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(San Francisco) Tenderloin toilet project has lofty goals
By C.W. Nevius
May 30, 2013 San Francisco Chronicle
Take a deep breath, San Francisco. Smell that? It's the aroma of the alley, the doorway, and the yucky space next to the trash bin. That's the fragrance of a city that doesn't have enough public urinals.
It's that old story. When you gotta go - and there's no place to go - you just go.
But suppose there was a place, a free public urinal, right on the street. And imagine if it was placed smack in the middle of Pee Central, one of the city's most notorious open-air toilets, right in the Tenderloin. And, unlike the abandoned idea of Porta Potties on the sidewalk, it didn't reek of urine.
But, wait, there's more. Suppose these urinals had a truly San Francisco twist and also turned the by-product into a nutrient-rich plant irrigation system.
Not only is it possible, it exists, right now. Officially it is known as the Tenderloin Public Toilet Project. But we prefer the shorthand, PPlanter.
full: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/Tenderloin-toilet-project-has-lofty-goals-4558977.php
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...as discussed in the Willamette Week a couple...weeks...ago
The loo has been the most celebrated and debated addition to the Rose City streetscape since then-City Commissioner Randy Leonard returned from a trip to Europe in 2006 with the idea for a stainless-steel, open-air public toilet.
The invention is designed to solve the woes associated with decrepit, dangerous public restrooms.
It’s made of steel, so you can’t break it. It has angled slats at the top and bottom, so police can see inside. It has a single stall usable by both men and women, with enough room inside for a wheelchair, a stroller or a bicycle. It can be installed directly on the sidewalk and plugged into city utility pipes. It even has solar panels.
Leonard was so gung-ho on the idea that he had the city patent the design.
But Leonard didn’t budget for the cost of cleaning the loos. And that expense—which has ballooned to nearly $90,000 a year—has been paid with the water and sewer bills of city ratepayers.
The invention is designed to solve the woes associated with decrepit, dangerous public restrooms.
It’s made of steel, so you can’t break it. It has angled slats at the top and bottom, so police can see inside. It has a single stall usable by both men and women, with enough room inside for a wheelchair, a stroller or a bicycle. It can be installed directly on the sidewalk and plugged into city utility pipes. It even has solar panels.
Leonard was so gung-ho on the idea that he had the city patent the design.
But Leonard didn’t budget for the cost of cleaning the loos. And that expense—which has ballooned to nearly $90,000 a year—has been paid with the water and sewer bills of city ratepayers.
WARNING: picture of uncleaned loo at that link, but if you're thinking about going, there's a map of where you can (pun intended).
