Why Downtown San Diego's Public Restrooms Are Bleak | Peter Rowe

n life, the only certainties are death, taxes and the fact that — often at an inconvenient, gut-clenching moment — everyone needs a place to do their business. "Sir, relax," Herbert Bridges told a pedestrian racing to a public restroom outside San Diego City Hall. The security guard unlocked a steel door, revealing a cinder block chamber with a stainless steel commode, urinal and sink. Brown stains marked the walls, litter and dark patches the floor. "Everybody's panicked," Bridges commented, "but I got it under control. "When it comes to public restrooms, critics insist, San Diego cannot say the same. In 2005 and again in 2015, San Diego County's grand jury urged more public bathrooms downtown. Similar pleas came from the East Village Redevelopment Homeless Advisory Committee (2001), the San Diego Partnership's Clean & Safe Program (2005) and the Girls Think Tank (2009). This shortage was cited as a factor behind 2017's hepatitis A epidemic. During that crisis, the city installed dozens of portable restrooms and outdoor washing stations. Yet relief was only temporary.