Midtown Woodward is a cesspool

**davewindsor** · March-29-13, 06:29 AM

Midtown Woodward is a cesspool. Seriously. There's all this talk about the area being improved with new businesses and revitalization. But, they forgot one thing. And it's such a rudimentary, but important element part of this city--the washrooms. I went to downtown yesterday to see what's changed and what new developments have occurred and walked up Woodward to midtown.

After I crossed the bridge, I had to pee. Nobody seems to have a washroom open to the public in Midtown. And this is in the early afternoon. Store entrances have smelly fresh puddles of pee in front of them. It's unsanitary. It's a cesspool. But, can you blame people? No one lets you use their damn washrooms! Am I supposed to just pee in front of buildings along Woodward like everyone else?

Franchise restaurants lock their washrooms in the middle of the day. Can you believe that? The Starbucks had a 15 person line and the washroom was locked. I would have to wait in line to get a key. Went to Subway. They had a shared washroom and it was locked and the sign on the door of the washroom said washroom closed out of order. How can business leaders talk about cleaning up this city when businesses won't even let you use their washrooms? These are major franchises. Come on. I finally found a McDonald's with an unlocked washroom after walking 20 blocks and waiting an hour. I bought my lunch there out of gratitude, but they got my order wrong anyway.

I can walk into any major franchise fast food restaurant in downtown Windsor and find a washroom to use within a block and not a single washroom is locked. I mean really? Why bother visiting midtown? It's a cesspool.

**iheartthed** · March-29-13, 06:33 AM

Cool story bro.

**Patrick** · March-29-13, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Cool story bro.

NewYorkCityYes.com

**iheartthed** · March-29-13, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Patrick

NewYorkCityYes.com

That was lame.

**bailey** · March-29-13, 10:06 AM

I used to go to Amsterdam a lot and it was usually in the summer months. Talk about a city that can smell like pee...

That would be an open air urinal. Just pee at the wall, the floors are slopped so the pee drains into the canal. gross.

**canuck** · March-29-13, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by bailey

I used to go to Amsterdam a lot and it was usually in the summer months. Talk about a city that can smell like pee...

That would be an open air urinal. Just pee at the wall, the floors are slopped so the pee drains into the canal. gross.

I guess the mix of Heineken and high power grass can also add substantial aroma to the urea deposits.

**TexasT** · March-29-13, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by bailey

I used to go to Amsterdam a lot and it was usually in the summer months. Talk about a city that can smell like pee...

That would be an open air urinal. Just pee at the wall, the floors are slopped so the pee drains into the canal. gross.

So basically Amsterdam is a cesspool?

**softailrider** · March-29-13, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

I used to go to Amsterdam a lot and it was usually in the summer months. Talk about a city that can smell like pee...

That would be an open air urinal. Just pee at the wall, the floors are slopped so the pee drains into the canal. gross.

Christ allmighty, I've never seen anything like that before.

**skyl4rk** · March-29-13, 07:55 PM

Human waste is a resource. Pee in the gardens.

**nain rouge** · March-30-13, 06:46 PM

You think that's bad? Trying going for long walks in the suburbs. Nothing is worse than the urge hitting you and being surrounded by hundreds of toilets that you can never, ever be allowed to use.

**KJ5** · July-17-13, 09:09 PM

The Justice for Trayvon thread is getting very tiresome and depressing with everybody entrenched in their positions and making the same arguments ad naseum, so I thought I'd try to bring back this one. Have we cleaned up all those piss puddles yet? Let's have a big rally! Justice for Dave from Windsor!

**davewindsor** · July-17-13, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by KJ5

The Justice for Trayvon thread is getting very tiresome and depressing with everybody entrenched in their positions and making the same arguments ad naseum, so I thought I'd try to bring back this one. Have we cleaned up all those piss puddles yet? Let's have a big rally! Justice for Dave from Windsor!

Who knows if they've been cleaned? I didn't see any point going back to spend my tourist dollars to find out.

**ABSOLUT_SS** · July-20-13, 09:52 PM

... and I picked this thread to start my fabulous experience on DetroitYes. davewindsor, I live in Edmonton Alberta. Every chain restaurant and gas station within thirty miles of downtown has locked or buzz-in bathrooms. Junkies, homeless, idiots & maniacs are the reason, and it's been that way for years, even in much of Ontario, where I'm from.

**DW313512** · January-28-16, 11:38 PM

it is barbed wire not bob wire

**Johnnny5** · January-29-16, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by DW313512

it is barbed wire not bob wire

Half the farmers East of the Mississippi would disagree with you on that one.

**DetroitPlanner** · March-29-13, 06:41 AM

Next time ask for a key. Believe it or not they are locked for your safety.

**gnome** · March-29-13, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Next time ask for a key. Believe it or not they are locked for your safety.

Second that... How would you like to walk in on a junky all nice and bluish, maybe with a relaxed sphincter having made a contribution to the walls and floor?

**Zacha341** · March-29-13, 08:46 AM

Yeesh, not 'surprise' I'd want to roll up on. As a rule I avoid public bathroom or I know where the best ones are. LOL!

Originally Posted by gnome

Second that... How would you like to walk in on a junky all nice and bluish, maybe with a relaxed sphincter having made a contribution to the walls and floor?

**jt1** · March-29-13, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Yeesh, not 'surprise' I'd want to roll up on. As a rule I avoid public bathroom or I know where the best ones are. LOL!

The truth comes out. Zacha341 is George Costanza

**Richard** · March-29-13, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Next time ask for a key. Believe it or not they are locked for your safety.

Remember the days when there was a gas station on every corner ,you always had to ask for the key and it usually had a large object attached to it so it would not get lost.

Overseas it is not uncommon to have public pay toilets the costs off set the clean up requirements ,if you walk into a franchise and do not see self serve condiments and refills then asking for the key is a given .

**davewindsor** · March-29-13, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Richard

Remember the days when there was a gas station on every corner ,you always had to ask for the key and it usually had a large object attached to it so it would not get lost.

Nope. Let's see. Last time I visited the 7/11 by the University of Windsor, Mac's on Tecumseh Rd, PetroCanada on Walker or any other major gas franchise with an attached convenience store in Windsor, you can walk right into the unlocked washroom. You might find a run down gas station that locks them in Windsor, but I don't trust their gas pumps and go there anyway.

But, gas stations are besides the point; I wouldn't have gone to the ones off Woodward anyway because I wasn't driving my vehicle at the time. I was on foot.

Originally Posted by Richard

Overseas it is not uncommon to have public pay toilets the costs off set the clean up requirements ,if you walk into a franchise and do not see self serve condiments and refills then asking for the key is a given .

Nope, I guess we've traveled to different European cities if that's what you're getting at. I get libertarian point of it. But, pay toilets are like parking meters. Most people tend to avoid them on principle as much as they can. I'm sure most people would continue to pee on the storefronts if they put up pay toilets to deal with the issue.

Subway btw has self serve condiments. Starbucks, well, I'm not gonna wait in a 15 person line to ask for a key after walking around ready to piss myself because I couldn't go anywhere else. It'd probably be better to just walk to the McDonald's, which I did.

Why is the McDonald's washroom unlocked if it's a safety issue? I don't think that's the reason. I think employees are just lazy to clean the washrooms or they're trying to save on water so they lock up the washrooms without any concern for where people will go instead.

Midtown's a cesspool. People just piss right on the storefronts because of these policies. Who cares, right? I can't even fathom why anyone would want to live in Midtown unless they worked/went to school there and couldn't afford a car.

And I haven't even brought up all the homeless people that approached me in Midtown including the one that asked me for change while waiting in line to order at McDonald's. How can anyone get positive about midtown with the lack of pride businesses take in the basic sanitary conditions of this area?

**noise** · March-29-13, 06:53 AM

Restrooms for paying customers only.

**Richard** · March-29-13, 06:53 AM

You could get a bunch of porta pottys and charge a quarter to use.You saw a need,fill it.

**Pam** · March-29-13, 07:17 AM

The library has bathrooms.

**Zacha341** · March-29-13, 08:43 AM

Detroit has the either locked on no bathroom policy for many restaurants in an effort to keep out vagrants. It's been that way for many decades. McDonald's has a bathroom open in most of their stores. The one on Woodward by the Medical Center keeps things clean...