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Where did all the public bathrooms go?

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Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#81

Post by xboxnolifes »

expedition32 wrote: post #16
Simon_O_Rourke wrote: post #12

I think it stopped once public bathrooms became used for things other than taking a whizz

Yeah you have to actually hire people to clean them and patrol for homeless weirdos. Which is why in my country they cost money. I never really understood the economics of public restrooms in America. Who pays for them?

I don't think I've seen a public bathroom in America in my lifetime. They're all privately owned, usually required through regulation.

But to answer your question, public things are paid for by the public.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#82

Post by rawgabbit »

jerlam wrote: post #45
selectodude wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We thought it was mean to homeless people to make them pay for bathrooms and made it illegal to charge. Then once bathrooms because a massive cost center, we closed all the public restrooms and made it a sex offense to piss outside. So now instead of making homeless people pay $1 for a toilet, we throw them in jail at a cost of $100k/yr. Thank these folks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets_i.…

We're not throwing the homeless in jail here, but all the streets smell like urine and you have to watch your step on the sidewalk.

A few years ago I visited downtown SF for a convention at Moscone center. I remember walking along St Patrick’s thinking this is a beautiful place but , my God, the entire area stinks of urine.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#83

Post by fwip »

mingus88 wrote: post #64
izzydata wrote: post #8

I am going to start calling the reduction or removal of minor things that helped society "micro regressions".

I’m not sure it’s a regression really If you look at a graph of the world population it’s seems clear to me that freely available common resources are just going to continue to get overused and ruined as we continue to add people to the equation

Surely bathrooms are something we can produce faster than the rate at which population increases.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#85

Post by xyzelement »

Lack of bathrooms has been called tragedy of the commons in this thread, but it's not the "commons" that are the problem.

The worst 10% of society determine what we can and can't have. The "commons" aren't having public sex, shooting up drugs, or destroying the bathrooms with lack of... etiquette. The commons are victimized when these things happen and then there's eventually no choice but to shut them down unless there's willingness to crack down on the explicit problematic behavior.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#87

Post by jerlam »

ssl-3 wrote: post #58
hlynurd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would think it's in the interest of whoever is responsible for keeping those areas clean to offer garbage cans.

It would be, if the responsible parties were making rational decisions.

It is unlikely the low-ranked employees responsible for cleaning up garbage are making decisions on whether to construct or retain garbage cans.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#88

Post by toast0 »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #81
expedition32 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you have to actually hire people to clean them and patrol for homeless weirdos. Which is why in my country they cost money. I never really understood the economics of public restrooms in America. Who pays for them?

I don't think I've seen a public bathroom in America in my lifetime. They're all privately owned, usually required through regulation. But to answer your question, public things are paid for by the public .

Never been to a public park with a bathroom, or a state provided highway rest stop?

Many transit centers are owned and operated by a municipal transit agency and typically have restrooms, especially large airports and train stations.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#89

Post by 8f2ab37a-ed6c »

xyzelement wrote: post #85

Lack of bathrooms has been called tragedy of the commons in this thread, but it's not the "commons" that are the problem. The worst 10% of society determine what we can and can't have. The "commons" aren't having public sex, shooting up drugs, or destroying the bathrooms with lack of... etiquette. The commons are victimized when these things happen and then there's eventually no choice but to shut them down unless th…

I tried to find a good term for this trend and the best I could do is "defining deviancy down" defined as "the tendency of societies to respond to destructive behaviors by lowering standards for what is permissible."

It's like a behavioral Overton window that grows downwards.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#90

Post by nikole9696 »

MrDrMcCoy wrote: post #11

I want to know where the public water fountains went. Those are arguably a safety feature.

At least in my area, a lot of folks didn't trust the tap water, and more didn't trust the fountain to not be super germy, so fountains just didn't end up used. I noticed many shuttered during COVID then they never got turned back on, then eventually got removed.

I have seen indoor fountains gradually being replaced with water bottle filler stations, but I personally wonder how often those filters get replaced.

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