Apparently, the reason the doors don't go all the way to the floor is to meet stipulations in the Americans with Disabilities Act which are to allow wheelchair users to turn[1].

[1] https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/62354/19042

Yesterday I was in a Boston, MA bathroom where the stall doors were floor to ceiling. Even the wheelchair accessible stall had a floor-to-ceiling door.

I've always understood the difference to be cultural and economics driven: US stall partitions are cheaper than walls and floor-to-ceiling doors; so the (cough) pooping closets really are only in upscale bathrooms.

(BTW, in the 1990s a Boston-area radio station used to broadcast bits where they would sit in a stall and strike up a conversation with whoever sat next to them.)

Also apparently, the toe clearance (the gap) isn't a requirement if the stalls are wide enough. Maybe that's why?

> (BTW, in the 1990s a Boston-area radio station used to broadcast bits where they would sit in a stall and strike up a conversation with whoever sat next to them.)

I'm British and I think we have just found the most important, deepest cultural difference between the UK and the US there is!

As a Brit, you should tell them about your carpeted (private) bathrooms.

When I was a kid, we had a carpeted bathroom toilet area.

What lunacy. Mold grows easily (carpet was always damp in high humidity summers, due to condensation, near the toilet), and worse, one bad flush and your carpet is now literally encrusted with human shit.

How do you feel comfortable keeping it clean?!

West europe uses a separate disabled toilets, typically much larger, have plenty of places to hold and grip, larger toilet seat, a "help me" cord to pull, friendlier taps, etc.

An example: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQ-IG8pFfcs/WQYWuWexVmI/AAAAAAAAd...

No, too much work? Instead just infringe on the privacy of everyone else.

Honestly...

I understand we all have different cultural norms, but I have never felt that my privacy was infringed on by the potential that a stranger may see my shoes while taking a crap.

But then again, I went to plenty of bars in college with trough urinals, so maybe I have a different point of comparison.

That's what's really weird in the states - there's a partition between urinals, but turn around and there's half-inch gaps between the door and rest of the cubicle!

There's not always partitions, i.e. the troughs I referenced.

The clearances around the stall doors have never occurred to me as an issue. Nobody stands outside of a stall door with their face stuck in the door crack.

That pattern preceded the ADA, as far back as I can remember. Wouldn't surprise me if this law locked it in after it became standard, though.

Probably started in saloons so that the local sheriff could walk through and check for any fugitives by looking at their cowboy boots.

Low rep poster, no citations. I'm going to call [citation needed] on that. The door is often perpendicular to the toilet so the explanation doesn't even really make sense…

I thought it was bunk as well, but there is a comment actually quoting an ADA building guide directly that confirms it:

https://up.codes/viewer/ada/chapter/6/plumbing-elements-and-...

"Toe clearance at the front partition is not required in a compartment greater than 62 inches (1575 mm) deep"