
through that rapid transition

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was the incredible experience of the juxtaposition

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of my sighted experience[br]up against my unsighted experience

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the same places and the same people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
within such a short period of time.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
From that came a lot of insights,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or outsights, as I called them,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
things that I learned since losing my sight.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
These outsights ranged from the trival

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the profound,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from the mundane to the humorous.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As an architect, that stark juxtaposition

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of my sighted and unsighted experience

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the same places and the same cities

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
within such a short period of time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the city itself.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Paramount amongst those

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was the realization that, actually,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
cities are fantastic places for the blind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And then I was also surprised

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by the city's propensity for kindness and care

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as opposed to indifference or worse.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And then I started to realize that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it seemed like the blind seemed to have

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a positive influence on the city itself.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That was a little curious to me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Let me step back and take a look

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
at why the city is so good for the blind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Inherent with the training for recovery from sight loss

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is learning to rely on all your non-visual senses,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
things that you would otherwise maybe ignore.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's like a whole new world of sensory information

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
opens up to you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was really struck by the symphony

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of subtle sounds all around me in the city

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that you can hear and work with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to understand where you are,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
how you need to move, and where you need to go.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Similarly, just through the grip of the cane,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you can feel contrasting textures in the floor below,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and over time you build a pattern of where you are

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and where you're headed.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Similarly, just the sun warming one side of your face

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or the wind at your neck

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
gives you clues about your alignment

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and your progression through a block

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and your movement through time and space.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But also, the sense of smell.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Some districts and cities have their own smell,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as do places and things around you,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and if you're lucky, you can even follow your nose

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to that new bakery that you've been looking for.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All this really surprised me,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because I started to realize that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not my eye-sighted experienced

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was so far more multi-sensory

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
than my sighted experience ever was.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What struck me also was how much the city

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was changing around me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When you're sighted,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
everybody kind of sticks to themselves,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
minds your own business.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Lose your sight, though,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it's a whole nother story.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I don't know who's watching who,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I have a suspicion that[br]a lot of people are watching me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I'm not paranoid, but everywhere I go,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm getting all sorts of advice:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
go here, move there, watch out for this.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A lot of the information is good.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Some of it's helpful. A lot of it's kind of reversed.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You've got to figure our what they actually meant.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Some of it's kind of wrong and not helpful.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But it's all good in the grand scheme of things.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But one time I was in Oakland

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
walking along Broadway, and came to a corner.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was waiting for an audible pedestrian signal,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and as it went off, I was just about[br]to step out into the street,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
when all of a sudden, my right hand

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was just gripped by this guy,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and he yanked me arm[br]and pulled out into the crosswalk

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and was dragging me out across the street,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
speaking to me in Mandarin.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's like, there was no escape[br]from this man's death grip,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but he got me safely there.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What could I do?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But believe me, there are more polite ways

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to offer assistance.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We don't know you're there,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so it's kind of nice to say "Hello" first.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Would you like some help?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But while in Oakland, I've really been struck by

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
how much the city of Oakland changed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as I lost my sight.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I liked it sighted. It was fine.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a perfectly great city.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But once I lost my sight

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and was walking along Broadway,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was blessed every block of the way.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Bless you, man."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Go for it, brother."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"God bless you."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I didn't get that sighted.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And even without sight,[br]I don't get that in San Francisco.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I know it bothers some of my blind friends,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it's not just me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Often it's thought that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it's an emotion that comes up out of pity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I tend to think that it comes[br]out of our shared humanity,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
out of our togetherness, and I think it's pretty cool.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In fact, if I'm feeling down,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I just go to Broadway in downtown Oakland,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I go for a walk, and I feel better like that,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in no time at all.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But also that it illustrates how

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disability and blindness

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
sort of cuts across ethnic, social,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
racial, economic lines.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Disability is an equal-opportunity provider.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Everybody's welcome.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In fact, I've heard it said in the disability community

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that there are really only two types of people:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
there are those with disabilities,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and there are those that haven't[br]quite found theirs yet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a different way of thinking about it,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I think it's kind of beautiful,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because it is certainly far more inclusive

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
than the us-versus-them

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or the able-versus-the-disabled,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it's a lot more honest and respectful

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the fragility of life.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So my final takeaway for you is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that not only is the city good for the blind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but the city needs us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I'm so sure of that that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I want to propose to you today

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that the blind be taken as[br]the prototypical city dwellers

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
when imagining new and wonderful cities,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and not the people that are thought about

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
after the mold has already been cast.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's too late then.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So if you design a city with the blind in mind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you'll have a rich, walkable network of sidewalks

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a dense array of options and choices

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
all available at the street level.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The space between buildings will be well-balanced

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
between people and cars.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In fact, cars, who needs them?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you're blind, you don't drive. (Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They don't like it when you drive. (Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you design a city with a robust,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
accessible, well-connected mass transit system

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that connects all parts of the city

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the region all around.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
there'll be jobs, lots of jobs.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Blind people want to work too.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They want to earn a living.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, in designing a city for the blind,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I hope you start to realize

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that it actually would be a more inclusive,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a more equitable, a more just city for all.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And based on my prior sighted experience,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it sounds like a pretty cool city,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
whether you're blind, whether you have a disability,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or you haven't quite found yours yet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So thank you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause)