The Metropolis

Stealing other cities' ideas: #1 the Portland toilet

Mike Pollitt | Tuesday 24 January, 2012 15:29

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London is one big sewer. Its public toilets are but sticking plasters against gushing torrents of public piss. They’re horrid, in a bad way.

The public toilets in Portland, Oregon, are horrid in a good way. They are deliberately designed to be unwelcoming, unbreakable, and unpleasant. As a result they are a roaring success. People go in, do their business, and get out.

The Atlantic Cities has a good report.

“The toilet’s durability can be chalked up to its defense-first design. “I think one thing we have ahead of other toilet designs is that we’ve learned people like to do nefarious things” to public lavatories, says [city official Anna] DiBenedetto. So the Portland Loo includes a variety of bells and whistles meant to keep in check the most degenerate of bathroom users”

They retail at $100,000 each. Or approximately one 900th of a Thames cable car.

Atlantic Cities – Why Portland’s Public Toilets Succeeded Where Others Failed

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