San Francisco Park Gets Open-Air Toilet for Half of Population That Can Already Pee Anywhere

A MUNI streetcar approaches a stop across from Dolores park next to an outdoor urinal in San Francisco, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. The popular San Francisco park this week has reopened with renovations and the new public urinal, the latest move to combat public urination in the city. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
It’s conveniently situated directly in front of a MUNI stop. Photo: Jeff Chiu

San Francisco has a pee problem. For years the city has battled public urination, but despite a 2002 law banning it, the threat of a $500 fine, and the introduction of pee-fighting wall paint last summer, the city’s still trying to tackle its urine epidemic. Its latest move is installing an open-air urinal in Dolores Park, which is apparently a hot spot for public micturators, otherwise known as dudes.

Think about it: When’s the last time you saw a lady peeing in public? And when’s the last time you saw a dude whip it out and relieve himself in some corner just because he can? With its public urinal (which, let’s be honest, is a dedicated wall with a hole under it), San Francisco is enabling the half of the population that already exercises very little bladder-related self-control. “The more options we can give [people] to relieve themselves, the better for the park-goers,” a city supervisor told the Los Angeles Times. In other words, if city planners dig a hole in the ground, surround it with concrete, and call it a urinal, maybe dudes will pee here instead of everywhere else

The new “urinal” is part of a massive renovation of Dolores Park that also included 26 new public toilets, also known as bathrooms for people who pee like human beings, sometimes while sitting down.

San Francisco Park Gets First Open-Air Urinal