San Francisco Implements Pee-Repellant Paint Program

[RandySF]

A splashy new idea for getting people to stop using San Francisco alleys and walls as toilets is being implemented in several of the city’s neighborhoods. The Department of Public Works is testing out a new paint that repels urine to discourage peeing on the sidewalk.

Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru said crews have installed a liquid-repellant paint in about 10 locations.

“When people urinate on the wall, the pee bounces back and hits your pants or gets you wet,” Nuru said. “So we are piloting it to see if we can discourage people from peeing on many of our hot spots.”

Around parts of San Francisco, the stink is obvious, and architect John Jackson says he’s had enough.

“Public peeing is an issue in the city,” Jackson said. “When I come to work that’s all I smell walking down the street.”


http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/weird/San-Francisco-Implements-Pee-Repellant-Paint-Program-318370591.html

[jberryhill]

1. "discourage people from peeing on many of our hot spots"

Well I've never encouraged anyone to do that, but I understand some people are into that sort of thing.

[Politicalboi]

2. Reminds me of this

[Egnever]

5. Aww man that clip left me hanging

I wanted to see what else he came up with. Now I have to watch the whole movie.

[olddots]

3. "I left my pee in San Francisco "

sing along everyone .

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Won't work for those that drop their pants and squat in a doorway.

or pee in the gutters.
I have seen gutters on some streets running yellow, and the stench of human urine is VERY strong in certain parts of the city,
including the Haight, and Delores Park, where tourists like to go, esp. odorous in summer, when there is no rain.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Okay, fine. And I agree that people shouldn't be peeing in alleys and whatnot.

Nevertheless, like many urban centers (Manhattan springs to mind, so to speak) it is almost well-nigh impossible to find a place to pee in many parts of San Francisco, as in a restroom open to the public.

The public should have available facilities; that would probably cut down on at least as much alley-whizzing as pee repellent paint.

[Igel]

7. Yeah, but then you need attendants.

Eastern European public bathrooms had them.

Otherwise

1. There's never any TP, because it's stolen or rolls of TP are considered "single use size".

2. The facilities are stopped up by the same kinds of people that like to stop up bathrooms in schools and restaurants, or make the water run non-stop.

3. They're good places not just to get laid, but to get way-laid.

4. The facilities are broken.

If you go into the wilderness, you take TP. You take a dump, you take the dump back out with you.

Go downtown and know that you'll need to pee, be sure you can pee--have a pee can. Think of it as a way of recycling your water bottle.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. I understand the logistical challenges of public bathrooms in these cities dont occur in a vacuum

Basically i think it is many of the things you mention, along with the fact that homeless people and others will either camp out in the bathrooms or use them to shoot up, etc.

I had a retail gig in a medium sized town that was near a public transit hub- for a while at least we kept the bathrooms open; the shit i saw in there (literally and figuratively) was not to be believed.

So i understand why things are the way they are- but that reality also contributes to people peeing outside. Probably encouraging people (or at least men) to carry a receptacle is more realistic than having a paid attendant.

[daredtowork]

9. If indoor malls can do it, outside shopping/entertainment corridors can, too.

Where are people likely to be (including transients) when they need a bathroom? Some commercial area where people congregate zoned for shopping, entertainment, etc.

When this shopping area has a roof over it, the businesses manage to collaborate on having guards and public bathrooms that are kept clean. What's the problem with treating outdoor commercial zones the same way? Just sign various businesses up to a zone - such as the "business improvement districts" that already exist and have them pay for the amenities to prevent people from peeing outside.

By the way, in University towns there is evidence that frat guys are responsible for a lot of the litter, vomit, and outdoor urination. So it's wrong to pin "the behavior" solely on homeless people. (This remark is aimed at the world in general, not at the person who posted the OP).