Why “Great” American Cities Have a Toilet Problem...

I understand you're trying to keep this upbeat but I think you missed part of the problem in North America. I'm a janitor and I assure you not all the problems with public restrooms are from the homeless, that has just exacerbated the problem. People are if not self-centered, at least not thinking about others when they use any public facilities. Throwing trash on the floor and minor and major vandalism are common even in commercial restrooms. There is a systemic cultural bias towards selfish thinking. Any public area is someone else's problem to take care. Put as many public restrooms up as you want and someone will scrawl on the walls, throw trash on the floors, and not flush the toilets leading to a decline in the restroom and increasing upkeep. They'll look you in the eye when they do it as well, daring you to say anything, I have it happen on a regular basis. I wish we had places like you describe in Japan but I don't believe it's possible in our culture.

The Japanese culture of taking care of things perhaps plays an important role why public spaces are clean.

There is also the fact that schools in Japan do not have janitors, the students actually have to clean the school themselves, so if they trash it then they have to clean it. It's something that is taught from kindergarten, so it is ingrained in the culture. Which is why if someone litters in Japan, like even tossing cigarette butts, the general reaction from everyone around even if they don't say it is, "Gross! Do you not realize someone else has to clean your mess?! Are you really that childish, irresponsible, or just some type of sociopath?!"

My intuition tells me that the reason is that our culture is more interested in money/power and individualism, those two things combine mean "Why waste money on a communal wellbeing if it will not net me any immediate tangible gain?".

My first thought: “Why do you have to ask that question? 😂” Then: “Yeah, why DOES she have to ask it?? 😢”

In Japan real estate developers are also sometimes required by zoning laws to build public toilets in certain areas

I read somewhere that the Japanese sees the toilet space as something sacred and essential. It's a place where they can unwind after a long day and just be alone. That is why even though houses in Japan, especially in Tokyo, despite being notoriously confided, will somehow always fit in a proper toilet and an actual bathtub!

I live in Vancouver. We cannot maintain clean, quality public washrooms for the same reasons we cannot leave our bicycles unlocked and our windows unbarred. Our society and value system is simply just not built up the concepts of respect for the greater good and community importance. Everything here needs vandalism/theft mitigation and overwhelmingly expensive maintenance and repairs. It's disheartening.

I'd like to see a study on how lack of public toilets in north america has contributed to people not leaving their house as much. You can only go to the bathroom if you're near a store, and then only during store hours. People plan their trips based on being able to use the bathroom. At some point people give up and only visit known "safe" areas that will have a bathroom.

In 2022 we can read in the article: Germany's capital Berlin is the European city with the worst public toilets, with a cleanliness score of just 0.16/5, and almost one in ten (9.58%) of its reviews including words synonymous with "dirty". London is also among the cities with the dirtiest toilets, with a score of just 0.32/5. The best 4.85/5 Finland's capital city Helsinki👍

You should look into Singapore. The founder of Singapore actually made it a cornerstone of building Singapore to have clean toilets everywhere. Having unclean toilets will actually shut down your business here.

It isn't just that North America has a homeless problem. It is cultural. The Japan had a homeless problem spike about 15 years not as bad as what is happening in the US or Canada but big here. Osaka Castle Park had a large tent city. The homeless on their own set up a neighborhood association. Set out the tent spaces. They organized government garbage pick up. Policed themselves to a large extent. Helped residents with mental problems etc. The public toilets in the park could still be used by park visitors and tourists no problem. There was a shanty built by a couple under a bridge next to the river in the center of Kyoto. They lived there for 3 years. They took up half of the bike/walking lane. There was never any garbage or dirtiness. They had a sign on the building apologizing for being an annoyance.

It's opposite world. The more people you have living on the streets, the more public restrooms you need to make available. You can't just refuse people housing and toilets and then arrest them and put them on the pervert list, coz they had to go piss in the bushes.

I suspect that at chambers of commerce meetings in US cities, you'll hear opposition to public restrooms as facilitating congregation of unhoused people. In our cities, the loudest voices in local government view penalty and deterrence as the only solution to social problems.

The hinges on a public door are on the outside so that when a person dies or faints on the toilet you can get the door off to help or remove them. People fall forward blocking the door.

It's 90% a culture issue.

1:57 first toilet must've been hell

"Perfect Days" by Wim Wenders shows the transparent/opaque toilets embedded in a beautiful story. This film is really about clean toilets! 😄

From that "typical vancouver scream", I know exactly where you are referring to 🤣

"Toilet village" Those are 2 words I never expected to see together!