The week before I started school, I went on a trip to Santa Barbara to close out my gap year. While there, I had an amazing experience with integrating accessible disability parking. This week, I want to highlight that experience while sharing why integrating accessible disability parking is important.
I stayed at Hotel Milo, which wound up being a great place to stay. I want to get this out of the way, it is expensive, especially if you stay over the weekend. However, you can't beat the location and service. I could walk to the beach, pier, and weekend art set up. The staff were so friendly, and personable. I lost my reusable water bottle, and drove back to ask if I left it there after checking out. They found it for me, and were nice during the whole exchange. I could also park at the hotel, for a fee. However, one of the valet people who oversee parking noticed my disability placard sitting in the cupholders of my car and asked if it was an active placard. After saying it was mine and current, the parking fee was completely waived. This stood out to me because I did not have to ask for that, an employee took care of it for me. I felt seen as a disabled person, which in my experience does not happen very often. For the duration of my stay, I knew that I didn't need to choose between close parking and exporbenent fees.
While in Santa Barbara, I checked out the zoo. It was easy enough to navigate, with ramp options to see the animals, and even some experiences where visitors could walk inside of the enclosures of safe animals. I went inside the kangaroo experience, and it was very cool. While there, people could rent strollers and scooters for a fee. I was bummed that wheelchairs needed to be rented, as it is not always a choice to not be able to walk. However, parking with a handicapped placard was also free. There were spaces for disability placards right at the front, and I was not asked for proof that it was my placard beyond showing I had a placard. While it is nice to not have to prove my disability, I worry that with how lax both the zoo and hotel were, people will take placards they do not need to get free parking. I hope that does not become a problem, because it was nice to not have to worry about choosing between close parking and saving money.
I want to talk about why my experience with accessible disability parking is so important. For many people, there is an option to either pay for close parking, or park somewhere else and take a shuttle or walk. I do not have this option. Walking around a zoo, the beach, downtown, and other longer adventures takes it out of me. My feet hurt, my legs get sore, and I become more tired. I am then forced to pay more money to accommodate myself, when I otherwise might have chosen not to. In Santa Barbara, it felt like that experience was understood for the first time.
I am lucky that where I live, parking is usually free. However, once I go down into larger cities I am suddenly burdened with paying for parking almost everywhere. According to the DMV, the only free parking for people with a disability placard is on metered parking (Department of Beaches and Harbors, n.d). The placard also allows for time restrictions on street parking to be lifted. However, other rules including street sweeping vacate signs and private parking fees must be followed. I don't stop being disabled for private businesses or on street sweeping days, so the law leaves room for improvement. I then want to highlight that both Hotel Milo and the Santa Barbara zoo are not required to offer that courtesy. Instead, they chose to do so for the accessibility of disabled people. I hope other businesses can learn from this, and that the ones who chose to integrate accessibility in ways that actually hear disabled people are rewarded.
Thank you for reading about accessible parking during my trip in Santa Barbara. If you have any questions or comments, send me a message at @Anniekrollblog on Instagram or Facebook. I hope to see you next week!
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