This 40-page CIL-created survey of the accessibility of Telegraph Ave businesses is a remarkable document on a number of levels. Most obviously, it demonstrates how the CIL took on the challenge of surveying public accessibility and of designing the small and large solutions that, if implemented, would make public spaces truly open to the public. (Please download the full file, through the link to the right, to read the full report.)
Less obviously perhaps, it evokes the physical spaces of Telegraph Ave — from the clutter of bookstores to the interior design of clothing stores. It is attentive to the sort of atmospheric details that make up the experience of the Telegraph Ave visitor.
Lastly, the drawings of Telegraph storefronts (by Michelle Echenique, who created all the illustrations for the project) capture every business then operating on the Ave. They offer a snapshot of the mix of businesses — the bookstores and comics stores, the cafes and restaurants, the clothing stores and travel agencies — that attracted people to the Ave in the mid-’80s.
