Sitting next to a pond watching the ducks or geese would be so relaxing
I read somewhere that there was a huge old mall, which had outlived it's usefulness and rather than tear it down, they converted it into a Central Health Center, with small apartments, for the disabled and elderly.
How about turning much of the paved parking lot into a beautiful pond, where you can watch the ducks and geese floating peacefully, with not a care in the world. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to sit next to the pond, with it's well kept grass and shade trees around it, with benches and picnic tables?
Being disabled and using braces and crutches, it was fairly easy to for me to get around, at first. I was able to drive a car, with hand controls, which opened up a new world for me. When I was younger, it was easy for me to service my first car, myself, and get in and out of it.
Over time, it became more and more difficult for me to get around. Having been diagnosed with polio, when I was 2 ½, it seemed as I got older, I began losing the strength, in my arms. When I was young, it was somewhat easy for me to get up, whenever I fell.
I had a few jobs, in the mid 1970's, but they didn't last. Finally it came to the point, where no matter where I looked, I could not find a job. When I gave up, I had taken a night class, in upholstery, so decided to create my own job and start my own upholstery business.
People thought I was crazy, to try and do something so labor intensive, but I wanted to try and take care of myself. At that time, it was next to impossible to even begin to live on disability, since you didn't get much of a cash benefit each month.
I survived, in a way, on the upholstery, as long as I had someone bring the furniture to me and put it on the tables, which I had made. I think working with the upholstery is what kept my strength up, but eventually it kept getting more and more difficult for me to do and I was losing interest in it.
I stopped upholstering the end of 2008 and little by little, it became more and more difficult for me to get around. I had finally gotten on disability, in the fall of 2002, and the monthly benefit wasn't all that bad, but I had too many expenses, so was always scraping, to get by.
By the fall of 2010, when I moved into a different apartment, I decided to check into getting a power chair. At that time, I was still walking with braces and crutches, but was stumbling and actually falling from time to time.
Not wanting to do something to either one or both my arms, I started the process of getting a power wheel chair. I was lucky, in the sense I had Medicare and Medicaid, so with the 2 of them, was able to get a power wheel chair although the red tape took me almost 6 months, before I actually finally got it.
I had lucked out and found a mini van, with a ramp and hand controls and with the help of a generous couple, from my church, was able to purchase it. Of course it cost $10,000 and the payment was $276 a month, plus the insurance and upkeep.
I was able to move into a low-income apartment, in a city not far from where I was currently living. My rent was based on how much I made, I had electric heat, so since I lived upstairs, facing northeast, my electric was not too expensive, which made it much easier to make ends meet.
I was depending on the disability and the paper routes, which I was doing, to help me pay the bills. Of course the company I was delivering the papers for, was taking advantage of me and I was only ruining my vehicle, while they got someone to deliver their shoppers for practically free. With all my expenses, I doubt I was making anything doing it.
Of course I ended up totaling, the van, but I got enough out of the accident, to pay off the loan, on the van, so now without all those expenses, it was much easier for me to make ends meet.
Now that I no longer had the van, I really didn't need a vehicle, because without the vehicle, I could not deliver the papers anymore, so that meant even fewer bills and expenses. Being where I am at, it is handy, with the power chair, to go shopping, even though it is about a mile away.
I would love to find a place, maybe in an old shopping mall, which has been repurposed and now has Health Care, apartments, a small grocery store & little shops featuring items hand made, by residents or locals, in the area. I would love to be able to plant flowers and take care of them.
I would love to have most of what I would need, within easy access, inside, yet able to access other areas outside. Maybe have a pond, with a lot of trees, flowers and shrubs.
There are a lot of people, who don't drive, who would love to live in something like this. Being an old mall, there would be numerous sky lights to bring in natural lighting, plenty of greenery, maybe a fountain, with a pool around it and plenty of room to walk, for exercise.
Even though you would be inside, you would still have access to the outside, where the massive parking lot is replaced by a pond, surrounded by grass and other greenery. There could be picnic tables and benches, where you could sit and absorb the natural surroundings and the sound of nature.
It got me to thinking. More below the fold.
Seeing the article about converting a useless mall into something creative and worthwhile intrigued me and I thought more about it. It would be a great idea, to convert a mall to this type of purpose, a Healthcare Center, plus apartments.
The Healthcare Center would be able to provide professionals, to check on people, who needed help with their medications and needed to be checked on regularly. When the person would need to visit the Doctor, it would be easy to walk, use a walker, or take a wheel chair, to their doctor's appointments, which they would have in the Health Center.
Think of the new jobs it would create, for healthcare workers. Maybe some of the residents would be able to make a little money helping take care of their fellow residents, if only just to visit and make sure they are okay.
How about an exercise pool, heated to soothe stiff joints, with a ramp going into it, where disabled people could be easily wheeled into the pool, for exercising or water aerobics, for those able to perform it. There could also be special classes to help elderly and disabled work out in the pool, where it would be easier for them to keep their bodies in shape.
There would be small 1 & 2 bedroom apartments available, on 2 floors, where people, who no longer wanted to rely on a car to get around, could live. They would be low income, so the rent would be based on your ability to pay and there would be an elevator servicing the 2nd floor.
The 2nd floor apartments, which would face outside toward the pond, would have a small balcony, where a small patio table and a couple chairs could be placed, to eat outside. The lower apartments would have patios beneath the upper apartments balcony. All the apartments would have patio doors.
There would be the central hallways, where people could exercise, inside, with special raised planters, near each apartment, where residents could plant flowers or vegetables. There would be one large central water feature, with a pool around it and tables, where people could eat, plus other smaller features throughout the complex.
There would be a small bistro or some other food service, which could make food, for the residents, much like the meals on wheels service and it would make it easier to distribute to the residents. There could be some other small restaurants, surrounding the main water feature, with plenty of tables & benches, where people could eat or even play games. The bistro or any of the small restaurants, could also have tables outside on a patio, for residents, so they could eat outside, if they wished.
Maybe a small inexpensive grocery store, with fresh farm produce, locally grown, in the area, which would be available, for you to buy, so you have the benefit of fresh fruit & vegetables. It would help the local farmers, or vegetable growers get their products to the consumer a lot faster, so there would be less of a need for preservatives. The local farmers could make more money doing it and even raise vegetables, to be featured in the farm market section, of the grocery store.
There would be some raised gardens, for those in wheel chairs, or those unable to stoop to tend a normal garden. There would be some garden plots inside and outside, which would be like a normal garden, for those, who can get down to take care of it.
People could tend the planters, near their apartments, planting flowers vegetables or other decorative plants. With the high ceilings, there would be plenty of huge skylights, which would illuminate the inside brightly, with natural light, making it bright and helping the plants,which were planted, to grow.
The apartments could be also set up to face a central courtyard, where you could have a small patio, to sit outside. There would be stairs, for exercising, to get from one floor, to the next, but also an elevator.
How about a multitude of solar panels on the roof, to help provide the electricity, for the center, making the electrical bills less costly. The flat roof, where the panels are placed, could also have open green areas, with lush lawns and places to plant vegetable gardens, to maybe help supply the small grocery store, or flowers
Being inside, out of the weather, you could walk to the small inexpensive grocery store, to purchase items as you need them. There would also be some small shops, to do shopping, all while inside. Maybe a shop, which would feature handmade articles, from many of the residents, to supplement their income. Maybe some of the residents could get part time jobs, at the grocery store or one of the small shops.
Outside, the open area around the pond would have plenty of medium size trees, which would provide plenty of shade, but would not grow too big, as to provide problems from storms, when they are full grown. There would be community gardens, at ground level, but also raised, for those in wheelchairs or walkers, who are unable to take care of plants on the ground.
People could plant flowers or vegetables, in this area, which would not only provide them with occupational therapy, but would keep them fit, while providing a relaxing atmosphere, for everyone. There would also be a lot of lush greenery, which a care taker, would keep mowed or residents could get part time work, helping keep the grass mowed and the gardens tended.
I see concrete sidewalks going around to all of these features, picnic tables and benches, for people to enjoy the outdoors. It would probably be in a warmer climate, but preferably not in an area noted for numerous storms. It could be in an area where there is some cold and snow, but not too much. In the winter, some of the sidewalks could be shoveled to proved an outside walking area, when the weather permits, for those who are able to and wanted to walk.
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