Is LA flush or flushed?
Plans for a $1 million public toilet are raising a stink in Los Angeles, where locals say the cash-strapped city is flushing money down the drain. Officials last year approved a scheme to build a bathroom with two stalls at the entrance to the city’s popular Runyon Canyon hiking trail at a cost of $960,000. But people living nearby say the eye-watering price tag seems corrupt in a city that had to slash its fire department budget last year. It is “an epic waste of money,” park neighbor Shira Scott Astrof. Scott Weil of the Runyon Canyon Guardians, an action group of nearby residents, said he had found a supplier who would fit the same two-stall unit for half the price. “How does a city that is broke… have $500,000 extra dollars?” he asks. The 160-acre park sits a stone’s throw from the famed Hollywood sign, attracting thousands of hikers, dog walkers and tourists every day. It is not uncommon to see celebrities climbing the hillside trails, which offer fantastic views of the sprawl of Los Angeles. The office did not immediately respond to AFP requests to explain the price.
In 2022 San Francisco made global headlines after approving a plan to spend $1.7 million on a public toilet. A public backlash led to a rethink and the final San Fran project cost $200,000. “I’ve been living on this block for 15 years,” Scott Weil said. “We had low crime and no fires. Since those port-o-potties, we’ve had seven fires and a heavy increase in crime.” “As a woman, I don’t feel safe here,” Shira said. “The fact they can’t answer any security questions, and the fact I have been assaulted up here — it’s unforgivable they brush off my questions.” In January, the “Sunset Fire” burned 60 acres across the park. More recently, good Samaritans detained a man accused of starting another fire — one of at least seven this year, according to locals. The nonprofit Runyon Canyon Guardians says it contacted restroom manufacturers in Oregon and received quotes around $500,000 — roughly half the price the city has budgeted.
There was a time when Runyon Canyon Park was primarily visited by locals, a true wilderness oasis in the hills overlooking Hollywood’s bright lights. But in the last few decades, it’s become one of Los Angeles’ most popular hiking destinations, with an estimated 2 million visitors a year. Currently, there are only portable toilets throughout the park, which attracts over a million visitors per year. The bathroom would be installed near the North Fuller Avenue entrance. Area residents are concerned about the bathroom for many reasons – the price tag being the main issue – and it’s clear that some are convinced that $960,000 is simply too much to build a restroom. What’s more, an Oregon-based company that residents contacted gave an estimate of $500,000. That’s according to Runyon Canyon Guardians, a neighborhood community group which bills itself as an organization “interested in preserving Runyon Canyon while working to keep developers and incompetent city leaders at bay.”
Big budgets
What costs $2.02 billion dollars, but is worthless?
2nd place in a presidential election.
My local gym costs $120 for an entire year.
That’s $60 per visit, not a great deal.
When I get naked in the bathroom…
The shower usually gets turned on.
The reason Saudi Arabia has so much money is not because of oil,
but because they wouldn’t let their women spend it.
September 26th Birthdays
1948 – Olivia Newton John, 1981 – Serena Williams 1989 – Hanna Mae Lee, 1969 – Naomi Watts
1771 – Johnny Appleseed, 1968 – Jim Caviezel, 1925 – Marty Robbins, 1722 – Sam Adams