1
00:00:03,170 --> 00:00:06,151
So, stepping down out of the bus,

2
00:00:06,151 --> 00:00:07,896
I headed back to the corner

3
00:00:07,896 --> 00:00:11,284
to head west en route to a braille training session.

4
00:00:11,284 --> 00:00:13,394
It was the winter of 2009,

5
00:00:13,394 --> 00:00:15,815
and I had been blind for about a year.

6
00:00:15,815 --> 00:00:17,948
Things were going pretty well.

7
00:00:17,948 --> 00:00:19,855
Safely reaching the other side,

8
00:00:19,855 --> 00:00:21,316
I turned to the left,

9
00:00:21,316 --> 00:00:23,920
pushed the auto-button for
the audible pedestrian signal,

10
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:25,844
and waited my turn.

11
00:00:25,844 --> 00:00:27,933
As it went off, I took off

12
00:00:27,933 --> 00:00:29,606
and safely go to the other side.

13
00:00:29,606 --> 00:00:31,702
Stepping on to the sidewalk,

14
00:00:31,702 --> 00:00:34,396
I then heard the sound of a steel chair

15
00:00:34,396 --> 00:00:38,552
slide across the concrete sidewalk in front of me.

16
00:00:38,552 --> 00:00:40,469
I know there's a cafe on the corner,

17
00:00:40,469 --> 00:00:42,115
and they have chairs out in front,

18
00:00:42,115 --> 00:00:43,511
so I just adjusted to the left

19
00:00:43,511 --> 00:00:45,355
to get closer to the street.

20
00:00:45,355 --> 00:00:49,688
As I did, so slid the chair.

21
00:00:49,688 --> 00:00:51,076
I just figured I'd made a mistake,

22
00:00:51,076 --> 00:00:52,914
and went back to the right,

23
00:00:52,914 --> 00:00:56,409
and so slid the chair in perfect synchronicity.

24
00:00:56,409 --> 00:00:58,774
Now I was getting a little anxious.

25
00:00:58,774 --> 00:01:00,387
I went back to the left,

26
00:01:00,387 --> 00:01:01,676
and so slid the chair,

27
00:01:01,676 --> 00:01:04,284
blocking my path of travel.

28
00:01:04,284 --> 00:01:07,286
Now, I was officially freaking out.

29
00:01:07,286 --> 00:01:08,871
So I yelled,

30
00:01:08,871 --> 00:01:12,132
"Who the hell's out there? What's going on?"

31
00:01:12,132 --> 00:01:14,384
Just then, over my shout,

32
00:01:14,384 --> 00:01:17,623
I heard something else, a familiar rattle.

33
00:01:17,623 --> 00:01:18,915
It sounded familiar,

34
00:01:18,915 --> 00:01:20,778
and I quickly considered another possibility,

35
00:01:20,778 --> 00:01:22,709
and I reached out with my left hand,

36
00:01:22,709 --> 00:01:26,113
as my fingers brushed against something fuzzy,

37
00:01:26,113 --> 00:01:28,664
and I came across an ear,

38
00:01:28,664 --> 00:01:32,926
the ear of a dog, perhaps a golden retriever.

39
00:01:32,926 --> 00:01:34,915
Its leash had been tied to the chair

40
00:01:34,915 --> 00:01:36,652
as her master went in for coffee,

41
00:01:36,652 --> 00:01:38,444
and she was just persistent in her efforts

42
00:01:38,444 --> 00:01:41,782
to greet me, perhaps get a scratch behind the ear.

43
00:01:41,782 --> 00:01:44,394
Who knows, maybe she was volunteering for service.

44
00:01:44,394 --> 00:01:46,773
(Laughter)

45
00:01:46,773 --> 00:01:49,182
But that little story is really about

46
00:01:49,182 --> 00:01:52,381
the fears and misconceptions that come along

47
00:01:52,381 --> 00:01:55,284
with the idea of moving through the city

48
00:01:55,284 --> 00:01:56,607
without sight,

49
00:01:56,607 --> 00:01:59,568
seemingly oblivious to the environment

50
00:01:59,568 --> 00:02:02,468
and the people around you.

51
00:02:02,468 --> 00:02:06,369
So let me step back and set the stage a little bit.

52
00:02:06,369 --> 00:02:08,928
On St. Patrick's Day of 2008,

53
00:02:08,928 --> 00:02:11,515
I reported to the hospital for surgery

54
00:02:11,515 --> 00:02:13,709
to remove a brain tumor.

55
00:02:13,709 --> 00:02:15,796
The surgery was successful.

56
00:02:15,796 --> 00:02:18,965
Two days later, my sight started to fail.

57
00:02:18,965 --> 00:02:22,487
On the third day, it was gone.

58
00:02:22,487 --> 00:02:24,584
Immediately, I was struck by an incredible sense

59
00:02:24,584 --> 00:02:28,473
of fear, of confusion, of vulnerability,

60
00:02:28,473 --> 00:02:30,922
like anybody would.

61
00:02:30,922 --> 00:02:33,938
But as I had time to stop and think,

62
00:02:33,938 --> 00:02:35,165
I actually started to realize

63
00:02:35,165 --> 00:02:38,089
I had a lot to be grateful for.

64
00:02:38,089 --> 00:02:41,085
In particular, I thought about my dad,

65
00:02:41,085 --> 00:02:43,282
who had passed away from complications

66
00:02:43,282 --> 00:02:45,385
from brain surgery.

67
00:02:45,385 --> 00:02:50,476
He was 36. I was seven at the time.

68
00:02:50,476 --> 00:02:53,169
So although I had every reason

69
00:02:53,169 --> 00:02:55,401
to be fearful of what was ahead,

70
00:02:55,401 --> 00:02:58,035
and had no clue quite what was going to happen,

71
00:02:58,035 --> 00:02:59,793
I was alive.

72
00:02:59,793 --> 00:03:02,505
My son still had his dad.

73
00:03:02,505 --> 00:03:04,392
And besides, it's not like I was the first person

74
00:03:04,392 --> 00:03:06,005
ever to lose their sight.

75
00:03:06,005 --> 00:03:08,154
I knew there had to be all sorts of systems

76
00:03:08,154 --> 00:03:10,471
and techniques and training to have

77
00:03:10,471 --> 00:03:13,033
to live a full and meaningful, active life

78
00:03:13,033 --> 00:03:14,635
without sight.

79
00:03:14,635 --> 00:03:16,782
So by the time I was discharged from the hospital

80
00:03:16,782 --> 00:03:19,486
a few days later, I left with a mission,

81
00:03:19,486 --> 00:03:21,616
a mission to get out and get the best training

82
00:03:21,616 --> 00:03:26,780
as quickly as I could and get on to rebuilding my life.

83
00:03:26,780 --> 00:03:30,828
Within six months, I had returned to work.

84
00:03:30,828 --> 00:03:32,430
My training had started.

85
00:03:32,430 --> 00:03:34,090
I even started riding a tandem bike

86
00:03:34,090 --> 00:03:35,715
with my old cycling buddies,

87
00:03:35,715 --> 00:03:38,412
and was commuting to work on my own,

88
00:03:38,412 --> 00:03:40,887
walking through town and taking the bus.

89
00:03:40,887 --> 00:03:43,650
It was a lot of hard work.

90
00:03:43,650 --> 00:03:45,917
But what I didn't anticipate

91
00:03:45,917 --> 00:03:48,889
through that rapid transition

92
00:03:48,889 --> 00:03:52,637
was the incredible experience of the juxtaposition

93
00:03:52,637 --> 00:03:56,577
of my sighted experience
up against my unsighted experience

94
00:03:56,577 --> 00:03:59,250
of the same places and the same people

95
00:03:59,250 --> 00:04:02,753
within such a short period of time.

96
00:04:02,753 --> 00:04:04,649
From that came a lot of insights,

97
00:04:04,649 --> 00:04:06,146
or outsights, as I called them,

98
00:04:06,146 --> 00:04:09,535
things that I learned since losing my sight.

99
00:04:09,535 --> 00:04:12,502
These outsights ranged from the trival

100
00:04:12,502 --> 00:04:14,167
to the profound,

101
00:04:14,167 --> 00:04:16,735
from the mundane to the humorous.

102
00:04:16,735 --> 00:04:19,752
As an architect, that stark juxtaposition

103
00:04:19,752 --> 00:04:22,266
of my sighted and unsighted experience

104
00:04:22,266 --> 00:04:24,551
of the same places and the same cities

105
00:04:24,551 --> 00:04:26,564
within such a short period of time

106
00:04:26,564 --> 00:04:28,770
has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights

107
00:04:28,770 --> 00:04:31,944
of the city itself.

108
00:04:31,944 --> 00:04:33,818
Paramount amongst those

109
00:04:33,818 --> 00:04:35,812
was the realization that, actually,

110
00:04:35,812 --> 00:04:39,752
cities are fantastic places for the blind.

111
00:04:39,752 --> 00:04:42,073
And then I was also surprised

112
00:04:42,073 --> 00:04:45,441
by the city's propensity for kindness and care

113
00:04:45,441 --> 00:04:48,921
as opposed to indifference or worse.

114
00:04:48,921 --> 00:04:50,684
And then I started to realize that

115
00:04:50,684 --> 00:04:52,673
it seemed like the blind seemed to have

116
00:04:52,673 --> 00:04:56,742
a positive influence on the city itself.

117
00:04:56,742 --> 00:04:59,996
That was a little curious to me.

118
00:04:59,996 --> 00:05:02,556
Let me step back and take a look

119
00:05:02,556 --> 00:05:07,918
at why the city is so good for the blind.

120
00:05:07,918 --> 00:05:11,540
Inherent with the training for recovery from sight loss

121
00:05:11,540 --> 00:05:15,411
is learning to rely on all your non-visual senses,

122
00:05:15,411 --> 00:05:18,637
things that you would otherwise maybe ignore.

123
00:05:18,637 --> 00:05:21,182
It's like a whole new world of sensory information

124
00:05:21,182 --> 00:05:22,631
opens up to you.

125
00:05:22,631 --> 00:05:24,159
I was really struck by the symphony

126
00:05:24,159 --> 00:05:27,135
of subtle sounds all around me in the city

127
00:05:27,135 --> 00:05:28,427
that you can hear and work with

128
00:05:28,427 --> 00:05:30,309
to understand where you are,

129
00:05:30,309 --> 00:05:33,114
how you need to move, and where you need to go.

130
00:05:33,114 --> 00:05:35,838
Similarly, just through the grip of the cane,

131
00:05:35,838 --> 00:05:39,752
you can feel contrasting textures in the floor below,

132
00:05:39,752 --> 00:05:42,186
and over time you build a pattern of where you are

133
00:05:42,186 --> 00:05:43,728
and where you're headed.

134
00:05:43,728 --> 00:05:46,620
Similarly, just the sun warming one side of your face

135
00:05:46,620 --> 00:05:49,449
or the wind at your neck

136
00:05:49,449 --> 00:05:51,649
gives you clues about your alignment

137
00:05:51,649 --> 00:05:53,342
and your progression through a block

138
00:05:53,342 --> 00:05:56,847
and your movement through time and space.

139
00:05:56,847 --> 00:05:59,280
But also, the sense of smell.

140
00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:01,981
Some districts and cities have their own smell,

141
00:06:01,981 --> 00:06:05,022
as do places and things around you,

142
00:06:05,022 --> 00:06:06,814
and if you're lucky, you can even follow your nose

143
00:06:06,814 --> 00:06:10,243
to that new bakery that you've been looking for.

144
00:06:10,243 --> 00:06:11,952
All this really surprised me,

145
00:06:11,952 --> 00:06:14,957
because I started to realize that

146
00:06:14,957 --> 00:06:17,510
not my eye-sighted experienced

147
00:06:17,510 --> 00:06:19,945
was so far more multi-sensory

148
00:06:19,945 --> 00:06:22,970
than my sighted experience ever was.

149
00:06:22,970 --> 00:06:25,710
What struck me also was how much the city

150
00:06:25,710 --> 00:06:27,866
was changing around me.

151
00:06:27,866 --> 00:06:29,079
When you're sighted,

152
00:06:29,079 --> 00:06:31,268
everybody kind of sticks to themselves,

153
00:06:31,268 --> 00:06:33,081
minds your own business.

154
00:06:33,081 --> 00:06:34,348
Lose your sight, though,

155
00:06:34,348 --> 00:06:37,147
and it's a whole nother story.

156
00:06:37,147 --> 00:06:38,626
And I don't know who's watching who,

157
00:06:38,626 --> 00:06:42,652
but I have a suspicion that
a lot of people are watching me.

158
00:06:42,652 --> 00:06:44,323
And I'm not paranoid, but everywhere I go,

159
00:06:44,323 --> 00:06:47,352
I'm getting all sorts of advice:

160
00:06:47,352 --> 00:06:50,226
go here, move there, watch out for this.

161
00:06:50,226 --> 00:06:51,749
A lot of the information is good.

162
00:06:51,749 --> 00:06:54,235
Some of it's helpful. A lot of it's kind of reversed.

163
00:06:54,235 --> 00:06:57,804
You've got to figure our what they actually meant.

164
00:06:57,804 --> 00:07:01,357
Some of it's kind of wrong and not helpful.

165
00:07:01,357 --> 00:07:04,368
But it's all good in the grand scheme of things.

166
00:07:04,368 --> 00:07:05,904
But one time I was in Oakland

167
00:07:05,904 --> 00:07:08,791
walking along Broadway, and came to a corner.

168
00:07:08,791 --> 00:07:11,598
I was waiting for an audible pedestrian signal,

169
00:07:11,598 --> 00:07:14,084
and as it went off, I was just about
to step out into the street,

170
00:07:14,084 --> 00:07:15,901
when all of a sudden, my right hand

171
00:07:15,901 --> 00:07:17,796
was just gripped by this guy,

172
00:07:17,796 --> 00:07:20,208
and he yanked my arm
and pulled me out into the crosswalk

173
00:07:20,208 --> 00:07:21,882
and was dragging me out across the street,

174
00:07:21,882 --> 00:07:24,473
speaking to me in Mandarin.

175
00:07:24,473 --> 00:07:25,542
(Laughter)

176
00:07:25,542 --> 00:07:29,681
It's like, there was no escape
from this man's death grip,

177
00:07:29,681 --> 00:07:31,404
but he got me safely there.

178
00:07:31,404 --> 00:07:33,754
What could I do?

179
00:07:33,754 --> 00:07:35,550
But believe me, there are more polite ways

180
00:07:35,550 --> 00:07:37,723
to offer assistance.

181
00:07:37,723 --> 00:07:39,245
We don't know you're there,

182
00:07:39,245 --> 00:07:41,225
so it's kind of nice to say "Hello" first.

183
00:07:41,225 --> 00:07:43,361
"Would you like some help?"

184
00:07:43,361 --> 00:07:46,412
But while in Oakland, I've really been struck by

185
00:07:46,412 --> 00:07:49,030
how much the city of Oakland changed

186
00:07:49,030 --> 00:07:51,532
as I lost my sight.

187
00:07:51,532 --> 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 --> 00:07:57,544
But once I lost my sight

190
00:07:57,544 --> 00:07:59,859
and was walking along Broadway,

191
00:07:59,859 --> 00:08:03,070
I was blessed every block of the way.

192
00:08:03,070 --> 00:08:04,624
"Bless you, man."

193
00:08:04,624 --> 00:08:06,887
"Go for it, brother."

194
00:08:06,887 --> 00:08:08,637
"God bless you."

195
00:08:08,637 --> 00:08:10,497
I didn't get that sighted.

196
00:08:10,497 --> 00:08:12,649
(Laughter)

197
00:08:12,649 --> 00:08:18,158
And even without sight,
I don't get that in San Francisco.

198
00:08:18,158 --> 00:08:21,150
And I know it bothers some of my blind friends,

199
00:08:21,150 --> 00:08:22,990
it's not just me.

200
00:08:22,990 --> 00:08:24,792
Often it's thought that

201
00:08:24,792 --> 00:08:27,936
that's an emotion that comes up out of pity.

202
00:08:27,936 --> 00:08:31,049
I tend to think that it comes
out of our shared humanity,

203
00:08:31,049 --> 00:08:34,159
out of our togetherness, and I think it's pretty cool.

204
00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:36,019
In fact, if I'm feeling down,

205
00:08:36,019 --> 00:08:37,927
I just go to Broadway in downtown Oakland,

206
00:08:37,927 --> 00:08:40,586
I go for a walk, and I feel better like that,

207
00:08:40,586 --> 00:08:43,857
in no time at all.

208
00:08:43,857 --> 00:08:45,892
But also that it illustrates how

209
00:08:45,892 --> 00:08:47,674
disability and blindness

210
00:08:47,674 --> 00:08:50,394
sort of cuts across ethnic, social,

211
00:08:50,394 --> 00:08:53,120
racial, economic lines.

212
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,955
Disability is an equal-opportunity provider.

213
00:08:56,955 --> 00:08:59,398
Everybody's welcome.

214
00:08:59,398 --> 00:09:01,959
In fact, I've heard it said in the disability community

215
00:09:01,959 --> 00:09:04,461
that there are really only two types of people:

216
00:09:04,461 --> 00:09:06,220
there are those with disabilities,

217
00:09:06,220 --> 00:09:10,882
and there are those that haven't
quite found theirs yet.

218
00:09:10,882 --> 00:09:13,003
It's a different way of thinking about it,

219
00:09:13,003 --> 00:09:15,252
but I think it's kind of beautiful,

220
00:09:15,252 --> 00:09:17,428
because it is certainly far more inclusive

221
00:09:17,428 --> 00:09:19,533
than the us-versus-them

222
00:09:19,533 --> 00:09:22,101
or the able-versus-the-disabled,

223
00:09:22,101 --> 00:09:24,879
and it's a lot more honest and respectful

224
00:09:24,879 --> 00:09:28,183
of the fragility of life.

225
00:09:28,183 --> 00:09:30,108
So my final takeaway for you is

226
00:09:30,108 --> 00:09:34,176
that not only is the city good for the blind,

227
00:09:34,176 --> 00:09:37,355
but the city needs us.

228
00:09:37,355 --> 00:09:39,393
And I'm so sure of that that

229
00:09:39,393 --> 00:09:40,989
I want to propose to you today

230
00:09:40,989 --> 00:09:44,429
that the blind be taken as
the prototypical city dwellers

231
00:09:44,429 --> 00:09:47,868
when imagining new and wonderful cities,

232
00:09:47,868 --> 00:09:49,329
and not the people that are thought about

233
00:09:49,329 --> 00:09:51,808
after the mold has already been cast.

234
00:09:51,808 --> 00:09:54,861
It's too late then.

235
00:09:54,861 --> 00:09:58,045
So if you design a city with the blind in mind,

236
00:09:58,045 --> 00:10:02,630
you'll have a rich, walkable network of sidewalks

237
00:10:02,630 --> 00:10:04,744
with a dense array of options and choices

238
00:10:04,744 --> 00:10:08,176
all available at the street level.

239
00:10:08,176 --> 00:10:10,498
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

240
00:10:10,498 --> 00:10:13,618
sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous.

241
00:10:13,618 --> 00:10:15,971
The space between buildings will be well-balanced

242
00:10:15,971 --> 00:10:19,410
between people and cars.

243
00:10:19,410 --> 00:10:23,467
In fact, cars, who needs them?

244
00:10:23,467 --> 00:10:26,552
If you're blind, you don't drive. (Laughter)

245
00:10:26,552 --> 00:10:29,915
They don't like it when you drive. (Laughter)

246
00:10:29,915 --> 00:10:32,625
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

247
00:10:32,625 --> 00:10:35,268
you design a city with a robust,

248
00:10:35,268 --> 00:10:38,960
accessible, well-connected mass transit system

249
00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,562
that connects all parts of the city

250
00:10:40,562 --> 00:10:43,581
and the region all around.

251
00:10:43,581 --> 00:10:45,647
If you design a city with the blind in mind,

252
00:10:45,647 --> 00:10:48,466
there'll be jobs, lots of jobs.

253
00:10:48,466 --> 00:10:49,796
Blind people want to work too.

254
00:10:49,796 --> 00:10:52,235
They want to earn a living.

255
00:10:52,235 --> 00:10:54,991
So, in designing a city for the blind,

256
00:10:54,991 --> 00:10:57,060
I hope you start to realize

257
00:10:57,060 --> 00:10:59,938
that it actually would be a more inclusive,

258
00:10:59,938 --> 00:11:03,544
a more equitable, a more just city for all.

259
00:11:03,544 --> 00:11:05,764
And based on my prior sighted experience,

260
00:11:05,764 --> 00:11:07,742
it sounds like a pretty cool city,

261
00:11:07,742 --> 00:11:11,089
whether you're blind, whether you have a disability,

262
00:11:11,089 --> 00:11:13,573
or you haven't quite found yours yet.

263
00:11:13,573 --> 00:11:16,185
So thank you.

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