1
00:00:03,237 --> 00:00:06,228
So, stepping down out of the bus,

2
00:00:06,228 --> 00:00:08,220
I headed back to the corner

3
00:00:08,220 --> 00:00:11,454
to head west en route to a braille training session.

4
00:00:11,454 --> 00:00:13,594
It was the winter of 2009,

5
00:00:13,594 --> 00:00:15,924
and I had been blind for about a year.

6
00:00:15,924 --> 00:00:17,980
Things were going pretty well.

7
00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:19,886
Safely reaching the other side,

8
00:00:19,886 --> 00:00:21,641
I turned to the left,

9
00:00:21,641 --> 00:00:24,029
pushed the auto-button for
the audible pedestrian signal,

10
00:00:24,029 --> 00:00:25,998
and waited my turn.

11
00:00:25,998 --> 00:00:27,950
As it went off, I took off

12
00:00:27,950 --> 00:00:29,854
and safely go to the other side.

13
00:00:29,854 --> 00:00:31,810
Stepping on to the sidewalk,

14
00:00:31,810 --> 00:00:34,227
I then heard the sound of a steel chair

15
00:00:34,227 --> 00:00:38,599
slide across the concrete sidewalk in front of me.

16
00:00:38,599 --> 00:00:40,469
I know there's a cafe on the corner,

17
00:00:40,469 --> 00:00:42,269
and they have chairs out in front,

18
00:00:42,269 --> 00:00:43,943
so I just adjusted to the left

19
00:00:43,943 --> 00:00:45,664
to get closer to the street.

20
00:00:45,664 --> 00:00:49,215
As I did, so slid the chair.

21
00:00:49,215 --> 00:00:51,109
I just figured I'd made a mistake,

22
00:00:51,109 --> 00:00:52,976
and went back to the right,

23
00:00:52,976 --> 00:00:56,517
and so slid the chair in perfect synchronicity.

24
00:00:56,517 --> 00:00:58,622
Now I was getting a little anxious.

25
00:00:58,622 --> 00:01:00,557
I went back to the left,

26
00:01:00,557 --> 00:01:02,246
and so slid the chair,

27
00:01:02,246 --> 00:01:04,300
blocking my path of travel.

28
00:01:04,300 --> 00:01:06,733
Now, I was officially freaking out.

29
00:01:06,733 --> 00:01:08,887
So I yelled,

30
00:01:08,887 --> 00:01:11,717
"Who the hell's out there? What's going on?"

31
00:01:11,717 --> 00:01:14,060
Just then, over my shout,

32
00:01:14,060 --> 00:01:17,685
I heard something else, a familiar rattle.

33
00:01:17,685 --> 00:01:19,362
It sounded familiar,

34
00:01:19,362 --> 00:01:21,102
and I quickly considered another possibility,

35
00:01:21,102 --> 00:01:22,925
and I reached out with my left hand,

36
00:01:22,925 --> 00:01:26,190
as my fingers brushed against something fuzzy,

37
00:01:26,190 --> 00:01:28,527
and I came across an ear,

38
00:01:28,527 --> 00:01:33,028
the ear of a dog, perhaps a golden retriever.

39
00:01:33,028 --> 00:01:35,064
Its leash had been tied to the chair

40
00:01:35,064 --> 00:01:36,823
as her master went in for coffee,

41
00:01:36,823 --> 00:01:38,706
and she was just persistent in her efforts

42
00:01:38,706 --> 00:01:41,860
to greet me, perhaps get a scratch behind the ear.

43
00:01:41,860 --> 00:01:44,518
Who knows, maybe she was volunteering for service.

44
00:01:44,518 --> 00:01:46,836
(Laughter)

45
00:01:46,836 --> 00:01:49,244
But that little story is really about

46
00:01:49,244 --> 00:01:52,335
the fears and misconceptions that come along

47
00:01:52,335 --> 00:01:55,362
with the idea of moving through the city

48
00:01:55,362 --> 00:01:57,087
without sight,

49
00:01:57,087 --> 00:01:59,603
seemingly oblivious to the environment

50
00:01:59,603 --> 00:02:02,453
and the people around you.

51
00:02:02,453 --> 00:02:06,097
So let me step back and set the stage a little bit.

52
00:02:06,097 --> 00:02:08,976
On St. Patrick's Day of 2008,

53
00:02:08,976 --> 00:02:11,608
I reported to the hospital for surgery

54
00:02:11,608 --> 00:02:13,849
to remove a brain tumor.

55
00:02:13,849 --> 00:02:15,951
The surgery was successful.

56
00:02:15,951 --> 00:02:19,136
Two days later, my sight started to fail.

57
00:02:19,136 --> 00:02:22,657
On the third day, it was gone.

58
00:02:22,657 --> 00:02:24,661
Immediately, I was struck by an incredible sense

59
00:02:24,661 --> 00:02:28,598
of fear, of confusion, of vulnerability,

60
00:02:28,598 --> 00:02:31,057
like anybody would.

61
00:02:31,057 --> 00:02:34,077
But as I had time to stop and think,

62
00:02:34,077 --> 00:02:35,753
I actually started to realize

63
00:02:35,753 --> 00:02:38,244
I had a lot to be grateful for.

64
00:02:38,244 --> 00:02:41,239
In particular, I thought about my dad,

65
00:02:41,239 --> 00:02:43,314
who had passed away from complications

66
00:02:43,314 --> 00:02:45,463
from brain surgery.

67
00:02:45,463 --> 00:02:50,493
He was 36. I was seven at the time.

68
00:02:50,493 --> 00:02:52,787
So although I had every reason

69
00:02:52,787 --> 00:02:55,510
to be fearful of what was ahead,

70
00:02:55,510 --> 00:02:58,019
and had no clue quite what was going to happen,

71
00:02:58,019 --> 00:02:59,932
I was alive.

72
00:02:59,932 --> 00:03:02,598
My son still had his dad.

73
00:03:02,598 --> 00:03:04,500
And besides, it's not like I was the first person

74
00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:06,329
ever to lose their sight.

75
00:03:06,329 --> 00:03:08,262
I knew there had to be all sorts of systems

76
00:03:08,262 --> 00:03:10,350
and techniques and training to have

77
00:03:10,350 --> 00:03:13,062
to live a full and meaningful, active life

78
00:03:13,062 --> 00:03:14,913
without sight.

79
00:03:14,913 --> 00:03:16,936
So by the time I was discharged from the hospital

80
00:03:16,936 --> 00:03:19,486
a few days later, I left with a mission,

81
00:03:19,486 --> 00:03:21,771
a mission to get out and get the best training

82
00:03:21,771 --> 00:03:26,427
as quickly as I could and get on to rebuilding my life.

83
00:03:26,427 --> 00:03:30,276
Within six months, I had returned to work.

84
00:03:30,276 --> 00:03:32,507
My training had started.

85
00:03:32,507 --> 00:03:34,337
I even started riding a tandem bike

86
00:03:34,337 --> 00:03:36,103
with my old cycling buddies,

87
00:03:36,103 --> 00:03:38,412
and was commuting to work on my own,

88
00:03:38,412 --> 00:03:40,964
walking through town and taking the bus.

89
00:03:40,964 --> 00:03:43,114
It was a lot of hard work.

90
00:03:43,114 --> 00:03:46,195
But what I didn't anticipate

91
00:03:46,195 --> 00:03:48,489
through that rapid transition

92
00:03:48,489 --> 00:03:52,669
was the incredible experience of the juxtaposition

93
00:03:52,669 --> 00:03:56,316
of my sighted experience
up against my unsighted experience

94
00:03:56,316 --> 00:03:59,022
of the same places and the same people

95
00:03:59,022 --> 00:04:02,569
within such a short period of time.

96
00:04:02,569 --> 00:04:04,726
From that came a lot of insights,

97
00:04:04,726 --> 00:04:06,611
or outsights, as I called them,

98
00:04:06,611 --> 00:04:09,598
things that I learned since losing my sight.

99
00:04:09,598 --> 00:04:12,502
These outsights ranged from the trival

100
00:04:12,502 --> 00:04:14,337
to the profound,

101
00:04:14,337 --> 00:04:16,798
from the mundane to the humorous.

102
00:04:16,798 --> 00:04:19,876
As an architect, that stark juxtaposition

103
00:04:19,876 --> 00:04:22,266
of my sighted and unsighted experience

104
00:04:22,266 --> 00:04:24,644
of the same places and the same cities

105
00:04:24,644 --> 00:04:26,564
within such a short period of time

106
00:04:26,564 --> 00:04:28,724
has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights

107
00:04:28,724 --> 00:04:31,975
of the city itself.

108
00:04:31,975 --> 00:04:33,989
Paramount amongst those

109
00:04:33,989 --> 00:04:35,859
was the realization that, actually,

110
00:04:35,859 --> 00:04:39,892
cities are fantastic places for the blind.

111
00:04:39,892 --> 00:04:42,092
And then I was also surprised

112
00:04:42,092 --> 00:04:45,288
by the city's propensity for kindness and care

113
00:04:45,288 --> 00:04:48,922
as opposed to indifference or worse.

114
00:04:48,922 --> 00:04:50,823
And then I started to realize that

115
00:04:50,823 --> 00:04:52,673
it seemed like the blind seemed to have

116
00:04:52,673 --> 00:04:55,866
a positive influence on the city itself.

117
00:04:55,866 --> 00:04:59,535
That was a little curious to me.

118
00:04:59,535 --> 00:05:02,695
Let me step back and take a look

119
00:05:02,695 --> 00:05:07,965
at why the city is so good for the blind.

120
00:05:07,965 --> 00:05:11,602
Inherent with the training for recovery from sight loss

121
00:05:11,602 --> 00:05:15,427
is learning to rely on all your non-visual senses,

122
00:05:15,427 --> 00:05:18,653
things that you would otherwise maybe ignore.

123
00:05:18,653 --> 00:05:21,336
It's like a whole new world of sensory information

124
00:05:21,336 --> 00:05:23,110
opens up to you.

125
00:05:23,110 --> 00:05:24,822
I was really struck by the symphony

126
00:05:24,822 --> 00:05:27,120
of subtle sounds all around me in the city

127
00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,813
that you can hear and work with

128
00:05:28,813 --> 00:05:30,556
to understand where you are,

129
00:05:30,556 --> 00:05:33,207
how you need to move, and where you need to go.

130
00:05:33,207 --> 00:05:35,885
Similarly, just through the grip of the cane,

131
00:05:35,885 --> 00:05:39,369
you can feel contrasting textures in the floor below,

132
00:05:39,369 --> 00:05:42,294
and over time you build a pattern of where you are

133
00:05:42,294 --> 00:05:44,050
and where you're headed.

134
00:05:44,050 --> 00:05:46,851
Similarly, just the sun warming one side of your face

135
00:05:46,851 --> 00:05:48,958
or the wind at your neck

136
00:05:48,958 --> 00:05:51,025
gives you clues about your alignment

137
00:05:51,025 --> 00:05:53,513
and your progression through a block

138
00:05:53,513 --> 00:05:56,955
and your movement through time and space.

139
00:05:56,955 --> 00:05:59,373
But also, the sense of smell.

140
00:05:59,373 --> 00:06:01,981
Some districts and cities have their own smell,

141
00:06:01,981 --> 00:06:04,853
as do places and things around you,

142
00:06:04,853 --> 00:06:06,814
and if you're lucky, you can even follow your nose

143
00:06:06,814 --> 00:06:10,197
to that new bakery that you've been looking for.

144
00:06:10,197 --> 00:06:12,026
All this really surprised me,

145
00:06:12,026 --> 00:06:14,866
because I started to realize that

146
00:06:14,866 --> 00:06:17,619
not my eye-sighted experienced

147
00:06:17,619 --> 00:06:20,053
was so far more multi-sensory

148
00:06:20,053 --> 00:06:22,618
than my sighted experience ever was.

149
00:06:22,618 --> 00:06:25,544
What struck me also was how much the city

150
00:06:25,544 --> 00:06:27,715
was changing around me.

151
00:06:27,715 --> 00:06:29,651
When you're sighted,

152
00:06:29,651 --> 00:06:31,469
everybody kind of sticks to themselves,

153
00:06:31,469 --> 00:06:33,358
minds your own business.

154
00:06:33,358 --> 00:06:34,672
Lose your sight, though,

155
00:06:34,672 --> 00:06:37,287
and it's a whole nother story.

156
00:06:37,287 --> 00:06:39,015
And I don't know who's watching who,

157
00:06:39,015 --> 00:06:42,132
but I have a suspicion that
a lot of people are watching me.

158
00:06:42,132 --> 00:06:44,539
And I'm not paranoid, but everywhere I go,

159
00:06:44,539 --> 00:06:47,383
I'm getting all sorts of advice:

160
00:06:47,383 --> 00:06:50,289
go here, move there, watch out for this.

161
00:06:50,289 --> 00:06:51,965
A lot of the information is good.

162
00:06:51,965 --> 00:06:54,343
Some of it's helpful. A lot of it's kind of reversed.

163
00:06:54,343 --> 00:06:57,759
You've got to figure our what they actually meant.

164
00:06:57,759 --> 00:07:01,420
Some of it's kind of wrong and not helpful.

165
00:07:01,420 --> 00:07:04,645
But it's all good in the grand scheme of things.

166
00:07:04,645 --> 00:07:06,321
But one time I was in Oakland

167
00:07:06,321 --> 00:07:09,041
walking along Broadway, and came to a corner.

168
00:07:09,041 --> 00:07:11,722
I was waiting for an audible pedestrian signal,

169
00:07:11,722 --> 00:07:14,254
and as it went off, I was just about
to step out into the street,

170
00:07:14,254 --> 00:07:16,225
when all of a sudden, my right hand

171
00:07:16,225 --> 00:07:18,136
was just gripped by this guy,

172
00:07:18,136 --> 00:07:20,442
and he yanked me arm
and pulled out into the crosswalk

173
00:07:20,442 --> 00:07:22,144
and was dragging me out across the street,

174
00:07:22,144 --> 00:07:24,055
speaking to me in Mandarin.

175
00:07:24,055 --> 00:07:25,820
(Laughter)

176
00:07:25,820 --> 00:07:29,774
It's like, there was no escape
from this man's death grip,

177
00:07:29,774 --> 00:07:31,636
but he got me safely there.

178
00:07:31,636 --> 00:07:33,508
What could I do?

179
00:07:33,508 --> 00:07:35,720
But believe me, there are more polite ways

180
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,816
to offer assistance.

181
00:07:37,816 --> 00:07:39,569
We don't know you're there,

182
00:07:39,569 --> 00:07:41,503
so it's kind of nice to say "Hello" first.

183
00:07:41,503 --> 00:07:43,454
"Would you like some help?"

184
00:07:43,454 --> 00:07:46,412
But while in Oakland, I've really been struck by

185
00:07:46,412 --> 00:07:49,080
how much the city of Oakland changed

186
00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,610
as I lost my sight.

187
00:07:51,610 --> 00:07:53,699
I liked it sighted. It was fine.

188
00:07:53,699 --> 00:07:56,275
It's a perfectly great city.

189
00:07:56,275 --> 00:07:57,991
But once I lost my sight

190
00:07:57,991 --> 00:07:59,875
and was walking along Broadway,

191
00:07:59,875 --> 00:08:02,778
I was blessed every block of the way.

192
00:08:02,778 --> 00:08:04,718
"Bless you, man."

193
00:08:04,718 --> 00:08:06,873
"Go for it, brother."

194
00:08:06,873 --> 00:08:08,745
"God bless you."

195
00:08:08,745 --> 00:08:10,497
I didn't get that sighted.

196
00:08:10,497 --> 00:08:12,713
(Laughter)

197
00:08:12,713 --> 00:08:17,790
And even without sight,
I don't get that in San Francisco.

198
00:08:17,790 --> 00:08:21,243
And I know it bothers some of my blind friends,

199
00:08:21,243 --> 00:08:22,990
it's not just me.

200
00:08:22,990 --> 00:08:24,869
Often it's thought that

201
00:08:24,869 --> 00:08:27,937
that's an emotion that comes up out of pity.

202
00:08:27,937 --> 00:08:30,820
I tend to think that it comes
out of our shared humanity,

203
00:08:30,820 --> 00:08:34,236
out of our togetherness, and I think it's pretty cool.

204
00:08:34,236 --> 00:08:36,112
In fact, if I'm feeling down,

205
00:08:36,112 --> 00:08:38,059
I just go to Broadway in downtown Oakland,

206
00:08:38,059 --> 00:08:40,725
I go for a walk, and I feel better like that,

207
00:08:40,725 --> 00:08:44,040
in no time at all.

208
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,108
But also that it illustrates how

209
00:08:46,108 --> 00:08:47,969
disability and blindness

210
00:08:47,969 --> 00:08:50,098
sort of cuts across ethnic, social,

211
00:08:50,098 --> 00:08:53,069
racial, economic lines.

212
00:08:53,069 --> 00:08:57,028
Disability is an equal-opportunity provider.

213
00:08:57,028 --> 00:08:58,953
Everybody's welcome.

214
00:08:58,953 --> 00:09:01,959
In fact, I've heard it said in the disability community

215
00:09:01,959 --> 00:09:04,311
that there are really only two types of people:

216
00:09:04,311 --> 00:09:06,299
there are those with disabilities,

217
00:09:06,299 --> 00:09:09,854
and there are those that haven't
quite found theirs yet.

218
00:09:09,854 --> 00:09:12,481
It's a different way of thinking about it,

219
00:09:12,481 --> 00:09:15,036
but I think it's kind of beautiful,

220
00:09:15,036 --> 00:09:17,598
because it is certainly far more inclusive

221
00:09:17,598 --> 00:09:19,564
than the us-versus-them

222
00:09:19,564 --> 00:09:22,210
or the able-versus-the-disabled,

223
00:09:22,210 --> 00:09:25,099
and it's a lot more honest and respectful

224
00:09:25,099 --> 00:09:28,002
of the fragility of life.

225
00:09:28,002 --> 00:09:30,139
So my final takeaway for you is

226
00:09:30,139 --> 00:09:33,931
that not only is the city good for the blind,

227
00:09:33,931 --> 00:09:37,172
but the city needs us.

228
00:09:37,172 --> 00:09:39,061
And I'm so sure of that that

229
00:09:39,061 --> 00:09:41,221
I want to propose to you today

230
00:09:41,221 --> 00:09:44,491
that the blind be taken as
the prototypical city dwellers

231
00:09:44,491 --> 00:09:47,853
when imagining new and wonderful cities,

232
00:09:47,853 --> 00:09:49,653
and not the people that are thought about

233
00:09:49,653 --> 00:09:52,027
after the mold has already been cast.

234
00:09:52,027 --> 00:09:54,909
It's too late then.

235
00:09:54,909 --> 00:09:57,923
So if you design a city with the blind in mind,

236
00:09:57,923 --> 00:10:02,063
you'll have a rich, walkable network of sidewalks

237
00:10:02,063 --> 00:10:04,821
with a dense array of options and choices

238
00:10:04,821 --> 00:10:08,208
all available at the street level.

239
00:10:08,208 --> 00:10:10,529
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

240
00:10:10,529 --> 00:10:13,635
sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous.

241
00:10:13,635 --> 00:10:15,925
The space between buildings will be well-balanced

242
00:10:15,925 --> 00:10:19,487
between people and cars.

243
00:10:19,487 --> 00:10:23,130
In fact, cars, who needs them?

244
00:10:23,130 --> 00:10:26,645
If you're blind, you don't drive. (Laughter)

245
00:10:26,645 --> 00:10:30,061
They don't like it when you drive. (Laughter)

246
00:10:30,061 --> 00:10:32,625
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

247
00:10:32,625 --> 00:10:35,407
you design a city with a robust,

248
00:10:35,407 --> 00:10:38,561
accessible, well-connected mass transit system

249
00:10:38,561 --> 00:10:40,686
that connects all parts of the city

250
00:10:40,686 --> 00:10:43,052
and the region all around.

251
00:10:43,052 --> 00:10:45,755
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

252
00:10:45,755 --> 00:10:48,543
there'll be jobs, lots of jobs.

253
00:10:48,543 --> 00:10:50,305
Blind people want to work too.

254
00:10:50,305 --> 00:10:52,344
They want to earn a living.

255
00:10:52,344 --> 00:10:55,145
So, in designing a city for the blind,

256
00:10:55,145 --> 00:10:57,554
I hope you start to realize

257
00:10:57,554 --> 00:11:00,006
that it actually would be a more inclusive,

258
00:11:00,006 --> 00:11:03,621
a more equitable, a more just city for all.

259
00:11:03,621 --> 00:11:05,843
And based on my prior sighted experience,

260
00:11:05,843 --> 00:11:07,758
it sounds like a pretty cool city,

261
00:11:07,758 --> 00:11:11,213
whether you're blind, whether you have a disability,

262
00:11:11,213 --> 00:11:13,758
or you haven't quite found yours yet.

263
00:11:13,758 --> 00:11:16,185
So thank you.

264
00:11:16,185 --> 00:11:20,185
(Applause)