I’ve used similar units in other cities. When they are well maintained, they are nice. The problem is that you are still dependent on city workers to refill the cleaning fluid and perform maintenance and… they pretty rapidly become essentially just any old portapotty.
With one key difference. They also tend to have lots of “anti-loitering” tech. So if you are prairie dogging it, you are fine. If you “kind of have to go” and would rather go now than risk needing to go four blocks later when you aren’t near a toilet? You get “warning” flashing lights and the like and, in some models, a canned speaker alert. Not a huge issue to deal with if you are actually on the toilet but…
It still fulfills the actual goal of removing public toilets. Hurting unhoused people. Because it means they aren’t a place to shelter on the REALLY bad nights (“oh, but it is really all about stopping those disgusting monsters from shooting up!”) while also actively discouraging basic hygiene. Giving yourself a quick sponge bath with a sink and paper towels goes a long way but “good people” hate the idea of that so better add deterrents…
And, on a more selfish note: If you’ve ever queued up outside a restroom only to see the door lock for 30-360 seconds after the person you were waiting for gets out… yeah.
So yeah. As a privileged upper middle class person? This is great for me. And… that is all the vast majority of people need to feel good about themselves.
You’re saying they shouldn’t spend money on this? What alternative would you propose? In my mind this seems to fall pretty squarely in the good column.
I’m of… a few minds on this.
I’ve used similar units in other cities. When they are well maintained, they are nice. The problem is that you are still dependent on city workers to refill the cleaning fluid and perform maintenance and… they pretty rapidly become essentially just any old portapotty.
With one key difference. They also tend to have lots of “anti-loitering” tech. So if you are prairie dogging it, you are fine. If you “kind of have to go” and would rather go now than risk needing to go four blocks later when you aren’t near a toilet? You get “warning” flashing lights and the like and, in some models, a canned speaker alert. Not a huge issue to deal with if you are actually on the toilet but…
It still fulfills the actual goal of removing public toilets. Hurting unhoused people. Because it means they aren’t a place to shelter on the REALLY bad nights (“oh, but it is really all about stopping those disgusting monsters from shooting up!”) while also actively discouraging basic hygiene. Giving yourself a quick sponge bath with a sink and paper towels goes a long way but “good people” hate the idea of that so better add deterrents…
And, on a more selfish note: If you’ve ever queued up outside a restroom only to see the door lock for 30-360 seconds after the person you were waiting for gets out… yeah.
So yeah. As a privileged upper middle class person? This is great for me. And… that is all the vast majority of people need to feel good about themselves.
You’re saying they shouldn’t spend money on this? What alternative would you propose? In my mind this seems to fall pretty squarely in the good column.