Meet Steve Wright | Keynote Speaker/Universal Design Thought Leader/Planner/Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Wright and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Ohio, so I am grounded, loyal and show up on time.

My late mother struggled with severe mental illness for her entire adult life.

I became a writer because I wanted to tell the stories of all people — including those that struggled each day of their life.

I later became a leading disability advocate, clearly an outgrowth as a child who served as his mom’s caregiver.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started out as a daily newspaper reporter for a large paper in my native Ohio. I wanted to be a pro sports team beat writer, but got started covering suburban government and zoning meetings.
Learning about town planning and urban design shaped my career as a writer.
I have published thousands of stories about how to make our cities a better place to live — for all people of all abilities, backgrounds and incomes.

I bought a camera to illustrate my stories, even though the Columbus Dispatch newspaper had a staff of top-nothing photojournalists.

When I moved to Miami in 2000, I started having exhibits of my photos — from my trips to Spain and South and Central America.

I got to work with the greatest photographer of the 20th century — Ara Guler, The Eye of Istanbul. I edited the English language version of his biography.

My disability advocacy was rewarded when I co-created the groundbreaking Universal Design course for graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

My advice is to turn your passion into your career. You may not get Bill Gates rich, but you will have a very rewarding career.

I’ve also learned to be flexible. When I started at a newspaper, I figured I’d work as a daily journalist for more than half a century…till I slumped over my desk after filing a front page story.

The internet greatly reduced the profitability of newspapers, so I later pursued careers in public service, marketing, business development, content creation and creative arts.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would start at the Ball and Chain in the heart of Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. It was a big key to the turnaround of this famous main street of Miami’s most famous neighborhood.
I live within walking distance.
The owners are super community minded. They buy historic buildings and rebuild them — so they don’t fall prey to the wrecking ball.
The music, drinks and bar food are great too.

I would then go on a walking tour of Shenandoah — the part of Little Havana that I’ve lived in for 20+ years. There are tons of unique houses and apartments. You can see Spanish Mission, Mediterranean, Art Deco, Belvedere Bungalow and all kinds of unique, built from scratch homes from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s.

For a great meal and a fair price, I’d go to La Camaronera on Flagler Street. I remember when this was a little standup counter with maybe a half dozen total food items — all fresh from the sea. The seafood is still fresh caught, but now there are more than a dozen tables. And along with the signature fried fish and shrimp sandwiches, there are some gourmet plates and even craft beer. It’s a nice transition of a very longtime family business into one that’s perfect for locals and visitors.

I’d also take a stroll north of Calle Ocho toward the Miami River. This area also has great old 1920s apartments, houses, churches and businesses. It’s still a bit hard scrabble, but perfectly safe. I have a photo exhibit starting August 24, 2023 at the Miami Beach Art Deco Welcome Center on Ocean Drive at 10th Avenue. It will showcase my images of this area.

I would enjoy the heart of Calle Ocho — roughly between 12 and 17 Avenues — though a lot of new development is heading east of 12th — and stop at SW 13 Ave. There, you can walk a meandering path among mature trees and many public monuments that cover the history of the Cuban exile experience in Miami. Many of the old homes have been restored, though there are not any shops or restaurants on the area known as Cuban Memorial Boulevard. When you reach Coral Way on the south end of the path, you are rewarded by another tree-lined main street with tons of mom and pop restaurants, bakeries and shops.

Everybody knows Miami Beach and nearby Little Havana neighborhoods of Coconut Grove and the city of Coral Gables, so I’ll reserve my tips solely for la Pequena Habana.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had the privilege of working as a featured contributing writer to the United Spinal Association and its New Mobility Magazine for more than two decades. United Spinal is the premier nonprofit for people with spinal cord injuries and all who use a wheelchair for mobility.

I very much enjoyed writing legislation and create public policy for the better part of a decade for Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who represented Little Havana.

For more than 20 years, I have been the go-to writer on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — through the lens of a better built environment for people with disabilities — for the National Association of REALTORS.

My Pulitzer-nominated, award-winning writing has been featured in Planning Magazine, the publication of the American Planning Association. I have been a speaker on Universal Design and inclusion at a nationwide APA conference.

Website: http://urbantravelandaccessibility.blogspot.com

Instagram: steve4156

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevewrightcommunications/

Twitter: @stevewright64

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.wright.79827

Other: https://muckrack.com/steve-wright-12
“Save My Little Havana” Exhibit Opening
https://mdpl.org/blog/2023/08/save-my-little-havana-steve-wright-photo-exhibit-launches-august-24th-at-the-art-deco-museum/

Image Credits
All images credit Steve Wright