A roadmap to restrooms

Abstract

In collaboration with the Rising Waters initiative through Sonoma State University's Center for Environmental Inquiry, our team is working to develop a case study which identifies and examines potential socio-political and legal barriers to providing restrooms or preventing the closure of public restrooms for people experiencing homelessness living near riparian areas. Our approach includes an evaluation of prior experiences and lessons learned through alternate restroom installations within the City of Santa Rosa. Through examination of previous implementations, we hope to distill feedback from various stakeholders, perform cost-benefit, stakeholder, and macroeconomic forces analyses, and generate strategic options based on those analyses. Our goal is to also identify strategies for effective toilet placements, including an assessment of the need for temporary vs. permanent restrooms.

Keywords:  Homelessness, water quality, toilets, restrooms, case study, Gilinsky