Why are all the public bathrooms disappearing in America?

Finding a public bathroom is a really crappy experience, but recently, it’s gone further down the tubes.

OK — using a public bathroom has never exactly been fun, but you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Over the past few years, it seems like finding a public restroom has been increasingly difficult. Access has been getting restricted, and if you do get inside, they’re often poorly maintained.

This experience recently reached a tipping point Starbucks when revoked public access to its restrooms, restricting this luxury for its paying customers. While reserving bathrooms for patrons isn’t a shocking concept, it is surprising that the chain reversed the open-door policy it implemented in 2018.

Starbucks’ decision points to a bigger issue that has turned public bathrooms into political hotspots. A small number of people abuse their access to these restrooms, and as a result, millions of people are losing their ability to pee in peace.

It starts with the cities

If you find yourself in need of a public bathroom in the US, good luck finding one. In the country, there’s an average of 8 public bathrooms per 100,000 people — and that data is from 2021. These numbers have likely changed since then, and not in favor of the average…