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The Decline of the American Laundromat

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Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#81

Post by escapetech »

Veratyr wrote: post #26
justinjlynn wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds quite nice. I wonder why public baths never really took off in the States. In the records I can find, they seem to have a less than savoury perception.

I don't mean to offend but I suspect it's because people in the USA, at least in cities, just can't take care of public places. There's urine in the train stations (either visible or smellable), elevators shut down by faeces, people shouting, yelling and preaching in the streets, also, toilets, often even in private restaurants, are disgusting. I don't mean to say that things are always like this, all the time or in…

It's not only in cities. In the USA, public facilities outside of exclusive areas are usually associated with those considered poor and personal failures.

Combined with the resentment that most people have towards subsidizing public facilities and services used by/built for those who need them (even though in the USA, it's a fraction of what's used towards foreign interventions), there's little if any incentive in maintaining, let alone building more public/publicly used places, especially ones that will end up being used exclusively by the people they want nothing do with (who often internalize this open resentment and further contribute to the problem of poor quality public facilities).

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#82

Post by Camillo »

Veratyr wrote: post #26
justinjlynn wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds quite nice. I wonder why public baths never really took off in the States. In the records I can find, they seem to have a less than savoury perception.

I don't mean to offend but I suspect it's because people in the USA, at least in cities, just can't take care of public places. There's urine in the train stations (either visible or smellable), elevators shut down by faeces, people shouting, yelling and preaching in the streets, also, toilets, often even in private restaurants, are disgusting. I don't mean to say that things are always like this, all the time or in…

Public baths in Japan also typically ban guests with tattoos, because tattoos are associated with the Yakuza in Japanese culture, and the presence of Yakuza would make other guests uncomfortable. Imagine doing anything even remotely similar in the US.

OTOH, the US does have public pools. I've never been to one, though, so I have no idea what they are like. If anyone has experiences, please share.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#83

Post by rayiner »

escapetech wrote: post #81
Veratyr wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to offend but I suspect it's because people in the USA, at least in cities, just can't take care of public places. There's urine in the train stations (either visible or smellable), elevators shut down by faeces, people shouting, yelling and preaching in the streets, also, toilets, often even in private restaurants, are disgusting. I don't mean to say that things are always like this, all the time or in…

It's not only in cities. In the USA, public facilities outside of exclusive areas are usually associated with those considered poor and personal failures. Combined with the resentment that most people have towards subsidizing public facilities and services used by/built for those who need them (even though in the USA, it's a fraction of what's used towards foreign interventions), there's little if any incentive in ma…

Do you have any data that would suggest that funding limitations are the problem? Because when it comes to other sorts of public services (schools, transit) we spend more than other countries. To get worse results. I ran the numbers the other day, and for example the NYC MTA spends about twice as much per ride as the London Tube.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#84

Post by legulere »

dtech wrote: post #38
Veratyr wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are other places yes but out of the countries I've visited, the US is definitely one of the worst. All the Europe I've visited (Paris, Berlin, Zurich, Istanbul, south-eastern region of Russia) has been about as well kept as Australia, my home country. Aside from Malaysia, I can't think of a country that's worse than the US. Even the (disclaimer: nicer, less impoverished) parts of Mexico I've visited were arguab…

It might be the large US population of homeless people worsens this (especially in the bay area), as they have no better option than to leave their waste in public places.

At least according to Wikipedia, many European countries have a higher homeless rate than the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_...

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#85

Post by arethuza »

Sleeep wrote: post #57
martinald wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it really odd the US doesn't have washing machines in apartments. Even the tiniest studio apartment in the UK would come with one. You very rarely see laundromats in the UK (usually in areas with a very high concentration of students, as halls of residence provision can be poor for them). Why don't they have them in the US? You have water and electricity, so I can't understand why this is a big deal.

Plenty of apartments in the US have washing machines, I've lived in several apartments and all had a washing machine[1]. As for the reason why many don't - historical (they weren't designed when household washing machines didn't exist and were never retrofitted), and slumlords not wanting to manage another appliance. Add to that nowadays Americans don't do much air drying of their clothes so a washer without a dryer…

"Adding a dryer is very costly"

Condenser dryers are pretty easy to install - all you need is an electrical outlet.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#86

Post by brooklyn_ashey »

martinald wrote: post #50
freetime2 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this article is less about the benefits of laundromats vs. in-unit washing machines (most people would choose the latter), and more about the struggles of people who are unable to afford apartments with in-unit hookups and who now have to walk an extra couple of blocks to do their laundry.

I find it really odd the US doesn't have washing machines in apartments. Even the tiniest studio apartment in the UK would come with one. You very rarely see laundromats in the UK (usually in areas with a very high concentration of students, as halls of residence provision can be poor for them). Why don't they have them in the US? You have water and electricity, so I can't understand why this is a big deal.

It comes down to: in NYC the landlords don't have to provide services in order to demand really high rents. They do the absolute least amount they can for the tenant while still being able to collect huge rents. We have a housing crisis which makes it a greedy landlord's market. Also, unless the unit is listed in the lease as a service, the LL is required to provide, the LL has no obligation to fix even the machines in a building's laundry room. So, they let them break and don't fix them because there is nothing a renter can do about it except break their lease. The rental market is so bad in NYC, that landlords will often not provide services that are required by law (heat, hot water) just to see if they can get away with it. They often do, as NYC tenants, especially new city residents, have no idea what their legal rights are.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#87

Post by c3833174 »

bguillet wrote: post #52

It has always surprised me how rare, at least here in the bay, washer/dryer hookups are. I can't remember renting a place (even my shitty student studio) without them before.

One accessory that is sometimes sold with washers in europe is a small U-shaped plastic thing to hang the discharge pipe in the sink, which coupled with a small tap on the sink water line is enough to allow the usage of a washer.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#88

Post by brightball »

I live in a house with a washer and dryer.

After we had our first child there was a stretch where my wife and I were both sick for about 2 weeks and the laundry ended up building up significantly. We had probably 10 loads worth to catch up on and it was going to take all of at least one day, maybe two.

Threw it all in the car, went to the laundromat and had it done in 2 hours.

Laundromat's are now how I explain "the cloud" to non-technical people.

Re: The Decline of the American Laundromat

#89

Post by _jal »

minikomi wrote: post #5

I live in Japan where Laundromats are often attached to Public Baths. I love going to my local, taking a soak while the load runs, and then coming out and having a coffee while my clothes go through the drier. Not much to add.. just felt like professing my love for that Sunday arvo ritual.

Not the same thing at all, but my local laundromat is also a restaurant/bar, and hosts really terrible standup.

I'll frequently grab a bite while doing my laundry, and the "comedy" is a useful inspiration to get it done earlier in the day, so I don't have to listen to it. (It is really, truly awful.)

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