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The S.F bathroom problem is that heroin addicts go into bathrooms, they lock the door, they pass out, and die or have a psychotic break and break everything the

The S.F bathroom problem is that heroin addicts go into bathrooms, they lock the door, they pass out, and die or have a psychotic break and break everything they can or smear shit all over the walls and then the store is liable for the wrongful death or they have to clean it up.

sneak 5y ago
The bathroom problem is because there is a ban on charging for toilets, nothing more, nothing less. Most businesses would be happy to have another (minor) profit center, and most people would be happy to pay. There used to be lots available for a small fee. Instead, we get no public toilets at all because it is illegal to charge, and businesses decline to operate them at a loss. Your description is of the symptom, not the cause. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets_in_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets_i...
- narrator 5y ago
  If they had a charge for using the toilets, that would keep severely mentally ill homeless people and junkies from using them, so you are partially right.
  - sneak 5y ago
    ...just as they are kept from using them now, along with everyone else, too.
    - devoutsalsa 5y ago
      True. In fact... An elderly woman got evicted from the Tendernob apartment building that I lived in. Every night around 5p, she’d walk into the building, right past security, and into the bathroom. She’d lock the door and spend the entire night in there.
- yesenadam 5y ago
  Australia here, Sydney. I would have assumed free public toilets are a government service, like they are here, in parks and train stations and dotted through the inner city on main streets. Are there no public toilets in the US?
  - sneak 5y ago
    The majority of toilets in the US, and all of the nice/good/clean ones, are on private property (businesses, et c). Any that are free to use for all get quickly destroyed. California (the topic) has some of the highest taxes in the US, but some of the lowest levels of government services provided.
    - yesenadam 5y ago
      Hmm thanks. That's not good!
    - dec0dedab0de 5y ago
      I have never had trouble finding a toilet in the 30 or so states I've been to. But I've never been to the west coast, so maybe things are different out there.
- lovecg 5y ago
  Fascinating. Looks like the original motivation for the campaign was the fact that loose change was required as payment, and not really any highbrow philosophy beyond that? This should be an easily solvable problem by now (though judging by the number of quarter-only parking meters around I’m not so sure).
nomel 5y ago
That's fine as long as everyone recognizes this as a conscious, intentional, decision to put the waste in the streets/foliage. Pooping isn't a choice, after all.

sneak 5y ago

The bathroom problem is because there is a ban on charging for toilets, nothing more, nothing less. Most businesses would be happy to have another (minor) profit center, and most people would be happy to pay. There used to be lots available for a small fee. Instead, we get no public toilets at all because it is illegal to charge, and businesses decline to operate them at a loss. Your description is of the symptom, not the cause. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets_in_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets_i...

narrator 5y ago
If they had a charge for using the toilets, that would keep severely mentally ill homeless people and junkies from using them, so you are partially right.
- sneak 5y ago
  ...just as they are kept from using them now, along with everyone else, too.
  - devoutsalsa 5y ago
    True. In fact... An elderly woman got evicted from the Tendernob apartment building that I lived in. Every night around 5p, she’d walk into the building, right past security, and into the bathroom. She’d lock the door and spend the entire night in there.
yesenadam 5y ago
Australia here, Sydney. I would have assumed free public toilets are a government service, like they are here, in parks and train stations and dotted through the inner city on main streets. Are there no public toilets in the US?
- sneak 5y ago
  The majority of toilets in the US, and all of the nice/good/clean ones, are on private property (businesses, et c). Any that are free to use for all get quickly destroyed. California (the topic) has some of the highest taxes in the US, but some of the lowest levels of government services provided.
  - yesenadam 5y ago
    Hmm thanks. That's not good!
  - dec0dedab0de 5y ago
    I have never had trouble finding a toilet in the 30 or so states I've been to. But I've never been to the west coast, so maybe things are different out there.
lovecg 5y ago
Fascinating. Looks like the original motivation for the campaign was the fact that loose change was required as payment, and not really any highbrow philosophy beyond that? This should be an easily solvable problem by now (though judging by the number of quarter-only parking meters around I’m not so sure).

nomel 5y ago

That's fine as long as everyone recognizes this as a conscious, intentional, decision to put the waste in the streets/foliage. Pooping isn't a choice, after all.