Fortified toilets
Lately I've noticed that a lot of formerly quasi-public spaces are being secured against intruders. My own office building recently reduced the hours during which you can enter the lobby without a key card. The building across the alley from us has locked the corridor which used to provide easy access to the Promenade. And it's effectively impossible to find an accessible rest room; many businesses have closed ones that used to be available, and the remainder are locked down with strict "patrons only" policies, rigorously enforced.
Is this a general trend, or just in LA? Any ideas why this is happening now? It seems to have accelerated in the last year or so, which means blaming post-9/11 paranoia doesn't seem sufficient. The homeless are often mentioned in connection with these changes, but it doesn't seem like the number or nature of the local homeless population has changed in the last several years.
My conjecture is that the cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining electronic security systems has become so low that people are doing it reflexively; in other words, if those costs were equally low in 1990, this would have happened then. But even that seems like a weak explanation for a change that has caused so much inconvenience.
Any ideas?
Is this a general trend, or just in LA? Any ideas why this is happening now? It seems to have accelerated in the last year or so, which means blaming post-9/11 paranoia doesn't seem sufficient. The homeless are often mentioned in connection with these changes, but it doesn't seem like the number or nature of the local homeless population has changed in the last several years.
My conjecture is that the cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining electronic security systems has become so low that people are doing it reflexively; in other words, if those costs were equally low in 1990, this would have happened then. But even that seems like a weak explanation for a change that has caused so much inconvenience.
Any ideas?