Advocates: No restroom for the weary

Campaign for public toilets in Old Town-Chinatown has a long way to go

By Anna Johns

The Portland Tribune, Feb 7, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A public toilet advocacy group is scheduled to release a 24-page report today that argues for more public toilets in Portland, specifically in the Old Town-Chinatown neighborhood.

It’s an argument that likely will pit business owners and neighbors against one another as the group pushes its agenda toward City Hall.

The neighborhood group calls itself PHLUSH, though members have been unable to agree on what the acronym stands for.

Carol McCreary and the five other members of PHLUSH say the public toilet issue has been a topic of discussion in their neighborhood for nearly 20 years. But the issue is becoming urgent now, McCreary said.

With urban renewal dollars pouring in, the Old Town-Chinatown neighborhood is in the early stages of economic revitalization. Trendy restaurants, shops and clubs are doing business there, bringing in tourists, local visitors and new residents.

“We want to make sure our visitors are comfortable,” McCreary said.

Although PHLUSH has no hard statistics to back up its claims, the group says that a large population of people silently suffers incontinence. The group bases its argument on testimonials and conversations with representatives of the American Restroom Association, a Washington D.C.-based organization that advocates for public restrooms to serve people who suffer medical conditions that require them to use the bathroom frequently.

“People are out there having accidents, and we never hear about them,” McCreary said. “It keeps them from participating in outdoor activities or traveling.”

Homeless have few options

While incontinence is a major consideration for PHLUSH, equally urgent is the need for restrooms for the homeless.

Current estimates put the number of homeless people in Portland at 2,200. Old Town has an especially dense population of homeless people because 11 social service agencies, including shelters and soup kitchens, are in the neighborhood.

Clean & Safe, a group affiliated with the Portland Business Alliance, often is called to Old Town to clean up human waste. Of 6,000 calls last year for cleanup, 2,250 involved urine and excrement in Old Town.

“People are using the only things that are available to them, which are doorways, sidewalks and parks,” said Nikki Jardin, operations manager for Sisters of the Road, an Old Town cafe that serves meals to the homeless. Jardin participated in the PHLUSH research project.

There are 10 public restrooms in downtown Portland, but none is open overnight. Of all the service agencies based in Old Town, only the Portland Rescue Mission provides access to a toilet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

PHLUSH members evaluated all the public restrooms in downtown Portland and found each to be substandard in some way. In most cases, the group was unhappy with the lack of signage to notify the public that restrooms are available. Some of the restrooms were deemed unsafe and inconvenient because of their out-of-the-way locations.

Based on research in a handful of cities, including Boston, Seattle, London and Athens, Greece, PHLUSH has a long list of suggestions for installing more public restrooms in Portland. The group recommends automated public toilets, which are self-cleaning and have timers on the doors so people can’t hang out in them for more than 20 minutes. The toilets come with a hefty price tag Ñ $250,000 each. PHLUSH suggests a public-private partnership to foot the bill.

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