The obvious answer here is to charge a fee for use. This is what is done everywhere in Europe. Most people would gladly pay 50 cents to use a clean restroom. Why isn't that even being considered?
Lol. When I read the first paragraph, I thought $700k for maybe ONE restroom. Timely article, once again highlighting the naiveté of the council on finances.
Another item for practical consideration: weather. Will they be heated in winter? How will they keep water from freezing? Will they be cooled in the summer?
The utility hookups alone are going to blow well past their budget.
I have forwarded this thoughtful piece to incoming and outgoing Ward 7 council members (Shaffer and Cashman). Shaffer was on the Park Board and should therefore have some practical experience managing public restrooms.
Thanks for thinking through the practicalities of this idea. Although I love the idea of public restrooms in downtown and in other commercial corridors, can we afford it? Another "consultant" to check with would be the Park Board. The parks have a combination of permanent facilities and porta-potties. They should be able to provide a reality check.
I saw a nice (looking) public toilet in Washington Square Park in SF recently. Can’t remember if it required payment. I also saw a one-euro pay toilet in Venice Italy recently. There are certainly examples we can study to come up with realistic policies, budget, etc. However, of course we need to consider our more extreme climate.
I assume the public restrooms, if built, become the responsibility of some part of city government and so maintenance goes on their budget. Are there models for how other cities provide and manage this service?
Hi Sam, I cannot say for sure which department would be tasked with maintenance. I did notice that the Public Works department is requesting to add 25 FTE in the 2026 budget. They do not detail what they will be doing, but it may be for maintenance. Seattle is one city I researched for the newsletter, but not to such an extent that I could say how they budgeted for it. Their "self-cleaning" toilets require a great deal of human intervention.
We all know the city is not capable of managing this. Credit card access for sure. Even if that is implemented they will most likely be occupied by the homeless. Sorry unhoused.
Great points. I will reach out to my city council member (hope she gets back to me). FYI, the term ‘handicapped’ is an old term that was removed from state statutes in 2005. Please change the
term ‘handicapped access’ to ‘disability access.’ Thanks!
Wonderful writeup, can only hope the city officials read this! Public restrooms can work in big cities but is our CC up to it? Pretty hard to be optimistic on that front.
So well presented…this is a required to achieve the full year event planning that will bring crowds to Downtown and other Neighborhood Centers!
And charging per use is appropriate. Coin a 50 cent piece to offset the cost to build & maintain! With staffing (job generation) the exception can be handled.
Many people rarely have paper and coin money on them. That leaves charging users who have credit or debit cards. I think that there may be a lot of potential users who are unbanked.
As a 70's child I remember pay-for toilets in public spaces and having to slide under the stall door because I did not have a dime. It's a bit undignified and it did not solve the real issue of homelessness.
I seem to remember these public bathrooms NOT working in NYC when I lived there 15+ years ago- (but maybe that’s changed)so it’s good to hear they are functioning in Seattle, etc.
Bravo! Think long and hard before stepping into this endeavor. I manage pretty well downtown if I need a restroom but that is only because I know the area well and know which public buildings have restrooms available like city hall, government center, library and the convention center plus the YMCA to which I belong. It must be terribly inhospitable to visitors who need a restroom in a pinch.
My 1st thought was "what a good idea" but you quickly dispelled that in a hurry. The idea must be just another way of the City Council not wanting to deal with the true problems of mental illness and drug addiction leading to homelessness. I think we need to return to office buildings returning to having open restrooms to the public accompanied by better police enforcement and more facilities to help with treating the causes of homelessness.
They can always give a property tax credit for having the restrooms available. It would be ore cost effective and safer for all.
People have been sexually assaulted in the various porta potties around town. They are also used for drug usage and are not clean. Not quite sure the proponents have though this though.
The obvious answer here is to charge a fee for use. This is what is done everywhere in Europe. Most people would gladly pay 50 cents to use a clean restroom. Why isn't that even being considered?
Lol. When I read the first paragraph, I thought $700k for maybe ONE restroom. Timely article, once again highlighting the naiveté of the council on finances.
Another item for practical consideration: weather. Will they be heated in winter? How will they keep water from freezing? Will they be cooled in the summer?
The utility hookups alone are going to blow well past their budget.
I have forwarded this thoughtful piece to incoming and outgoing Ward 7 council members (Shaffer and Cashman). Shaffer was on the Park Board and should therefore have some practical experience managing public restrooms.
This is excellent! Wish you could be the paid commentator of every city council meeting!
Thanks for thinking through the practicalities of this idea. Although I love the idea of public restrooms in downtown and in other commercial corridors, can we afford it? Another "consultant" to check with would be the Park Board. The parks have a combination of permanent facilities and porta-potties. They should be able to provide a reality check.
If the council members have ever been to a sporting event or rock concert, that should give them a small snapshot of what they're getting into
I saw a nice (looking) public toilet in Washington Square Park in SF recently. Can’t remember if it required payment. I also saw a one-euro pay toilet in Venice Italy recently. There are certainly examples we can study to come up with realistic policies, budget, etc. However, of course we need to consider our more extreme climate.
I assume the public restrooms, if built, become the responsibility of some part of city government and so maintenance goes on their budget. Are there models for how other cities provide and manage this service?
Hi Sam, I cannot say for sure which department would be tasked with maintenance. I did notice that the Public Works department is requesting to add 25 FTE in the 2026 budget. They do not detail what they will be doing, but it may be for maintenance. Seattle is one city I researched for the newsletter, but not to such an extent that I could say how they budgeted for it. Their "self-cleaning" toilets require a great deal of human intervention.
We all know the city is not capable of managing this. Credit card access for sure. Even if that is implemented they will most likely be occupied by the homeless. Sorry unhoused.
Great points. I will reach out to my city council member (hope she gets back to me). FYI, the term ‘handicapped’ is an old term that was removed from state statutes in 2005. Please change the
term ‘handicapped access’ to ‘disability access.’ Thanks!
I really, really hope we can move away from policing language.
Wonderful writeup, can only hope the city officials read this! Public restrooms can work in big cities but is our CC up to it? Pretty hard to be optimistic on that front.
So well presented…this is a required to achieve the full year event planning that will bring crowds to Downtown and other Neighborhood Centers!
And charging per use is appropriate. Coin a 50 cent piece to offset the cost to build & maintain! With staffing (job generation) the exception can be handled.
Many people rarely have paper and coin money on them. That leaves charging users who have credit or debit cards. I think that there may be a lot of potential users who are unbanked.
That is true, Terry. However, it would serve most situations and would help offset the coffee shops, etc.
As a 70's child I remember pay-for toilets in public spaces and having to slide under the stall door because I did not have a dime. It's a bit undignified and it did not solve the real issue of homelessness.
I seem to remember these public bathrooms NOT working in NYC when I lived there 15+ years ago- (but maybe that’s changed)so it’s good to hear they are functioning in Seattle, etc.
Bravo! Think long and hard before stepping into this endeavor. I manage pretty well downtown if I need a restroom but that is only because I know the area well and know which public buildings have restrooms available like city hall, government center, library and the convention center plus the YMCA to which I belong. It must be terribly inhospitable to visitors who need a restroom in a pinch.
My 1st thought was "what a good idea" but you quickly dispelled that in a hurry. The idea must be just another way of the City Council not wanting to deal with the true problems of mental illness and drug addiction leading to homelessness. I think we need to return to office buildings returning to having open restrooms to the public accompanied by better police enforcement and more facilities to help with treating the causes of homelessness.
They can always give a property tax credit for having the restrooms available. It would be ore cost effective and safer for all.
People have been sexually assaulted in the various porta potties around town. They are also used for drug usage and are not clean. Not quite sure the proponents have though this though.