Public Restrooms, Destroying Cities, 45 mph to Nowhere …Chatter
It is astounding the excuses made for the lack of public bathrooms in downtown Traverse City. #JustSayin
The fact that nobody thought of putting bathrooms into the two parking decks and then staff and representatives look around like they don’t know what to do is absurd (Ticker). I understand that as a culture we under value immediate needs and human nature (MyWHaT), it is quite clear in some of the brush-off comments on The Ticker, but at a certain point it becomes obvious that if we are to have a place that goes beyond adequate, then dedicated, attractive and inviting public bathrooms need to happen.
My vote: convert “Lot O” into a park with a LEED certified bathroom/warming area and if another deck goes in, a bathroom is required. Where we pee shouldn’t fall on the backs of businesses, lest they choose to rebel (NYTimes).
The Chatter
(My apologies, there may just be too much here.)
- DDot (Deleware) adopting sharrows through intersections (BikeDe) proving once again that I may be crazy, but others are too (TC Sharrows) while Elly Blue raises the question: Are sharrows half-assed measures? (Grist) * In places…yes.
- Bicycle Speed Limits? (Denver)
- How to destroy your city 1, 2, 3 (NUBlog) and conversely, how to instill confidence in kids through walkable communities (GGRWash) and need a boost to the economy? Look at your bicycle network (BigCity)
with numerous studies from different cities the world over repeatedly suggesting positive economic benefits on a local scale, urban bicycle networks could provide our cities with a much-needed economic boost.”
- Teens to auto industry “meh, just not that into you.“ (NYTimes) and a Chinese billionaire basically says the same thing: “expand public transport vehicles, double parking fees and oil prices.” Then…smashes his car (TransitionVoice)
- 5 myths about the gas tax (CNN) and still relevant, taxing away vulnerability–why $5 per gallon (Economists) and, how the gas tax is like Keyser Soze (Infrastructurist) as it is really a tax-cut creating a mountain of debt & liabilities for the future (NewColonist) Strong Towns nails it, describing the 45 mph world nobody wants, or is able to fund (Strong Towns)
We’ve built a 45 mile per hour world, one that moves too slow to be efficient yet too fast to provide a platform for value. Our transportation system embraces mediocrity, not from a lack of resources, but from a lack of focus. We must quit fooling ourselves, understand what it means to really create value in a transportation system and commit ourselves to building Strong Towns.”
Listen to to the Strong Town’s post:
- From one motor-head to another: “My fellow car lovers…protecting the car as a means of transport requires that we not abuse it at everyone’s expense” (Calgary Herald)
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Retweets
- RT everybodywalk Quote of the Day: “The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.” ~Buddha
- RT stevemouzon One test for potential for greatness is how infrequently someone lets urgent small things trump important big things
- RT transportdata ”Social life happens when we walk or bike. It doesn’t happen in a car.”
- RT urbandata $45 of every $100 spent at a locally-owned business stays in local economy. Only $14 of that same $100 spent at chain store stays.
- RT Maddz4planning Not new knowledge. Crime leads to perceived risk and inactivity. Encouraging biking and walking is about more than just lanes and sidewalks
- RT ellyblue Yeah! RT
@remyholwick: elizabeth braun begs to differ; she bikes in heels, dresses, and suits– aggressively– daily, and has for years. - MT brainpicker ”Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
The Wrap
“We can do better” is the winning film for a LA based contest called “Changing Your City for the Better.“– I’d like to see a campaign like this for Traverse City, just say’in.
Have a weekend!
Option F: Build a $3 million tunnel and then put them IN THE TUNNEL!!!
Having been a wholesale sales rep for many years throughout northern lower Michigan, I can guide one to all the best available restrooms in the region and few of them are conveniently located. They are in public buildings such as libraries, grocery chains, hospitals, government buildings and churches…. seldom in down towns where retailers want us to shop. From a marketing standpoint, think of the original Milliken’s Department store restrooms… who didn’t head there? On the way in and out impulse purchases were made, lunch or coffee on the mezzanine was convenient, etc…. Wouldn’t it behoove some merchants to pay a restroom attendant simply to get people in their stores? I think it’s in the “service” category.
Thanks, Pat. I’d only throw out there for comparison, that a mall typically has ‘public’ bathrooms at either end and in the middle of the edifice. Their sole purpose is consumerism and yet, they make it easy for people.
Downtowns are, or can be, the nucleus of a community. They are common areas that do indeed offer services and shopping, but they are also gathering points for much more than that. We don’t always go downtown to consume or wish to feel the pressure to. Plus, there are times, like when a child is throwing a fit, that neutral, public bathrooms are more appropriate. Typically, in those cases ‘searching’ for a bathroom can add a lot of stress to a situation.
Yes, it makes sense for private businesses to be welcoming and encourage foot traffic. Similarly, so does a great community with welcoming public spaces.
Two quick comments. When the Vatican was first designed, the architectural drawings were returned with the words: “Do you expect only angels to reside here?” There were no bathrooms! Two: “Anyone leaving home or office is put to periodic torture because great pains have been taken to hide the location of rest rooms.”