A new report on the best and worst cities in the U.S. for persons with disabilities ranks four of the largest cities in the San Joaquin Valley in or near the bottom half of the list, based on economic, cost of living and quality of life factors.
WalletHub, a personal finance website and app, issued its latest report Sept. 23 covering 182 cities across the country. Twenty-nine California cities were included in the report, of which four are in the San Joaquin Valley: Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton and Modesto.
The Valley cities’ rankings are:
- Modesto: 82nd overall, including 71st for economic factors, 77th for quality of life and 103rd for health care factors.
- Bakersfield: 99th overall, including 72nd for economic factors, 100th for quality of life and 111th for health care.
- Fresno: 101st overall, including 149th for economic factors, 58th for quality of life and 88th for health care.
- Stockton: 122nd overall, including 145th for economic factors, 64th for quality of life and 132nd for health care.
In its analysis, WalletHub considered a wide range of data, from the cost of living and employment rates for persons with disabilities, to the cost of doctor visits and the number of physicians and nurses per capita, the percentage of the population with access to walkable parks, accessible buildings and businesses, and the availability of housing for people with disabilities, including senior citizens.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates there are an estimated 548,000 people in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley region with some form of disability, whether limited mobility, cognitive issues or limited ability to care for themselves. That’s almost 13% of the overall population.
“Many disabled people face challenges of expenses that are much greater than income, and insufficient wealth to fill the gap,” wrote Arthur Blaser, a professor emeritus in the departments of Peace and Justice Studies and Political Science at Chapman University in southern California. “This is aggravated by often great inequalities by race, gender, age, immigration status and other factors.”
“Some analysts and advocates describe the greater expenses for transportation, housing, health care, energy, nutrition and other factors and write of a ‘disability tax’ that captures the cumulative effect of the inequalities confronting many disabled people,” Blaser added.
Misty Vetter Parsley, a professor of education at Lipscomb University in Tennessee and executive director of the university’s Office of Accessibility and Learning Supports, wrote in the report that the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, was adopted 35 years ago. “Yet we still are so far behind with accessibility.”
“First of all, every business should be accessible,” Parsley wrote. “There is no reason to design a space unless every single person can enter. The reality is we have no idea when we might need access (injuries, illnesses, aging, etc.).”
“Secondly, transportation options need to be enhanced, especially in rural areas,” she added. “Finally, we need to overcome the stigma of people with disabilities by highlighting their strengths and showing their abilities.”
Huntington Beach, in southern California, was the only California city to rank among the top 10 best cities in the WalletHub report, coming in at No. 4. The top 10 cities in the analysis were:
- St. Louis, Missouri.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Columbus, Ohio
- Huntington Beach, California
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Columbia, Maryland
Tim Sheehan is a senior reporter and Health Reporting Fellow with the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. The CVJC fellowship is supported by a grant from the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust. Contact Sheehan at tim@cvlocaljournalism.org.