Posted on 07/17/2008 8:41:44 AM PDT by george76
After spending $5 million on its five automated public toilets, Seattle is calling it quits.
In the end, the restrooms, installed in early 2004, had become so filthy, so overrun with drug abusers and prostitutes, that although use was free of charge, even some of the citys most destitute people refused to step inside them.
The units were put up for sale Wednesday afternoon on eBay, with a starting bid set by the city at $89,000 apiece.
The dismal outcome coincides with plans by New York, Los Angeles and Boston, among other cities, to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for expansion this fall in their installation of automated toilets stand-alone structures with metal doors that open at the press of a button and stay closed for up to 20 minutes. The units clean themselves after each use, disinfecting the seats and power-washing the floors.
Seattle officials say the project here failed because the toilets, which are to close on Aug. 1, were placed in neighborhoods that already had many drug users and transients. Then there was the matter of cost: $1 million apiece over five years, which because of a local ordinance had to be borne entirely by taxpayers instead of advertisers.
In Seattle, problems arose almost immediately. Users left so much trash behind that the automated floor scrubbers had to be disabled, and prostitutes and drug users found privacy behind the toilets locked doors.
Im not going to lie: I used to smoke crack in there, said one homeless woman... But I wont even go inside that thing now. Its disgusting.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
$89,000,000 toilet here. No takers.
Toilets #1-5. No bids.
That ain’t granite........
This is the quintessence of elitism:
Help others who won’t help themselves, Liberally helping yourselves to the money of the productive to buy self-cleaning units at enormous expense to be SURE you don’t actually have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.
The opposite of true humanitarianism, posing as the real deal.
Fairgrounds and special events around the country get by with porta-potties that have biodegrading chemicals and can’t cost more than a few thousand dollars.
Hey Seattle, check out Thomas Register for some cheaper resources.
Toilets #1-5. No bids.
Shocked.
/s
They have photos up of each $89k terlet.
You can make out some of the graffiti. No phone numbers though.
lol
Clearly a liberal design .......no TP or gunrack !
This is one of those threads I’m not going to read, but thanks for the pings, anyway, lol.
Agree...
The bums taking over the little park next to Pikes Place Market were the lowlight of our otherwise generally enjoyable trip to Seattle last Summer.
Hate to say this, but wonder if there are also a lot of illegals up there.
The further south you go down here, the messier things get. You should see even the Walmart down by the border, clothes on the floor, every art paint has been opened and ‘tried out’ on the shelf background. It’s unreal.
Gas stations keep their restroom doors locked.
Seattle lefties & government officials WOULD NOT LISTEN. They have more of our $ to burn than sense... and absolutely NO ability to see the long term consequences of their actions. Besides, they always receive big brownie points from the local media for “trying to help.”
The Privacy Doors! They appear to have worked too well!!
If they were in Central Park, Spitzer could have saved the room rental for his tryst:-)
You are so right about good olde, angry, vicious Michelle!
Imagine how wretched she along with Obama will be if they get their hands on the Presidency! MAY GOD BE WITH US AND SAVE US FROM A HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE!:-P
We should take up a collection and buy one of these toilets, giving it to Hussein to flush his campaign down the drain:-)
NOBAMA, you may have posted to the wrong person. I don’t recall mentioning Michelle on this thread.
.
Hmmmm
Being a leftist means that you can never, ever be held accountable for your mistakes.
One’s intentions of “helping the poor” or “saving the children” protect you from any consequences.
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