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Where did all the public bathrooms go?

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Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#371

Post by justin66 »

socalgal2 wrote: post #348
justin66 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I guess if you don’t have a massive population of antisocial people who destroy the public facility, you can provide them. It’s a shame we in the west surrendered that. What a weird way of stating the problem. There is too large a population of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicts wandering the streets. We didn't surrender anything, at least not during the last half century in the United States. We did as littl…

> We did as little as possible to deal with homelessness and mental illness SF would beg to differ. They have a budget of $100k per homeless person. They can't solve the problem because the problem is not money

Spending money is necessary but not sufficient to fix this sort (or literally any sort?) of big problem.

I hope you don't think San Francisco having spent a lot of money on the problem (the $100k per person figure in isolation is deceptive, but let's not dwell on that) means we've expended more than a really minimal amount of effort as a nation on the problem. Consider how little the problem of homelessness was discussed during the last presidential cycle, or how often it's discussed in congress, and I think you'll see what I mean. (consider the words used when debating it and you'll really understand what I mean)

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#372

Post by throw-the-towel »

arctic-true wrote: post #303
Avicebron wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I want to know is if anyone can identify when exactly the homeless issue became so bad. It was already a problem when I lived in the Bay, and when I moved back to the East Coast it had been 10 years in the making (conveniently when I was away). Clearly there a some sharp lines that can be drawn somewhere. But it's hard to get some actual answers. Edit: rough clauding indicates it was when fentanyl took off, but…

It began in 1953 when thorazine was introduced on the premise that it would allow previously institutionalized people to live normal lives with only outpatient care. This turbocharged the movement to shutter mental institutions, and their populations began to crater around 1956. [0] For a lot of people, thorazine and its descendants have been nothing short of miraculous and have lived up to the promise. But not for e…

The advert in the Wikipedia page for chlorpromazine (aka thorazine) has some... vivid imagery.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#373

Post by bamboozled »

mstaoru wrote: post #94

This really hits home. As a person with IBS I basically cannot peacefully go outside in EU. I lived for many years in China and Thailand, and toilets are free, clean, and plentiful there, and you can easily ask any place to use their toilet - there's no stigma. I even had to run into a police station in rural China once. They were 100% chill about it, though they had to unlock a gate for me. Xi Jinping really will be…

I took my son to Sydney, Australia and we used a public toilet at the main train station and I turned around for 10 seconds and my son had located a syringe and was about to grab it. Some scumbag just left it on top of the syringe bin, probably too stoned to put it in. It was truly horrifying.

The only place I’ve seen worse toilets is USA and Europe. Toilets in Japan are a dream.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#374

Post by spike021 »

freetime2 wrote: post #149

Public toilets are one thing that I really appreciate about living in Japan. It seems like you're never too far away from a toilet - whether it be in a neighborhood park, a roadside parking area, train station, convenience store, etc. And they tend to be pretty clean (at least as far as public restooms go), not something that I dread using like I do many public restrooms in the US. Japan seems to be just about a best…

I've just about never had an issue finding a toilet, like you said. Parking/service areas are great and nothing like rest stops in, say, California

There are _some_ neighborhoods, especially in Tokyo, where sometimes it can be difficult. Like certain parts of Koenji you can walk into random conbini that have locked bathrooms and signs saying no public use. Fortunately it's not all too common.

Only thing about public toilets in places like parks or neighborhoods is they almost never have soap.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#375

Post by iterance »

cube00 wrote: post #17

Strange "For the Classroom" question. Men seeking same-sex encounters transformed the pissoir into something its planners never intended. Who ultimately determines the meaning of a public space: its designers, authorities, or the people who use it? The law determines that public space can't be used for any sexual activity. I'm not sure what constructive classroom discussion you can have when the example is based on t…

You have not understood the question. It is not asking who determines the use/intent of a space, it is asking who determines the meaning of the space. The law determines that it is not to be used for sexual activities. But what is the true meaning of the space? Is the true meaning the law, and only the law?

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#376

Post by nailer »

ssl-3 wrote: post #103
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…

A reduction of public restrooms didn't stop the worst 10% of society from having public sex, shooting up drugs, or destroying an area with their lack of defacatory etiquette -- did it? In places where these things were problems with public restrooms, they remain problems without public restrooms. The 10%'ers are still doing their dastardly things. The remaining 90% of society still has the same messes to clean up (or…

> A reduction of public restrooms didn't stop the worst 10% of society from having public sex, shooting up drugs, or destroying an area with their lack of defacatory etiquette -- did it?

It certainly had some limitating factor. Until late 2010-early 2020s, public displays of gay sex were considered improper rather than brave, injecting drugs in public was a matter for the police, and shitting on the streets was considered a nuisance that could be avoided by the shitter having self-agency and choosing to shit elsewhere.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#377

Post by 999900000999 »

For everyone blaming homeless people, I had a highly educated white professor who explained how he became homeless for a bit.

Divorce.

The wife can just say she doesn’t feel comfortable with you in the house.

Now you can’t find another place to live because the divorce has ruined your credit while still stuck paying the mortgage.

Most of us are much closer to living in a porta potty than we’d like to think

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#378

Post by nobinsjapan »

freetime2 wrote: post #149

Public toilets are one thing that I really appreciate about living in Japan. It seems like you're never too far away from a toilet - whether it be in a neighborhood park, a roadside parking area, train station, convenience store, etc. And they tend to be pretty clean (at least as far as public restooms go), not something that I dread using like I do many public restrooms in the US. Japan seems to be just about a best…

But then japan has the opposite problem with trash bins.

There was a stretch of road around 600m long, where there were at least 100 vending machine and exactly ZERO trash containers. And no, people did not keep after themselves, I saw plenty of discarded cans on the floor, just slightly outside of vision.

Tokyo, 2025.

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#379

Post by [deleted] »

Someone1234 wrote: post #335
beebmam wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has very little to do with public amenities. It has everything to do with toleration of homelessness and drug use. I don't understand why the west tolerates it at all.

I'm genuinely concerned to ask what you're proposing? Drug use is already unlawful, and the homeless are routinely criminalized for existing - so if that is "tolerate" then what proposals are you trying to promote?

[deleted]

Re: Where did all the public bathrooms go?

#380

Post by F3nd0 »

LoganDark wrote: post #229
talon8635 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess if you don’t have a massive population of antisocial people who destroy the public facility, you can provide them. It’s a shame we in the west surrendered that. Not the worst thing in the world, but I do find it frustrating often to not have a bathroom available nearby (small bladder) But, while the toilets aren’t the worst sacrifice, the cumulative sacrifices made on the alter of our huge antisocial populati…

Antisocial people who destroy the public facility don't just come out of nowhere. People get driven to this. Not to say that you can simply ignore them when they're already everywhere, though.

What exactly (supposedly) drives someone to destroy public facilities?
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