So they were only popular for a few decades, really, during health outbreaks and when private enterprise was in a poor spot to use them as an enticement. I know that San Francisco has a few,...
So they were only popular for a few decades, really, during health outbreaks and when private enterprise was in a poor spot to use them as an enticement. I know that San Francisco has a few, mostly in areas with high tourist or homeless populations, but 16 locations for a city of just over 800,000 isn't a robust network. Is there anywhere that has really gone all in on public toilets in the modern day? The article really just cuts off after Prohibition, which was a century ago.
Japan is good on it. Every train station has a public bathroom. The busy stations like Shinjuku are, uh, busy, but the quieter stations are pristine. When I lived there I sometimes would rather...
Japan is good on it. Every train station has a public bathroom. The busy stations like Shinjuku are, uh, busy, but the quieter stations are pristine. When I lived there I sometimes would rather shit in the station closest to where I lived because the toilet was pristinely clean and much larger than the one in my apartment.
Of course, every toilet has a bidet.
Tier 1 China is similar, although not as clean, and no bidets. But finding a place to go to the bathroom is the same question as asking where the nearest subway station, and that’s never far in an urban area.
That's good to know. In situations where there are fare gates, are the toilets inside or outside that financial barrier? Because while the subways and and trains are public mass transit, the core...
That's good to know. In situations where there are fare gates, are the toilets inside or outside that financial barrier? Because while the subways and and trains are public mass transit, the core division I'm thinking about is really about whether they're free for the public to use independent of any financial contribution to the managers of the location.
That depends, in some stations it's outside the gates, in some stations it's inside the gates, in some stations that are really big like Shinjuku they're both inside and outside. The Japanese...
That depends, in some stations it's outside the gates, in some stations it's inside the gates, in some stations that are really big like Shinjuku they're both inside and outside.
The Japanese subway is distance based. If you really need to go, you can just tap in. You'll pay 0 yen since you've traveled 0 stations.
Yeeeeaaaahhhh, I’m gonna say that not every toilet in a Japanese train station is some technological pristine marvel. The ones at my local look like they piss on the floor to loosen up the grime...
Yeeeeaaaahhhh, I’m gonna say that not every toilet in a Japanese train station is some technological pristine marvel. The ones at my local look like they piss on the floor to loosen up the grime before swiping an old mop around. And no, not every public toilet in Japan has a bidet or is even guaranteed to be western style, especially as you get more rural.
The good thing about Japan is that most stores have decent toilets. Department stores, malls, electronics stores like Yamada denki, home centers, convenience stores. Honestly, unless I was looking for a quick piss, train station toilets are the last place I would look.
The vast majority of the ornate pissoirs don't exist anymore but Paris still has a lot of public toilets, some of which include external urinals. Most of them smell pretty awful, and you only...
The vast majority of the ornate pissoirs don't exist anymore but Paris still has a lot of public toilets, some of which include external urinals. Most of them smell pretty awful, and you only really use them if you're desperate because they're usually dirty or wet inside (even if they "self-clean" between each use), there's no soap, and forget about drying your hands. Some people also don't respect these spaces and leave trash or destroy the equipment (unfortunately Paris is too often the epitome of "we can't have nice things"). But it's better to have them than not, especially as they are the only choice for some, like unhoused people.
The empêche pipi still exist in a bunch of places, but their usefulness is questionable.
It's funny to see you say that because some of my worst experiences looking for toilets were in Paris. Maybe you're counting pay toilets, though. I don't use those. They're rarely any nicer and...
It's funny to see you say that because some of my worst experiences looking for toilets were in Paris. Maybe you're counting pay toilets, though. I don't use those. They're rarely any nicer and they force you to pay to do something you have to do. Count me out.
I'd rather pay toilets than no toilets. What happened in the US is like a textbook example of the wrong type of government action. Advocacy groups like the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America...
I'd rather pay toilets than no toilets.
What happened in the US is like a textbook example of the wrong type of government action. Advocacy groups like the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America had a reasonable argument and proposal: that everyone has to pee and shit, and paid toilets presents structural discrimination.
The action was wrong. They lobbied local and state governments to just ban paid toilets. And now we have no toilets.
Instead, they should have lobbied local and state governments to fund public toilets. If paid toilets had to compete against a bunch of great public toilets, they would naturally disappear. If you tried to operate paid toilets in Japan, you'd fail, immediately, because everyone knows they can walk 2 minutes to the nearest JR station and pee for free.
In the US we have the worst of all worlds - no free public toilets, no paid toilets. Just no toilets at all.
There's a lot of things that were taken away because they sucked, but no alternative was ever funded because banning something requires 0 dollars to be spent on our fellow humans and providing...
There's a lot of things that were taken away because they sucked, but no alternative was ever funded because banning something requires 0 dollars to be spent on our fellow humans and providing better options requires an, apparently, impossible amount of money.
I'll forever be mad about local public transportation that shut down because "it was too unsafe" like mf, then make it safe? Ugh.
So they were only popular for a few decades, really, during health outbreaks and when private enterprise was in a poor spot to use them as an enticement. I know that San Francisco has a few, mostly in areas with high tourist or homeless populations, but 16 locations for a city of just over 800,000 isn't a robust network. Is there anywhere that has really gone all in on public toilets in the modern day? The article really just cuts off after Prohibition, which was a century ago.
Japan is good on it. Every train station has a public bathroom. The busy stations like Shinjuku are, uh, busy, but the quieter stations are pristine. When I lived there I sometimes would rather shit in the station closest to where I lived because the toilet was pristinely clean and much larger than the one in my apartment.
Of course, every toilet has a bidet.
Tier 1 China is similar, although not as clean, and no bidets. But finding a place to go to the bathroom is the same question as asking where the nearest subway station, and that’s never far in an urban area.
That's good to know. In situations where there are fare gates, are the toilets inside or outside that financial barrier? Because while the subways and and trains are public mass transit, the core division I'm thinking about is really about whether they're free for the public to use independent of any financial contribution to the managers of the location.
That depends, in some stations it's outside the gates, in some stations it's inside the gates, in some stations that are really big like Shinjuku they're both inside and outside.
The Japanese subway is distance based. If you really need to go, you can just tap in. You'll pay 0 yen since you've traveled 0 stations.
Yeeeeaaaahhhh, I’m gonna say that not every toilet in a Japanese train station is some technological pristine marvel. The ones at my local look like they piss on the floor to loosen up the grime before swiping an old mop around. And no, not every public toilet in Japan has a bidet or is even guaranteed to be western style, especially as you get more rural.
The good thing about Japan is that most stores have decent toilets. Department stores, malls, electronics stores like Yamada denki, home centers, convenience stores. Honestly, unless I was looking for a quick piss, train station toilets are the last place I would look.
The vast majority of the ornate pissoirs don't exist anymore but Paris still has a lot of public toilets, some of which include external urinals. Most of them smell pretty awful, and you only really use them if you're desperate because they're usually dirty or wet inside (even if they "self-clean" between each use), there's no soap, and forget about drying your hands. Some people also don't respect these spaces and leave trash or destroy the equipment (unfortunately Paris is too often the epitome of "we can't have nice things"). But it's better to have them than not, especially as they are the only choice for some, like unhoused people.
The empêche pipi still exist in a bunch of places, but their usefulness is questionable.
It's funny to see you say that because some of my worst experiences looking for toilets were in Paris. Maybe you're counting pay toilets, though. I don't use those. They're rarely any nicer and they force you to pay to do something you have to do. Count me out.
I'd rather pay toilets than no toilets.
What happened in the US is like a textbook example of the wrong type of government action. Advocacy groups like the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America had a reasonable argument and proposal: that everyone has to pee and shit, and paid toilets presents structural discrimination.
The action was wrong. They lobbied local and state governments to just ban paid toilets. And now we have no toilets.
Instead, they should have lobbied local and state governments to fund public toilets. If paid toilets had to compete against a bunch of great public toilets, they would naturally disappear. If you tried to operate paid toilets in Japan, you'd fail, immediately, because everyone knows they can walk 2 minutes to the nearest JR station and pee for free.
In the US we have the worst of all worlds - no free public toilets, no paid toilets. Just no toilets at all.
There's a lot of things that were taken away because they sucked, but no alternative was ever funded because banning something requires 0 dollars to be spent on our fellow humans and providing better options requires an, apparently, impossible amount of money.
I'll forever be mad about local public transportation that shut down because "it was too unsafe" like mf, then make it safe? Ugh.