News from back home has gotten our attention this morning. In Pearl residents worried about ‘Portland loo’ planned for Jamison Square, The Oregonian’s James Mayer gets some good quotes.
“Let me ask you this — would you want your bedroom within 40 feet of an all-night bathroom, with its potential for noise, crime and door-slamming all night long?” Sandy Ammerman asked council members.
Actually, Sandy, we’ve come to expect a bathroom within 40 feet of our bedroom. Maybe we’re spoiled members of the first generation to have had indoor plumbing 24/7 throughout our lives, maybe we do just “flush and forget”. But we also know that toilet use is a fundamental need and right.
Sheila McMahon complained that the loo’s design with openings near the top allows people in the surrounding apartments to look down into it and people inside the loo to look up to decks or balconies.
Wrong, Sheila. The Portland Loo happens to conform a set of design principles that a group of your neighbors presented in a prestigious international forum http://bit.ly/ugqW0 just yesterday. http://bit.ly/VRbtk
You’re right, Commissioners Fish and Leonard, to fight for the preservation of dignity in the shared space of the commons. “A public restroom is a public right.” “It’s our obligation as a city.”
News from back home has gotten our attention this morning and we’re worrying about those worriers: Pearl residents worried about ‘Portland loo’ planned for Jamison Square The Oregonian‘s James Mayer gets some good quotes.
“Let me ask you this — would you want your bedroom within 40 feet of an all-night bathroom..?” Sandy Ammerman asked council members.
Actually, Sandy, we’ve come to expect a bathroom within 40 feet of our bedroom. Maybe we’re spoiled members of the first generation to have had indoor plumbing 24/7 throughout our lives, maybe we do just “flush and forget”. But we also know that toilet use is a fundamental need and right.
Sheila McMahon complained that the loo’s design with openings near the top allows people in the surrounding apartments to look down into it and people inside the loo to look up to decks or balconies.
Wrong, Sheila. The Portland Loo happens to conform a set of design principles that a group of your neighbors presented in a prestigious international forum just yesterday.
You’re right, Commissioners Fish and Leonard, to fight for the preservation of human dignity in the shared space of the commons. “A public restroom is a public right.” “It’s our obligation as a city.”
Tags: Portland Loo, urban planning
I’ll be sure to keep my eyes focused downward while traveling through the Pearl so as not to inadvertently look at any balconies or decks. I hope respect, tolerance and inclusiveness will carry the day.