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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

SF needs the Portland Loo.[1][2] The homeless-resistant public toilet. Not enough privacy for a drug deal. Water faucet on the outside, not the inside. Prison-grade stainless.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2012-aug-29-la-na-08-29... [2] https://portlandloo.com/

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If its private enough to poop in its not private enough to do a drug deal in? So you can see multiple people's legs that's going to stop things?

Interesting on multiple people's legs. I know the news says our own area has a drug problem but I guess I haven't seen much of it in person...

There's someone I know that worked as a caregiver for a man that had dementia, and instead of keeping him inside all day decided to take him to the park. Well his adult diaper needed changed, so he went to the bathroom to do that, and a park ranger started banging on the door accusing them of smoking weed wanting them to open the door now! Banging on it, then while finishing up changing the state park ranger started accusing them of being homosexuals.

This was somewhere in California, but I know he moved across the country after his patient passed away and decided to go on a different career path. So kinda interesting how people can see one little thing and then start assuming a bunch of stuff. But apparently the ranger realized he was in the wrong and apologize. Sounded like there could of even been a lawsuit out of it, but he didn't want to go that far and just wanted to move on. Probably embarrassing to deal with. This was back I guess before everyone carried cell phones with them though also.

Actually since it's a fixed, semi-private location, it seems really easy to monitor for drug deals. As other comments said it's almost easier to just do deals in public/daylight since not every spot on the sidewalk can be watched at all times.

That’d be great if San Francisco had enough police to monitor for anything.

As it is, drug deals happen in broad daylight on Market St anyway because nobody’s gonna stop them.

Even if you had everything monitored, you still have a drug problem.

Sure, unless we also had proper punishments for drug offenders.

Or, as has been noted many times, we could just legalize the drugs and do away with this problem.

"So you can see multiple people's legs that's going to stop things?"

Look, minor concerns like "efficacy" are no matter when the goal is shaming the homeless.

Most of the time such "features" are about addressing the detractors who say they will only facilitate drug deals. Because, you know, that's one major way to shoot down any public goods.

> Not enough privacy for a drug deal.

That is SF. Drug deals are done in broad daylight.

It's true. I've seen them.

Meanwhile there was that video going around of BART police arresting a guy for eating a sandwich on the platform.

If anything people might be more worried about doing drug deals in a confined space and not being able to flee making it easier to be robbed.

I don't know why you're downvoted so heavily. Any "drug deal" you'd do in a bathroom you'd do on any street corner.

Like in most cities, in the US atleast.

True I've seen a lot of open drug dealing. Rich people do their drug deals inside their homes.

In that case the loo can't be blamed for "increasing drug deals", which is fine.

The idea that drug dealing is such a harmful thing (it's not) that we must deny homeless and poor people the basic human dignity of being able to use a toilet in privacy to avoid people being able to engage in it is an idea that needs to be extinguished.

drug dealing can be harmful, but you are correct otherwise of course.

SF tried to put Amsterdam style open urinals at Dolores Park and neighbors were up in arms.

Why on earth wouldn't you want toilets for the homeless to have enough privacy for a drug deal? The alternative is having the drug deals done in public where I and my kids have to see it happen.

What's wrong with exchanging money and goods that you need to shield your children from? What about the events that happen after, injections of said goods?

Yes, you're right, which is why when I lived in the city I lived away from neighborhoods where that kind of stuff happened, when that activity came to my neighborhood I moved out of the city. The city didn't seem to want to move the drug dealers and users, so I had to move myself.

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