Where are the Public Washrooms?

The thing about a public washroom is that you don’t really value it until you quite literally need it.  I imagine few plumbers even think about public washrooms in their more reflective moments, let alone most members of the public.  “Members of the public” sounds like it is a club doesn’t it?  In fact, by definition, “public” pertains to the whole people.   Are some people NOT members of the club anymore?

 Here are the 11 definitions of “public” from my big brown Webster’s Dictionary:

 PUBLIC:

1. not private;
2. pertaining to the whole people;
3. relating to, regarding, or effecting a state, nation, or community (the public service);
4. proceeding from many or the many;
5. belonging to people in general (a public subscription);
6. open to the knowledge of all;
7. general;
8. common;
9. notorious (public report);
10. regarding not private interest but the good of the community (public spirit);
11. open to common use (a public road).

That’s the problem isn’t it?  We are doing something private in a “mostly public” setting.  People can hear us and smell us.  And horrors of horrors we might even hear and smell others.  But when we really “gotta go” we are not quite so picky.  We just need somewhere private where we can squat and do our #2 business.  However, we are usually on a wide open urban street with buildings and homes and businesses all over the place, but amazingly no highly visible and accessible place to do our #2 business.

Here’s the rub though.  You know that there has to be washrooms in every building you pass as you frantically calculate the time and distance that will pass before you find a place to privately relieve yourself.  Would that “kindly” used bookstore clerk open their “staff” bathroom to an apparent non-customer – a stranger?  Or that neighbourhood bistro?  Or that homeowner on the suburban street (blocks away from any business)?  Maybe, maybe not.  Why risk an argument when you have little to no time to find a place to go to the washroom.

We are looking for a more anonymous, less policed washroom, but relatively safe washroom like in a fast food restaurant, major gas station, mall, public library or government building.  We are looking for a washroom where we don’t necessarily have to ask to use their facilities.  We are looking for somewhere where we won’t be shamed into buying something we don’t need.  On a personal note, whenever I have to go and use a business’s washroom, I buy something.  I do this because I know how much time and money it takes to simply plumb in that toilet and sink never mind all the other stuff like tiles, mirror, hand dryer, door with lock, wall partitions, lighting, day to day (even hour to hour) cleaning, and of course the dreaded maintenance / repair plumbers when someone plugs the toilet.

So what is a public washroom?  It is a washroom that anyone can use without being a member, customer, or even property tax payer.  By anyone, I mean the well-heeled foreign tourist who is dropping $500 a day in Edmonton or that visibly homeless person who just spent their last few dollars on a greyhound bus ride from Calgary.  Both these people are not residents of Edmonton, but I can almost guarantee you which one will have an easier time gaining access to non-public washrooms.  That is why we need to build and maintain more "public" washrooms especially in high traffic pedestrian areas.  How we do this is a subject for future articles.

For more on "why" please go to my previous LinkedIn Article "Public Toilets are Infrastructure."

PUBLIC = anyone

PUBLIC washroom = for everyone

 As I am finishing this article, the big news story of the day is the opening of Edmonton’s new Ice District surrounding the new “publicly subsidized” Rogers Place Arena. 

I wonder if there is going to be a highly visible and accessible “public” washroom, at street level, in this multi-block expanse of downtown Edmonton?

 Below are a few more pictures of Edmonton’s very first highly visible and accessible public washroom on the corner of 2 very busy streets across the river from downtown Edmonton.