Via Metroblogging Vancouver - the City of Vancouver has recently gone ahead and commissioned the installation of eight public toilets. (Photo: audihertz on Flickr)
Although some might view this as an attempt to upstage the Spirit Bears, the real reason behind this latest additon to our urban landscape is our feces problem - apparently it's been piling up in our back alleys, so the health authorities thought we should do something about it.
Lucky for us, our new-found potties have been bestowed upon the city free of charge - they're part of a 20-year 'street furniture' deal, which lets CBS Decaux slap advertising on a variety of structures such as bus shelters, bike racks, litter barrels, and benches.
In a way, you could say that we're swapping one kind of feces for another. (You can read more about it here - link to pdf).
Whether our city's diverse collection of drunken revellers and street people will actually use these new facilities is an interesting question. They're supposedly free - which is good. But who in their right mind would want to do their business in a filthy public toilet, when a back alley is so much more convenient?
For more details, the Sun's on the story, here. Also, check out this public toilet in Oregon.
The best public toilets I've ever seen were in Amsterdam (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/217352663/ ). Granted, they are only really handy for men, but the big advantage is you know exactly how clean they are before going in. No getting locked in some stinky box. And its cleaned every time it rains, which in Vancouver would be pretty often.
Posted by: Chris | Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 09:21 AM