[Massplanners] A poo problem

Tue Sep 27 13:48:51 EDT 2022

 I was just in Shibuya at the end of August and I was in awe of the public bathrooms. Night and day from the US and I'm not just talking about the design, which was incredible (as you can see from the photos). The cleanliness was like your own hotel room. And in a lot of the public bathrooms there were workers who would go in and clean up after you used it. This was not just in Shibuya either but in all of Japan where I traveled, from the remote areas to the the cities. Honestly, I think it's just a different mindset - Japan is a very clean place.

There were a lot of other differences in the public restrooms as well which would I believe would be unthinkable in the US.

Patrice L. Carson, AICP
Consultant Planner
     On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, 11:35:56 AM EDT, Dwight Merriam via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:  

 We can do a lot better with public restrooms....
See, e.g. https://www.studiopacific.co.nz/projects/2011/kumutoto-toilets/    and  https://tokyotoilet.jp/en/

Regards,Dwight Merriam, FAICPwww.dwightmerriam.com
On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 11:27 AM Chris Hayes via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

Hi, all,
This is actually related to a question I asked on this listserv a while ago!
Because of the expense of adding new restrooms, a public group is advocating for opening up certain public garage restrooms (those visible from the street), installing cameras and various safety devices, and employing a full-time monitor through a workforce program. Apparently, this is a hard sell for the City because of the fear that even if a freestanding toilet were to be built, it would be unsafe and expensive to keep clean/maintain. The question I had was about how common it was to have a city host a nonprofit workforce program (we decided to model it on the Operation Able program already operating.)
Notably, a few of our churches maintain restrooms and haven't had too many problems as of yet, but they're all sorts of various special programs with paid monitors or staff dedicated to cleaning multiple times a day.
-Chris
On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 11:13 AM roberta cameron via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

I'm a member of a church located in Harvard Square which used to allow public use of its bathrooms but had to end this practice due to the frequency and severity of public safety incidents occurring on the premises, including drug use, overdoses, and assaults. Due to this situation, the churches surrounding Cambridge Common advocated for the City to install the first public toilet there. 
I don't believe that any amount of maintenance and insurance could compensate businesses or institutions for the responsibility of opening their bathrooms for use by the homeless population, short of having a full-time social-worker assigned to the site. A free-standing City-owned public toilet is a much safer and sustainable solution.

Roberta Cameron, AICP

Community Preservation Act Manager

Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development

City of Somerville

rcameron at somervillema.gov 

On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 8:57 AM Ezra Haber Glenn via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

I've seen (and used) the Portland Loo around Boston and Cambridge, and it seems to be a great solution. Not sure about the cost, though.
I've also wondered whether it might be possible to work with local restaurants and other businesses to encourage them (or incentivize/require them, though permitting?) to provide accessible bathrooms, in exchange for a city-run maintenance and insurance program: if they agree to make the bathrooms open, you'd agree to have an on-call janitor/plumber to immediately respond to any problem created.
Just some thoughts — good luck, hope all is well.
Ezra-- Ezra Haber Glenn, AICPDepartment of Urban Studies and PlanningMassachusetts Institute of Technology77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 7-346Cambridge, MA 02139eglenn at mit.edu617.721.7131 (c)
 - on the web:    http://dusp.mit.edu/people/ezra-glennFrom: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> on behalf of Rob May via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2022 8:38:26 AM
To: Listserv (massplanners at masscptc.org) <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] A poo problem A number of usual and convenient locations where the unhoused have been able to use public restrooms have closed or limited their access.  
This has resulted in a marked increase in public defecation. 
Short of housing the unhoused, what are other communities doing to address this issue?  
We are currently looking at permanently installed, single occupant toilets by Portland Loo  (https://portlandloo.com/).  
I would like to hear your thoughts on this and other solutions.  
Rob 
Rob May, CEcD
Director of Planning and Economic DevelopmentCity of Brockton45 School StreetBrockton, MA 02301508-580-7113rmay at cobma.usHe/Him/His

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