JayB Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 "City Council OKs removal of 5 high-tech public toilets By Sharon Pian Chan Seattle Times staff reporter Seattle's $5 million experiment with high-tech toilets is over. The City Council decided Monday to remove all five of the public restrooms, saying the silver cylinders became a hideout for illegal drug use and prostitution... Opponents in 2001 said people would use the toilet stalls to conceal illicit behavior, a prediction that came true. The toilets' tech wizardry failed as well. Trash clogged the self-cleaning mechanism, so workers had to clean the stalls. The Downtown Seattle Association observed more, rather than less, human waste on the streets after the restrooms opened." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004425645_toilets20m.html Maybe an automated blue-bag system that would dispense either a clean needle, a fresh crack-pipe, or a vacuum sealed pouch filled with pure grain ethanol in exchange for packaged feces would have been less likely to run aground on the sandbars of reality... Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 Instead of giving speeding tickets why don't they crack down on illegal behavior at the toilets? Quote
JayB Posted May 21, 2008 Author Posted May 21, 2008 "They were meant to be an oasis of cleanliness and decency. Five gleaming, cylindrical public restrooms. With automatic doors, toilet seats that retract for high-pressure cleanings, and a high-tech system to scrub down the floors, the $6.6 million toilet project was deemed a humane, if pricey, investment -- for tourists, and especially for the city's homeless. On Seattle streets since 2004, each toilet is now flushed an average 332 times a day, down substantially from previous years, according to records kept by the maintenance company, Northwest Cascade. But with regular use comes misuse. Prostitution and drug-dealing were predicted and, it seems, are taking place in the restrooms. "The revolving crack house" is what Luigi Gephart calls the public toilet in Occidental Park. Gephart, who is homeless, uses it but advises tourists to stay away. "These are the worst bathrooms you can go to," he said." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003867372_toilets04m.html Quote
lI1|1! Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 in europe they have public urinals that are open air, presumably to discourage illegal activities. i'm guessing because of subtle differences in norms it would never work in this country. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 in europe they have public urinals that are open air, presumably to discourage illegal activities. i'm guessing because of subtle differences in norms it would never work in this country. I saw a report on this... as I recall they are not open-air - they have a privacy curtain or some such. Quote
JayB Posted May 22, 2008 Author Posted May 22, 2008 I'm not sure how best to tackle the problem, but perhaps enforcing existing laws against public drunkenness, defecation, etc and making the "sentence" a visit to a supervised shower/bathroom facility, with the option to exchange their existing garments for a set of clean clothes from goodwill, and a compulsory visit with a social worker who gives them the run-down on treatment options, shelters, etc would be more cost effective than a set of robo-shitters. I expect that if the police got the message out that they'd be strictly enforcing the laws against such behavior, the population would divide into two subgroups. Those that will respond to help, and those who won't. I think that if they gave everyone that they arrested for such things the option of taking a free bus ticket to anywhere between 200 and 1000 miles away instead of another cycle through the delouse-and-lecture circuit, a fair number of the non-responders would clear out, and the offenses against basic public order and hygiene in the worst parts of Seattle would diminish dramatically. Quote
sobo Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 in europe they have public urinals that are open air, presumably to discourage illegal activities. i'm guessing because of subtle differences in norms it would never work in this country. I saw a report on this... as I recall they are not open-air - they have a privacy curtain or some such. I took several shits in the Paris public toilets about 10 years ago. It was about $0.50 (IIRC) a shit and the machines were very clean. I would imagine that they are roughly the same style of shitters that Seattle is getting rid of. Why we as a people can't keep from fucking up a good thing is beyond me. Quote
ScottP Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Why we as a people can't keep from fucking up a good thing is beyond me. Might it have something to do with people who are out of touch with reality making decisions using tax dollars? I can imagine too many people making 6 figure incomes sitting in comfortable chairs around a polished, exotic wood table in an air conditioned room (with a 'Sound and Mountains' view) nodding and smiling while some corporate mouthpiece shows them a slick PowerPoint that extolls the civic virtues of automated self-cleaning public toilets. Afterward, serious reflection via a pro vs con comparison didn't happen before the head nodding and "The 'ayes' have it." rolled through the room. Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Why we as a people can't keep from fucking up a good thing is beyond me. Might it have something to do with people who are out of touch with reality making decisions using tax dollars? I can imagine too many people making 6 figure incomes sitting in comfortable chairs around a polished, exotic wood table in an air conditioned room (with a 'Sound and Mountains' view) nodding and smiling while some corporate mouthpiece shows them a slick PowerPoint that extolls the civic virtues of automated self-cleaning public toilets. Afterward, serious reflection via a pro vs con comparison didn't happen before the head nodding and "The 'ayes' have it." rolled through the room. Lemme guess, you are one of those dipshits who expects to get top quality talent to work for government for jack shit, then bitchs when you may them minimum and you get some slack jawed troglodyte from Tacoma who can barely spell in office? Quote
denalidave Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Now where the hell are we supposed to shoot up, smoke crack and do bid-ness with da hoes? Oh yeah, go potty too? Quote
ScottP Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Why we as a people can't keep from fucking up a good thing is beyond me. Might it have something to do with people who are out of touch with reality making decisions using tax dollars? I can imagine too many people making 6 figure incomes sitting in comfortable chairs around a polished, exotic wood table in an air conditioned room (with a 'Sound and Mountains' view) nodding and smiling while some corporate mouthpiece shows them a slick PowerPoint that extolls the civic virtues of automated self-cleaning public toilets. Afterward, serious reflection via a pro vs con comparison didn't happen before the head nodding and "The 'ayes' have it." rolled through the room. Lemme guess, you are one of those dipshits who expects to get top quality talent to work for government for jack shit, then bitchs when you may them minimum and you get some slack jawed troglodyte from Tacoma who can barely spell in office? Me thinks you assume too much. Where in my post did I say government? Quote
fenderfour Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 I for one, will be sad to see the batcave go. Quote
Bug Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 (edited) I know two of Seattle's recent City Council members and they worked hard to avoid this debacle. But they would have found themselves being targeted for being "against providing public toilets for the homeless". The Seattle and King county gov is insanely corrupt. Look at RTA. $1,000,000,000.00 spent and no stone moved. That's one hell of a lot of "studying the issue". Or outright criminal fraud in Gov. Nichols and Simms are the fat-cats in the posh office doing whatever gets their friends and themselves the highest profit. I hate Rossi for his anti-education record but I am very tempted to vote for him just to encourage a house cleaning. Edited May 22, 2008 by Bug Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 I hate Rossi for his anti-education record but I am very tempted to vote for him just to encourage a house cleaning. house cleaning. PNW politics. HEHE Quote
sirwoofalot Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 The whole toilet issue is just a bunch of crap! I mean the whole thing stinks! Quote
Hendershot Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Those were toilets!?! They looked like time machines, I never saw them open either. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Those were toilets!?! They looked like time machines, I never saw them open either. Seattle version of the TARDIS? Quote
Off_White Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 It's a pity Americans can't be as responsible as the French Quote
tradhead Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Yeah, the French are civilized enough to at least hose down their streets every morning to remove the previous day's worth of cigarette butts, dog feces, and garbage... Quote
Ducknut Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Why we as a people can't keep from fucking up a good thing is beyond me. Paul I think the question is: "Why we as a people can't keep from fucking in a good thing is beyond me. 8D " Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Yeah, the French are civilized enough to at least hose down their streets every morning to remove the previous day's worth of cigarette butts, dog feces, and garbage... The homeless on capital hill are too big to flush down the drain Quote
Off_White Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 What, and the French have no homeless people? Quote
mkporwit Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 No, they have bigger drains... the homeless can be flushed down those. Quote
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