13 ms·

I would never step foot into a public SF toliet. Last time I went in there the homeless shit all over the floor and toliet and walls. I went in and nearly threw

I would never step foot into a public SF toliet. Last time I went in there the homeless shit all over the floor and toliet and walls. I went in and nearly threw up. A homeless person pointed and laughed at me. Fuck that.

rajup 4y ago
You probably don’t want to step in SF ever. FTFY.
- illuminerdy 4y ago
  I used to live in the South Bay and go up to San Francisco and Oakland every other weekend. It was bad, but it seems to have completely gone to hell in the last decade. I would not set foot there unless all of human existence depended on it.
  - throwawaytoilet 4y ago
    I’ve wanted to leave SF for a few years as I don’t connect as well after having kids. It has slid but it is very easy to avoid the big problem areas and you get desensitized. But there is still lots to love about the city. It soul isn’t crushed yet.
    - fooblaster 4y ago
      hear hear! San Francisco is still a beautiful place, leagues ahead of the south bay strip mall.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Spivak 4y ago
  I had Paris syndrome for SF real bad because of how it was described by people and portrayed in movies and when I finally went there it was uhh.. not somewhere I would live forever. I'm sure it's amazing if you live in the rich areas but I got an apartment in the mission which was sold to me by some of my native friends as one of the good semi-affordable areas for young professionals and it was culture shock.
  - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
    All the novels and biographies I've read that make SF out as a cool bohemian wonderland were all written in the 60s/70s and even then they were lamenting about the good old days being gone. It's remarkable to see a city living so long off a reputation it earned generations ago.
- mattnewton 4y ago
  I feel like there are two SF's - the one that other people write about on 6th Street and the tenderloin, and then the one I visit west of that which is one of the most beautiful and vibrant American cities I have ever spent time in.
  - throwawaytoilet 4y ago
    I think you need to be a bit desensitized to problems that are visible all over the city (e.g. trash under and along freeways etc) for that to not be the memory that sticks rather than the beauty. It is like SF needs a “clean up the city volunteer day” once a month that is broadly attended.
    - mattnewton 4y ago
      Hmm, having just visited SF and then spent a week in New Haven and Hartford in CT, I can't agree. What American city doesn't have trash? I can't think of a city I have visited in the world that meets that standard. I haven't been, but maybe Singapore? The homeless problem is very bad in California and SF in particular, and it is very concentrated in a small area to the east that looks positively dystopian. But that doesn't represent the whole city. If there is a next time you visit, I recommend spending some time in the panhandle, the Haight, the sunset, basically anywhere bordering golden gate park.
      - throwawaytoilet 4y ago
        FWIW, I visit golden gate twice a week in average. I guess I’m saying something a bit different. When people visit SF from SFO they get on the 101 and within 2 hours they have a feeling of things are broken and that memory sticks. I’m desensitized to those problems so I mostly see the beauty. If people land at SFO and took 380 onto 280 thn straight to golden gate perhaps their impressions would be different.
        dehrmann 4y ago
        They might have also taken Bart to the cheapest hotel they could find near Union Square.
insanitybit 4y ago
Public toilets aren't really for you, they're for the people who have nowhere else.
- semitones 4y ago
  Ideally, public toilets are for everyone - for the public...
  - insanitybit 4y ago
    And ideally people wouldn't be homeless, but here we are in reality.
- knaekhoved 4y ago
  > Public toilets aren't really for you, they're for the people who have nowhere else. This is an incredibly stockholm-syndrome take. If you live in a place that isn't a total failed state, normal people actually can use the public toilets!
  - rumpelstinkin 4y ago
    honestly though, public toilets are usually so dirty in my area (unless there are entry fees) that I rather use a shop's toilet instead. This is not about failed states, but a large portion of the populace not giving a shit about others... or giving too much shit perhaps =)
    - kolinko 4y ago
      Where do you live?
    - gtirloni 4y ago
      Japan has excellent toilets. They have that by doubling down on cleaning, not on expecting their people to care more (they don't).
    - knaekhoved 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
throwawaytoilet 4y ago
For years I felt this way. But with a 3 year old child you go into lots of public toilets all over the city. Nearly all toilets near playgrounds for children have been fine. Basic but fine.
- throwawaytoilet 4y ago
  Thinking through this more. SF Parks and Recs managed toilets have all been fine from a sample size of about 20 uniques and maybe 80 visits. About 75% of those visits are weekend days in the mornings.
  - kfarr 4y ago
    Yes Rec and Parks bathrooms are plenty good for the job, even with kids. Maybe they should take over the other ones!
- scrumbledober 4y ago
  I was blown away by how nice the bathrooms at dolores park were. I was really avoiding going in because I had very very low expectations.
sva_ 4y ago
> shit all over the floor and toliet and walls Sounds like someone made it their home
rootusrootus 4y ago
At the last office I worked at, there was someone who did that to our bathroom. Not a homeless person, either, but one of the employees. They never figured out who. In a public bathroom, I wonder how much of that happens because of mental issues, and how much is a byproduct of the bathroom not getting cleaned often enough.
hot_gril 4y ago
I wouldn't either, but that's only cause I've literally never found one.

rajup 4y ago

You probably don’t want to step in SF ever. FTFY.

illuminerdy 4y ago
I used to live in the South Bay and go up to San Francisco and Oakland every other weekend. It was bad, but it seems to have completely gone to hell in the last decade. I would not set foot there unless all of human existence depended on it.
- throwawaytoilet 4y ago
  I’ve wanted to leave SF for a few years as I don’t connect as well after having kids. It has slid but it is very easy to avoid the big problem areas and you get desensitized. But there is still lots to love about the city. It soul isn’t crushed yet.
  - fooblaster 4y ago
    hear hear! San Francisco is still a beautiful place, leagues ahead of the south bay strip mall.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Spivak 4y ago
I had Paris syndrome for SF real bad because of how it was described by people and portrayed in movies and when I finally went there it was uhh.. not somewhere I would live forever. I'm sure it's amazing if you live in the rich areas but I got an apartment in the mission which was sold to me by some of my native friends as one of the good semi-affordable areas for young professionals and it was culture shock.
- MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
  All the novels and biographies I've read that make SF out as a cool bohemian wonderland were all written in the 60s/70s and even then they were lamenting about the good old days being gone. It's remarkable to see a city living so long off a reputation it earned generations ago.
mattnewton 4y ago
I feel like there are two SF's - the one that other people write about on 6th Street and the tenderloin, and then the one I visit west of that which is one of the most beautiful and vibrant American cities I have ever spent time in.
- throwawaytoilet 4y ago
  I think you need to be a bit desensitized to problems that are visible all over the city (e.g. trash under and along freeways etc) for that to not be the memory that sticks rather than the beauty. It is like SF needs a “clean up the city volunteer day” once a month that is broadly attended.
  - mattnewton 4y ago
    Hmm, having just visited SF and then spent a week in New Haven and Hartford in CT, I can't agree. What American city doesn't have trash? I can't think of a city I have visited in the world that meets that standard. I haven't been, but maybe Singapore? The homeless problem is very bad in California and SF in particular, and it is very concentrated in a small area to the east that looks positively dystopian. But that doesn't represent the whole city. If there is a next time you visit, I recommend spending some time in the panhandle, the Haight, the sunset, basically anywhere bordering golden gate park.
    - throwawaytoilet 4y ago
      FWIW, I visit golden gate twice a week in average. I guess I’m saying something a bit different. When people visit SF from SFO they get on the 101 and within 2 hours they have a feeling of things are broken and that memory sticks. I’m desensitized to those problems so I mostly see the beauty. If people land at SFO and took 380 onto 280 thn straight to golden gate perhaps their impressions would be different.
      - dehrmann 4y ago
        They might have also taken Bart to the cheapest hotel they could find near Union Square.

insanitybit 4y ago

Public toilets aren't really for you, they're for the people who have nowhere else.

semitones 4y ago
Ideally, public toilets are for everyone - for the public...
- insanitybit 4y ago
  And ideally people wouldn't be homeless, but here we are in reality.
knaekhoved 4y ago
> Public toilets aren't really for you, they're for the people who have nowhere else. This is an incredibly stockholm-syndrome take. If you live in a place that isn't a total failed state, normal people actually can use the public toilets!
- rumpelstinkin 4y ago
  honestly though, public toilets are usually so dirty in my area (unless there are entry fees) that I rather use a shop's toilet instead. This is not about failed states, but a large portion of the populace not giving a shit about others... or giving too much shit perhaps =)
  - kolinko 4y ago
    Where do you live?
  - gtirloni 4y ago
    Japan has excellent toilets. They have that by doubling down on cleaning, not on expecting their people to care more (they don't).
  - knaekhoved 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

throwawaytoilet 4y ago

For years I felt this way. But with a 3 year old child you go into lots of public toilets all over the city. Nearly all toilets near playgrounds for children have been fine. Basic but fine.

throwawaytoilet 4y ago
Thinking through this more. SF Parks and Recs managed toilets have all been fine from a sample size of about 20 uniques and maybe 80 visits. About 75% of those visits are weekend days in the mornings.
- kfarr 4y ago
  Yes Rec and Parks bathrooms are plenty good for the job, even with kids. Maybe they should take over the other ones!
scrumbledober 4y ago
I was blown away by how nice the bathrooms at dolores park were. I was really avoiding going in because I had very very low expectations.

sva_ 4y ago

> shit all over the floor and toliet and walls Sounds like someone made it their home

rootusrootus 4y ago

At the last office I worked at, there was someone who did that to our bathroom. Not a homeless person, either, but one of the employees. They never figured out who. In a public bathroom, I wonder how much of that happens because of mental issues, and how much is a byproduct of the bathroom not getting cleaned often enough.

hot_gril 4y ago

I wouldn't either, but that's only cause I've literally never found one.