The Best Cities To Live In With a Wheelchair

Advocating for accessibility in every city you live in is important, especially if you have a disability that affects your mobility and requires a wheelchair for some or all of your transportation. Chronic fatigue, chronic pain, amputations, old age, and cerebral disorders are just some of the reasons people need wheelchairs or mobility scooters to move around.

You may be searching for a city to live in that cares for residents with mobility impairment. If so, consider moving to one of the best cities to live in with a wheelchair on this list.

Chicago, Illinois

As the third most populated city in the country, Chicago is the place to be if you want a big city feel with an accommodating public transit system and accessible buildings. All of the city’s trains, buses, and most of its inner-city stations are wheelchair-friendly. The trains themselves have locations to secure your wheelchair along with accessibility features. Buses all have lifts and ramps to help you board without feeling like you’re disrupting transit.

Living in Chicago does mean that you’ll have to adjust to snowy, bitter-cold winters and humid summers. However, most buildings have air conditioning and heating to keep their residents comfortable in every season. The roads and sidewalks around the city aren’t very hilly, allowing you to roll wherever you want to go without facing impossible difficulties.

Portland, Oregon

With its quirky population and focus on eco-friendliness, Portland is the perfect place to settle down if you want to meet others who share your progressive ideology. All its modes of transportation provide wheelchair-accessible features. The bus system utilizes a user-friendly app for ticketing and provides wheelchair users with lower prices.

Additionally, the renewal process for Oregon’s handicap parking permit is easy to maneuver and comes in various options to suit your specific needs. Along with all the accessible nature preserves, national parks, and fun attractions within and around the city, you’ll find yourself fitting right at home in America’s “weirdest” city.

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city that stays either comfortably warm or hot all year long. Its weather won’t require all-terrain tires. Since it has numerous attractions that families of all ages can enjoy daily, the city and its surroundings are considerably wheelchair-friendly. Orlando also has a city-wide door-to-door transportation network called Access Lynx. It can take those who are unable to ride fixed-route buses to their destinations. In addition to Orlando’s reliable network of hospitals, this fact makes it one of the best cities to live in with a wheelchair.