San Francisco Has a Restroom Problem

This article is part rant about the state of public restrooms in San Francisco, and part advice on how to find one. It's tougher than you might imagine.

Let me preface this by saying that I've traveled a lot around these United States. And just about everywhere I've ever been, I've taken it for granted I could find a bathroom whenever I happened to need one. What i mean is, it's not something you need to plan your day around - "Should
i eat lunch now? Will i be able to poop in the next couple hours if i need to? Should i have coffee now, will it make me need to pee, I won't be near
a urinal all afternoon" and etc. Public restrooms are a social service, like water fountains, that one comes to expect in a civilized
society, especially at the general level of wealth that we have reached in this country. 95% of places, you can just expect there to be one somewhere
nearby when you need one. It's not something to worry about. Except in San Francisco, supposedly one of the most modern and progressive
cities in the country. Trying to find a useable bathroom can be a nightmare here. I can't imagine what a person with Chron's Disease or irritable
bowel syndrome would have to go through visiting this city.

Now, I understand it's not just out of sheer meanness and greed. There's some good reasons why SF is so tight fisted with bathroom access. One of the big reasons is it's out-of-control homeless problem downtown. There's all kinds of drinkers and druggers who regularly trash bathrooms at best, at worst shoot up and have sex and pass out in them. Private businesses don't want to deal with the liability and the city just doesn't want to pay for all the maintenance it takes. OK. But in the middle of this you've got a lot of working people, shoppers and visitors who get the shaft.