WEBVTT 00:00:03.170 --> 00:00:06.151 So, stepping down out of the bus, 00:00:06.151 --> 00:00:07.896 I headed back to the corner 00:00:07.896 --> 00:00:11.284 to head west en route to a braille training session. 00:00:11.284 --> 00:00:13.394 It was the winter of 2009, 00:00:13.394 --> 00:00:15.815 and I had been blind for about a year. 00:00:15.815 --> 00:00:17.948 Things were going pretty well. 00:00:17.948 --> 00:00:19.855 Safely reaching the other side, 00:00:19.855 --> 00:00:21.316 I turned to the left, 00:00:21.316 --> 00:00:23.920 pushed the auto-button for the audible pedestrian signal, 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.844 and waited my turn. 00:00:25.844 --> 00:00:27.933 As it went off, I took off 00:00:27.933 --> 00:00:29.606 and safely got to the other side. 00:00:29.606 --> 00:00:31.702 Stepping onto the sidewalk, 00:00:31.702 --> 00:00:34.396 I then heard the sound of a steel chair 00:00:34.396 --> 00:00:38.552 slide across the concrete sidewalk in front of me. 00:00:38.552 --> 00:00:40.469 I know there's a cafe on the corner, 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:42.115 and they have chairs out in front, 00:00:42.115 --> 00:00:43.511 so I just adjusted to the left 00:00:43.511 --> 00:00:45.355 to get closer to the street. 00:00:45.355 --> 00:00:48.995 As I did, so slid the chair. 00:00:48.995 --> 00:00:51.076 I just figured I'd made a mistake, 00:00:51.076 --> 00:00:52.914 and went back to the right, 00:00:52.914 --> 00:00:56.409 and so slid the chair in perfect synchronicity. 00:00:56.409 --> 00:00:58.774 Now I was getting a little anxious. 00:00:58.774 --> 00:01:00.387 I went back to the left, 00:01:00.387 --> 00:01:01.676 and so slid the chair, 00:01:01.676 --> 00:01:04.284 blocking my path of travel. 00:01:04.284 --> 00:01:07.286 Now, I was officially freaking out. 00:01:07.286 --> 00:01:08.871 So I yelled, 00:01:08.871 --> 00:01:12.132 "Who the hell's out there? What's going on?" 00:01:12.132 --> 00:01:14.384 Just then, over my shout, 00:01:14.384 --> 00:01:17.069 I heard something else, a familiar rattle. 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:18.915 It sounded familiar, 00:01:18.915 --> 00:01:20.778 and I quickly considered another possibility, 00:01:20.778 --> 00:01:22.709 and I reached out with my left hand, 00:01:22.709 --> 00:01:26.113 as my fingers brushed against something fuzzy, 00:01:26.113 --> 00:01:28.664 and I came across an ear, 00:01:28.664 --> 00:01:32.926 the ear of a dog, perhaps a golden retriever. 00:01:32.926 --> 00:01:34.915 Its leash had been tied to the chair 00:01:34.915 --> 00:01:36.652 as her master went in for coffee, 00:01:36.652 --> 00:01:38.444 and she was just persistent in her efforts 00:01:38.444 --> 00:01:41.782 to greet me, perhaps get a scratch behind the ear. 00:01:41.782 --> 00:01:44.394 Who knows, maybe she was volunteering for service. 00:01:44.394 --> 00:01:46.773 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:46.773 --> 00:01:49.182 But that little story is really about 00:01:49.182 --> 00:01:52.381 the fears and misconceptions that come along 00:01:52.381 --> 00:01:55.284 with the idea of moving through the city 00:01:55.284 --> 00:01:56.607 without sight, 00:01:56.607 --> 00:01:59.568 seemingly oblivious to the environment 00:01:59.568 --> 00:02:02.468 and the people around you. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:02.468 --> 00:02:06.369 So let me step back and set the stage a little bit. 00:02:06.369 --> 00:02:08.928 On St. Patrick's Day of 2008, 00:02:08.928 --> 00:02:11.515 I reported to the hospital for surgery 00:02:11.515 --> 00:02:13.709 to remove a brain tumor. 00:02:13.709 --> 00:02:15.796 The surgery was successful. 00:02:15.796 --> 00:02:18.965 Two days later, my sight started to fail. 00:02:18.965 --> 00:02:22.487 On the third day, it was gone. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:22.487 --> 00:02:24.584 Immediately, I was struck by an incredible sense 00:02:24.584 --> 00:02:28.473 of fear, of confusion, of vulnerability, 00:02:28.473 --> 00:02:30.922 like anybody would. 00:02:30.922 --> 00:02:33.414 But as I had time to stop and think, 00:02:33.414 --> 00:02:35.165 I actually started to realize 00:02:35.165 --> 00:02:38.089 I had a lot to be grateful for. 00:02:38.089 --> 00:02:41.085 In particular, I thought about my dad, 00:02:41.085 --> 00:02:43.282 who had passed away from complications 00:02:43.282 --> 00:02:45.385 from brain surgery. 00:02:45.385 --> 00:02:50.476 He was 36. I was seven at the time. 00:02:50.476 --> 00:02:53.169 So although I had every reason 00:02:53.169 --> 00:02:55.401 to be fearful of what was ahead, 00:02:55.401 --> 00:02:58.035 and had no clue quite what was going to happen, 00:02:58.035 --> 00:02:59.793 I was alive. 00:02:59.793 --> 00:03:02.505 My son still had his dad. 00:03:02.505 --> 00:03:04.392 And besides, it's not like I was the first person 00:03:04.392 --> 00:03:06.005 ever to lose their sight. 00:03:06.005 --> 00:03:08.154 I knew there had to be all sorts of systems 00:03:08.154 --> 00:03:10.471 and techniques and training to have 00:03:10.471 --> 00:03:13.033 to live a full and meaningful, active life 00:03:13.033 --> 00:03:14.635 without sight. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:14.635 --> 00:03:16.782 So by the time I was discharged from the hospital 00:03:16.782 --> 00:03:19.486 a few days later, I left with a mission, 00:03:19.486 --> 00:03:21.616 a mission to get out and get the best training 00:03:21.616 --> 00:03:26.780 as quickly as I could and get on to rebuilding my life. 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.828 Within six months, I had returned to work. 00:03:30.828 --> 00:03:32.430 My training had started. 00:03:32.430 --> 00:03:34.090 I even started riding a tandem bike 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:35.715 with my old cycling buddies, 00:03:35.715 --> 00:03:38.412 and was commuting to work on my own, 00:03:38.412 --> 00:03:40.887 walking through town and taking the bus. 00:03:40.887 --> 00:03:43.650 It was a lot of hard work. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:43.650 --> 00:03:45.917 But what I didn't anticipate 00:03:45.917 --> 00:03:48.889 through that rapid transition 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:52.637 was the incredible experience of the juxtaposition 00:03:52.637 --> 00:03:56.577 of my sighted experience up against my unsighted experience 00:03:56.577 --> 00:03:59.250 of the same places and the same people 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:02.753 within such a short period of time. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:02.753 --> 00:04:04.649 From that came a lot of insights, 00:04:04.649 --> 00:04:06.146 or outsights, as I called them, 00:04:06.146 --> 00:04:09.535 things that I learned since losing my sight. 00:04:09.535 --> 00:04:12.502 These outsights ranged from the trival 00:04:12.502 --> 00:04:14.167 to the profound, 00:04:14.167 --> 00:04:16.735 from the mundane to the humorous. 00:04:16.735 --> 00:04:19.752 As an architect, that stark juxtaposition 00:04:19.752 --> 00:04:22.266 of my sighted and unsighted experience 00:04:22.266 --> 00:04:24.551 of the same places and the same cities 00:04:24.551 --> 00:04:26.564 within such a short period of time 00:04:26.564 --> 00:04:28.770 has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights 00:04:28.770 --> 00:04:31.944 of the city itself. 00:04:31.944 --> 00:04:33.818 Paramount amongst those 00:04:33.818 --> 00:04:35.812 was the realization that, actually, 00:04:35.812 --> 00:04:39.752 cities are fantastic places for the blind. 00:04:39.752 --> 00:04:42.073 And then I was also surprised 00:04:42.073 --> 00:04:45.441 by the city's propensity for kindness and care 00:04:45.441 --> 00:04:48.921 as opposed to indifference or worse. 00:04:48.921 --> 00:04:50.684 And then I started to realize that 00:04:50.684 --> 00:04:52.673 it seemed like the blind seemed to have 00:04:52.673 --> 00:04:56.742 a positive influence on the city itself. 00:04:56.742 --> 00:04:59.996 That was a little curious to me. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:59.996 --> 00:05:02.556 Let me step back and take a look 00:05:02.556 --> 00:05:07.918 at why the city is so good for the blind. 00:05:07.918 --> 00:05:11.540 Inherent with the training for recovery from sight loss 00:05:11.540 --> 00:05:15.411 is learning to rely on all your non-visual senses, 00:05:15.411 --> 00:05:18.637 things that you would otherwise maybe ignore. 00:05:18.637 --> 00:05:21.182 It's like a whole new world of sensory information 00:05:21.182 --> 00:05:22.631 opens up to you. 00:05:22.631 --> 00:05:24.159 I was really struck by the symphony 00:05:24.159 --> 00:05:27.135 of subtle sounds all around me in the city 00:05:27.135 --> 00:05:28.427 that you can hear and work with 00:05:28.427 --> 00:05:30.309 to understand where you are, 00:05:30.309 --> 00:05:33.114 how you need to move, and where you need to go. 00:05:33.114 --> 00:05:35.838 Similarly, just through the grip of the cane, 00:05:35.838 --> 00:05:39.752 you can feel contrasting textures in the floor below, 00:05:39.752 --> 00:05:42.186 and over time you build a pattern of where you are 00:05:42.186 --> 00:05:43.728 and where you're headed. 00:05:43.728 --> 00:05:46.620 Similarly, just the sun warming one side of your face 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:49.449 or the wind at your neck 00:05:49.449 --> 00:05:51.649 gives you clues about your alignment 00:05:51.649 --> 00:05:53.342 and your progression through a block 00:05:53.342 --> 00:05:56.847 and your movement through time and space. 00:05:56.847 --> 00:05:59.280 But also, the sense of smell. 00:05:59.280 --> 00:06:01.981 Some districts and cities have their own smell, 00:06:01.981 --> 00:06:05.022 as do places and things around you, 00:06:05.022 --> 00:06:06.814 and if you're lucky, you can even follow your nose 00:06:06.814 --> 00:06:10.243 to that new bakery that you've been looking for. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:10.243 --> 00:06:11.952 All this really surprised me, 00:06:11.952 --> 00:06:14.957 because I started to realize that 00:06:14.957 --> 00:06:17.510 my unsighted experienced 00:06:17.510 --> 00:06:19.945 was so far more multi-sensory 00:06:19.945 --> 00:06:22.970 than my sighted experience ever was. 00:06:22.970 --> 00:06:25.710 What struck me also was how much the city 00:06:25.710 --> 00:06:27.342 was changing around me. 00:06:27.342 --> 00:06:29.079 When you're sighted, 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:31.268 everybody kind of sticks to themselves, 00:06:31.268 --> 00:06:33.081 you mind your own business. 00:06:33.081 --> 00:06:34.348 Lose your sight, though, 00:06:34.348 --> 00:06:37.147 and it's a whole other story. 00:06:37.147 --> 00:06:38.626 And I don't know who's watching who, 00:06:38.626 --> 00:06:42.175 but I have a suspicion that a lot of people are watching me. 00:06:42.175 --> 00:06:44.323 And I'm not paranoid, but everywhere I go, 00:06:44.323 --> 00:06:47.352 I'm getting all sorts of advice: 00:06:47.352 --> 00:06:49.672 Go here, move there, watch out for this. 00:06:49.672 --> 00:06:51.749 A lot of the information is good. 00:06:51.749 --> 00:06:54.235 Some of it's helpful. A lot of it's kind of reversed. 00:06:54.235 --> 00:06:57.804 You've got to figure out what they actually meant. 00:06:57.804 --> 00:07:01.357 Some of it's kind of wrong and not helpful. 00:07:01.357 --> 00:07:04.368 But it's all good in the grand scheme of things. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:04.368 --> 00:07:05.904 But one time I was in Oakland 00:07:05.904 --> 00:07:08.791 walking along Broadway, and came to a corner. 00:07:08.791 --> 00:07:11.598 I was waiting for an audible pedestrian signal, 00:07:11.598 --> 00:07:14.084 and as it went off, I was just about to step out into the street, 00:07:14.084 --> 00:07:16.116 when all of a sudden, my right hand 00:07:16.116 --> 00:07:17.796 was just gripped by this guy, 00:07:17.796 --> 00:07:20.208 and he yanked my arm and pulled me out into the crosswalk 00:07:20.208 --> 00:07:21.882 and was dragging me out across the street, 00:07:21.882 --> 00:07:24.134 speaking to me in Mandarin. 00:07:24.134 --> 00:07:25.542 (Laughter) 00:07:25.542 --> 00:07:29.681 It's like, there was no escape from this man's death grip, 00:07:29.681 --> 00:07:31.404 but he got me safely there. 00:07:31.404 --> 00:07:33.754 What could I do? 00:07:33.754 --> 00:07:35.550 But believe me, there are more polite ways 00:07:35.550 --> 00:07:37.723 to offer assistance. 00:07:37.723 --> 00:07:39.245 We don't know you're there, 00:07:39.245 --> 00:07:41.225 so it's kind of nice to say "Hello" first. 00:07:41.225 --> 00:07:43.361 "Would you like some help?" NOTE Paragraph 00:07:43.361 --> 00:07:46.412 But while in Oakland, I've really been struck by 00:07:46.412 --> 00:07:49.030 how much the city of Oakland changed 00:07:49.030 --> 00:07:51.532 as I lost my sight. 00:07:51.532 --> 00:07:53.699 I liked it sighted. It was fine. 00:07:53.699 --> 00:07:56.275 It's a perfectly great city. 00:07:56.275 --> 00:07:57.544 But once I lost my sight 00:07:57.544 --> 00:07:59.859 and was walking along Broadway, 00:07:59.859 --> 00:08:03.070 I was blessed every block of the way. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:03.070 --> 00:08:04.624 "Bless you, man." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:04.624 --> 00:08:06.887 "Go for it, brother." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:06.887 --> 00:08:08.637 "God bless you." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:08.637 --> 00:08:10.497 I didn't get that sighted. 00:08:10.497 --> 00:08:11.833 (Laughter) 00:08:11.833 --> 00:08:18.158 And even without sight, I don't get that in San Francisco. 00:08:18.158 --> 00:08:21.150 And I know it bothers some of my blind friends, 00:08:21.150 --> 00:08:22.743 it's not just me. 00:08:22.743 --> 00:08:24.792 Often it's thought that 00:08:24.792 --> 00:08:27.936 that's an emotion that comes up out of pity. 00:08:27.936 --> 00:08:31.049 I tend to think that it comes out of our shared humanity, 00:08:31.049 --> 00:08:34.159 out of our togetherness, and I think it's pretty cool. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.019 In fact, if I'm feeling down, 00:08:36.019 --> 00:08:37.927 I just go to Broadway in downtown Oakland, 00:08:37.927 --> 00:08:40.586 I go for a walk, and I feel better like that, 00:08:40.586 --> 00:08:43.857 in no time at all. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:43.857 --> 00:08:45.892 But also that it illustrates how 00:08:45.892 --> 00:08:47.674 disability and blindness 00:08:47.674 --> 00:08:50.394 sort of cuts across ethnic, social, 00:08:50.394 --> 00:08:53.120 racial, economic lines. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:56.955 Disability is an equal-opportunity provider. 00:08:56.955 --> 00:08:59.398 Everybody's welcome. 00:08:59.398 --> 00:09:01.959 In fact, I've heard it said in the disability community 00:09:01.959 --> 00:09:04.461 that there are really only two types of people: 00:09:04.461 --> 00:09:06.220 There are those with disabilities, 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:10.882 and there are those that haven't quite found theirs yet. 00:09:10.882 --> 00:09:13.003 It's a different way of thinking about it, 00:09:13.003 --> 00:09:15.252 but I think it's kind of beautiful, 00:09:15.252 --> 00:09:17.428 because it is certainly far more inclusive 00:09:17.428 --> 00:09:19.533 than the us-versus-them 00:09:19.533 --> 00:09:22.101 or the abled-versus-the-disabled, 00:09:22.101 --> 00:09:24.879 and it's a lot more honest and respectful 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.183 of the fragility of life. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:28.183 --> 00:09:30.108 So my final takeaway for you is 00:09:30.108 --> 00:09:34.176 that not only is the city good for the blind, 00:09:34.176 --> 00:09:37.355 but the city needs us. 00:09:37.355 --> 00:09:39.393 And I'm so sure of that that 00:09:39.393 --> 00:09:40.989 I want to propose to you today 00:09:40.989 --> 00:09:44.429 that the blind be taken as the prototypical city dwellers 00:09:44.429 --> 00:09:47.714 when imagining new and wonderful cities, 00:09:47.714 --> 00:09:49.575 and not the people that are thought about 00:09:49.575 --> 00:09:51.808 after the mold has already been cast. 00:09:51.808 --> 00:09:54.861 It's too late then. 00:09:54.861 --> 00:09:58.045 So if you design a city with the blind in mind, 00:09:58.045 --> 00:10:02.630 you'll have a rich, walkable network of sidewalks 00:10:02.630 --> 00:10:04.744 with a dense array of options and choices 00:10:04.744 --> 00:10:08.176 all available at the street level. 00:10:08.176 --> 00:10:10.498 If you design a city with the blind in mind, 00:10:10.498 --> 00:10:13.618 sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous. 00:10:13.618 --> 00:10:15.971 The space between buildings will be well-balanced 00:10:15.971 --> 00:10:19.410 between people and cars. 00:10:19.410 --> 00:10:23.467 In fact, cars, who needs them? 00:10:23.467 --> 00:10:26.552 If you're blind, you don't drive. (Laughter) 00:10:26.552 --> 00:10:29.915 They don't like it when you drive. (Laughter) 00:10:29.915 --> 00:10:32.625 If you design a city with the blind in mind, 00:10:32.625 --> 00:10:35.268 you design a city with a robust, 00:10:35.268 --> 00:10:38.960 accessible, well-connected mass transit system 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:40.562 that connects all parts of the city 00:10:40.562 --> 00:10:43.581 and the region all around. 00:10:43.581 --> 00:10:45.647 If you design a city with the blind in mind, 00:10:45.647 --> 00:10:48.466 there'll be jobs, lots of jobs. 00:10:48.466 --> 00:10:49.796 Blind people want to work too. 00:10:49.796 --> 00:10:52.235 They want to earn a living. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:52.235 --> 00:10:54.991 So, in designing a city for the blind, 00:10:54.991 --> 00:10:57.060 I hope you start to realize 00:10:57.060 --> 00:10:59.938 that it actually would be a more inclusive, 00:10:59.938 --> 00:11:03.544 a more equitable, a more just city for all. 00:11:03.544 --> 00:11:05.764 And based on my prior sighted experience, 00:11:05.764 --> 00:11:07.742 it sounds like a pretty cool city, 00:11:07.742 --> 00:11:11.089 whether you're blind, whether you have a disability, 00:11:11.089 --> 00:11:13.573 or you haven't quite found yours yet. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:13.573 --> 00:11:16.185 So thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:16.185 --> 00:11:20.185 (Applause)