Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelScottsOffice
I was under the impression that in high rises that have senior housing they purposefully have separate elevators for staff and in case of emergencies they can move quicker through the building to ambulance or whatnot. Lower floors also make sense for seniors in case of emergencies or fires.
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So then to be consistent with what you are saying, no seniors would be allowed to live on the upper floors if they could afford the market rate apartments because of the threat of fire and emergencies. Remember that the division between the haves and the have less is based only along economic lines, and there has been nothing said about the poor apartments being built for seniors with special physical needs.
On the plans the two elevator shafts are leading off separate lobbies, and there's no indication that the 'have more' elevators could even stop on the lower floors if they needed to, they are walled off. The division is not based on staffing needs, it's based on the well known fact that poor people smell funny and the 'have more' crowd just don't want to be put out by having to deal with that foul odor.
But the separation is complete; the 'rich' might never have any interaction with the 'poor' and I'm guessing that the poor won't be allowed to interact with the rich if they try to, and the design makes it clear that is the intent. I believe that is a wrong headed use of public funds and very bad policy.
Personally I don't think there's any way this segregation can be justified, and to happen in a project that has "equal justice" in it's name is laughable and despicable. Not only do I think this enforced segregation can't be justified I don't think it's good for the actual people who will end up living in this building. A variety of studies have tried to show the bad effects of various forms of segregation; it would probably benefit both 'classes' of tenants if both forms of apartments were mixed in with each other throughout the building. Its interesting to read how some people try to make sense of this segregation, as if developers and architects are somehow in a class of people who would never willingly be a part of such a terrible decision.