Destinations

I got a call from Chicago columnist Jane Oppermann yesterday. Seems she is focusing on accessible travel in her Prime Time column next week, so she wanted to chat a bit about the realities of travel for slow walkers and wheelchair-users. I don’t want to pull the rug out from under Jane and give you all the details about our conversation (you’ll have to read her column for that) but suffice it to say it left me thinking about Chicago for the rest of the day.

It also left me thinking about Chicago access resources, more specifically Accessible Chicago. I first featured this fledgling website last year, not long after Catherine Marsden created it as the final project for her marketing class. I listed it in the Emerging Horizons database because it had potential. It was a little light on content, but it had enough to warrant a link. Still, I wondered if it would morph into a meaty site or simply die on the vine after the class ended. Curiosity of course got the better of me, so I revisited Catherine’s site yesterday. I’m happy to report that it morphed.

The basic goal of the site is to give folks access information for day trips around Chicago. Since I first visited the site, Catherine has added more reviews, but the access information (which was very complete from the beginning) is presented in the same useful narrative manner. Catherine describes the access of each venue and even includes maps with accessible parking options clearly noted.

In short, she did what I hoped she would do. And apparently the site is still growing as Catherine hopes to add more access reviews in the future. So if a trip to the Windy City is in your future, check out Catherine’s very useful website at accessiblechicago.com.

You won’t be disappointed.