Public Bathrooms

[Tiller]

When are we gonna make pay toilets legal again? MN State Statute prohibits them, but public bathrooms are too hard to find.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145.425

[Mdcastle]

I doubt you'd bet much support from the public and I'm not convinced this is going to improve things much. The revenue raised from pay toilets probably won't cover the costs of cleaning them and dealing with the issues of the homeless camping out and druggies shooting up. Meanwhile a lot of places that provide them for free as a service might start charging for them. Having free toilets is yet another reason why I want to live like an American rather than having to put up with living like a European.

[seanrichardryan]

Live like an American: 'Bathrooms for paying customers only'.

[Silophant]

I don't know if I'm convinced that pay toilets would have more "homeless living in them and druggies shooting up" than free toilets. Seems like it would be the opposite.

[VacantLuxuries]

Having free toilets is yet another reason why I want to live like an American rather than having to put up with living like a European.

This is indistinguishable from what someone would say as a parody but I know from experience that this was earnest. Wild.

I don't necessarily like the idea of pay toilets but the 'American' way has been to pass this necessary infrastructure off onto private businesses, which then function like a paid toilet anyway by requiring purchase for use. And in the areas where there are public toilets, like parks, well-to-do people who have their own private toilet within walking distance rabble rouse to keep public toilets closed in a bid to make public areas and amenities only useful for the people who live nearby. At least not for long periods of time.

Pay toilets are a capitalistic answer to a problem that already has a solution - provide a public service and defend it on the grounds that everyone needs access to it. Yes, some people will be upset that a public toilet has a cost to taxpayers, that it will require cleaning and maintenance. They're the irrational ones, and it's time we stop pretending otherwise.

[Blaisdell Greenway]

I was just in Portland for a few weeks where I went everywhere by bike. I didn't see many "Portland Loos" around but every neighborhood had at least one if not several plastic porta potties set up right on the sidewalk. They were in various states of graffiti and mess but honestly was surprised at how consistently clean or at least not gross 90%+ of them were. All the parks had them too, in addition to the plumbed toilets that are only open dawn-dusk.

My personal experience renting a porta potty in Minneapolis was not like this, the lock got ripped off and it was trashed pretty much immediately. But with dozens (or more) spread out across the city as a policy strategy perhaps we could pull it off. Much as we need all kinds of housing we need all kinds of toilets available as an issue of livability.

[VacantLuxuries]

The thought I had the other day while I was driving through southern MN on I-35 was how much outrage there would be if the rest stops, taxpayer funded public bathrooms that are well lit, monitored, and cleaned, were removed. For some reason this level of service is okay for auto travelers but not city residents.

[Mdcastle]

Rest areas on rural interstates provide a public safety function in that they provide a place for fatigued drivers to get off the road for a while. Are people traveling around the city so fatigued that they're driving (or walking or bicycling) into buildings because we're not providing rest areas there?

[VacantLuxuries]

A plain parking lot could serve that function. Should we only provide parking lots along the freeways for people to recuperate and nap if public bathrooms aren’t a public service that everyone is entitled to without purchase?

[Mdcastle]

A plain parking lot wouldn't encourage people to stop the way a nicely landscaped area with restrooms does.

[BoredAgain]

A plain parking lot wouldn't encourage people to stop the way a nicely landscaped area with restrooms does.

If you're making a public safety argument, how does that not apply to available public restrooms?

Also, there are plenty of places to pull off the freeway to take a break and use a private restroom. Gas stations being the most obvious.

[Korh]

The thought I had the other day while I was driving through southern MN on I-35 was how much outrage there would be if the rest stops, taxpayer funded public bathrooms that are well lit, monitored, and cleaned, were removed. For some reason this level of service is okay for auto travelers but not city residents.

Probably not much, MnDoT has been closing rest areas around the State consistently for almost 2 decades now, iirc they closed at least 100 sites between 2004-2010. There's not much outrage because rest areas are mainly for commercial drivers since in MN normal drivers are only allowed to stay up to 4 hours maximum if they leave their car and I think their was a law that truckers have to take a break after 11 hours of driving. And a few private commercial centers (think something along the lines of Loves) are starting to pop up.

[Tyler]

Rest areas on rural interstates provide a public safety function in that they provide a place for fatigued drivers to get off the road for a while. Are people traveling around the city so fatigued that they're driving (or walking or bicycling) into buildings because we're not providing rest areas there?

LMAO. What does this have to do with bathrooms?

[Tyler]

Ill answer the question-- nothing. There is no special public safety benefit of rest stop bathrooms, they are provided for CONVENIENCE. Which is what we are talking about here, in the city.

[seanrichardryan]

This just popped up in my feed lol

[VacantLuxuries]

Ill answer the question-- nothing. There is no special public safety benefit of rest stop bathrooms, they are provided for CONVENIENCE. Which is what we are talking about here, in the city.

I think an argument could be made if you expanded the definition of public safety to include public health. It's not like the lack of public bathrooms makes those who might make use of them magically disappear.

But by the original framing (i.e., bathrooms for motorists protect people therefore are essential), it's a peculiar framing designed to make one instance of public bathrooms seem essential while all others designated to be frivolous.

[Mdcastle]

Ill answer the question-- nothing. There is no special public safety benefit of rest stop bathrooms, they are provided for CONVENIENCE. Which is what we are talking about here, in the city.

So, is that why we call them "safety" rest areas instead of say "convenience" rest areas?,

Or if you're arguing that the benefit is providing a park-like setting for people to pull over as opposed to the restrooms, how many people do you think would be enticed to take a break from driving if there's no restroom available?

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/restareas/

[NickP]

https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/de ... the-world/
Just for fun, I figured I'd share this. The idea of doing something similar, however, is giving me flashbacks to R.T. Rybak's water fountain experience. lol

[Bob Stinson's Ghost]

I was lucky on a trip to Boston and this worked perfectly for me:

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/ar ... _a_relief/

It wasn't until later that I found out just how incredibly lucky I was. It was a very high quality experience, and I was awed that they were able to make all that technology work in a public place.

[Oreos&Milk]

When are we gonna make pay toilets legal again? MN State Statute prohibits them, but public bathrooms are too hard to find.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145.425

Pay toilets ARE legal. Many different subscription plans and locations between competitors. I usually liked Snap Fitness pay toilets because they have the most locations. Used to have a Lifetime Fitness toilet plan at Target Center but then it got too expensive.

30 bucks a month for unlimited potties, and showers. Not a bad deal.. plus they even let you run on a treadmill for when your are constipated and need to work your BM's out.