Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
I own several pieces of commercial real estate in town. They have bathrooms in shared hallway spaces that the public could in theory use. When I bought them, against the advice of other property owners in the village, I made the restrooms open and unlocked. That idea lasted about a year. The cost of keeping them clean and useable was insane, and the public treated the restrooms dreadfully.

There is not a single business in our small village with restrooms available to casual users at this point. Every effort to establish one has ended in disaster. The County stepped up to the plate a few years back and build a $250k palace of a public bathroom on our town green, designed to withstand a prison riot. It too is a disaster.
I have seen the opposite trend. Public libraries where you used to have to get a key are now open. I am guessing they want EMTs to be able to get to someone who ODs. There are posters on the walls offering rehab services. I also went to a cemetary restroom within the past year and you could close but not lock the door. There are panhandlers in the area who could probably get the change for a cup of coffee if that were a requirement to use the restroom. It would not prevent them from using it for other than its intended purpose.