Cities Are Spending Absurd Sums on Modular Bathrooms
Philadelphia has budgeted nearly $2 million for the project.
Philadelphia recently installed two Portland Loos: modular, stand-alone public restrooms first commissioned by Portland, Oregon. The single-stall metal structures are easy to keep clean and feature rounded walls to deter graffiti and walls that are louvered at the top and bottom to deter mischief inside stalls. However, despite these supposed benefits, cities regularly spend absurd amounts of taxpayer funds to purchase and install the bathrooms.
Philly plans to install six Loos over the next five years as part of the city's public restroom pilot, which Philadelphia Health and Human Services launched in January 2021. The city has budgeted $1.8 million for six units, or $300,000 per unit, including installation costs.
According to a Portland Loo spokesperson who spoke with Reason, the total cost is around $200,000: up to $155,000 for the unit, including shipping, and between $30,000 and $80,000 for installation. Maintenance is about $14,000 annually.
- $140,000
Portland, Oregon for the original 2008 prototype - $330,000
Dayton, Ohio for two units - $97,000
San Antonio, Texas for one unit - $290,000
Charleston, South Carolina for one unit - $320,000
Cambridge, Massachusetts for one unit
"We had one restroom near a kid's soccer field—a traditional brick and mortar….Unfortunately, the reality is people will spread feces all over the walls. It happened so often…just way too often. Because it's a brick and mortar, you can never clean that off."
—Ventura, California, Parks and Recreation Director Nancy O'Connor in a statement to The Philadelphia Citizen