January 1, San Francisco Streets Plagued by Feces Despite Costly Toilets

San Francisco continues to struggle with feces on its streets, even after investing millions in public restrooms. In 2023, the city logged over 32,000 calls about street feces, despite having 46 stand-alone public toilets costing an average of $100,000 per location, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bartender Adam Kedzorski shared his frustration with the issue, recalling an incident where his son stepped in poop on the sidewalk, resulting in the child’s shoes being thrown away.

This problem coincides with the city’s ongoing homelessness crisis. San Francisco’s homeless population reached 7,754 in 2023, up from 6,858 in 2017, based on city data.

“We could always use more public toilets,” said Rachel Gordon, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Works Department. “I think nobody would disagree with that assessment.”

Temple University professor Bryant Simon, who is writing a book on public restrooms, argued that the city needs to expand its public restroom program. He claimed that the lack of facilities was motivated by racism. “We got rid of them to disappear the people who used them who we thought were a problem,” Simon said. “Now you have open defecation, which everyone is affected by and we’re using bathrooms to try to put a Band-Aid on the problem.”

When plans for a single public toilet were scrapped due to a $1.7 million price tag, California Governor Gavin Newsom stepped in. He released funds to build multiple units instead, as reported by the New York Times.

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