# Any Places Still Have Phone Booths? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927 "2010-10-03T16:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/1 "2010-10-03T16:56:17Z")
I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual phone booth. You know one where you go into and close the door and talk. I live in Chicago and can’t recall the last time I saw one or if any still exist? Do any exist where you are? The last phone booth I can recall was in a train station (suburban commuter station) in the early 90s. I’m sure it’s gone by now. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/2 "2010-10-03T17:26:17Z")
Hell, I can’t really remember the last time I saw a public phone, let alone one in a real phone booth. I mean, I can remember the one at the drugstore near my middle school, which did have the folding door and all, but even during the 80s finding a real booth was hard, most public phones were just set into a wall, with maybe some small wings sticking out to give the smallest illusion of privacy. I GUESS that’s why they had the wings, I’m not sure that they did any good. ---
**Author:** ![SazChez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@SazChez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SazChez)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/3 "2010-10-03T17:40:48Z")
We have loads of phone booths. But then again…Im in England ---
**Author:** ![imfloating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc79bd/32.png) [@imfloating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imfloating)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/4 "2010-10-03T18:00:39Z")
Metropolis ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/5 "2010-10-03T18:21:05Z")
> [@SazChez](#): > > We have loads of phone booths. But then again…Im in England But many are disappearing, as this [news article](http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Phone-boxes-threat/article-297180-detail/article.html) about one area of England shows. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/6 "2010-10-03T18:25:24Z")
Just as well they are disappea-ring – no one should have to live in such cramped quarters. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/7 "2010-10-03T18:40:16Z")
I saw one in Khartoum, Sudan last year near a restaurant on the Nile. It didn’t have a phone in it though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/8 "2010-10-03T18:41:14Z")
Walden, Colorado (as of August '10). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/9 "2010-10-03T18:42:30Z")
I’ve seen some in the service areas on the Mass Turnpike, although there aren’t as many as there used to be – there are still scars on the walls where they took the old ones out. ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/10 "2010-10-03T19:06:05Z")
There’s at least 5 here in town ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/11 "2010-10-03T19:11:13Z")
Hill Valley still has at least one in 2015 ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/12 "2010-10-03T20:20:40Z")
There’s a phone in a booth just outside the nearest Walmart to me. I see pay phones occassionally, but rarely phone booths. The thing I use pay phones most for now is to actually look up an address or phone number in the attached phone book, but rarely do I actually find a pay phone (in a booth or not) with a book. Frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/13 "2010-10-03T20:25:23Z")
There’s a phone booth outside a diner in my neighborhood. There some illegal gambling going on there and I think the continuing presence of the phone booth is probably do to that. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/14 "2010-10-03T20:25:52Z")
I live in southern Maryland - we have lots around here. The Amish use them. It is different to see a phone booth where a dirt lane meets a paved road. If I was any kind of a photographer, I’d do a photo essay… ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/15 "2010-10-03T21:41:57Z")
There are two 50 metres in one direction from my house, and another about 100 metres in the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/16 "2010-10-03T22:11:42Z")
DC Metro stations all have payphones - at least, I haven’t seen a station without one. They aren’t booths, though. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/17 "2010-10-03T22:39:57Z")
There are still quite a few in Japan, at least in the town I live in. Kids don’t (can’t?) generally have cell phones, so it’s usually school students using them, if anyone is. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/18 "2010-10-03T22:43:12Z")
There’s a house about 4 miles from mine that has a working phone booth in the backyard, beside the pool. That’s the only one I’ve seen in 29 years. As for regular payphones, there’s 1 in my town, and the local Wal-Mart has 2 in it. Other than that there’s none here. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/19 "2010-10-03T22:51:56Z")
There’s a payphone at the Kroger up the road, but it’s inside, not in a booth > [@PSXer](#): > > Hill Valley still has at least one in 2015 You’re from the future?:eek:😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927/20 "2010-10-03T22:54:08Z")
Dublin City Centre still has them, in fact it was only in recent years that 3rd party phonebooths were allowed and there seems to be the odd new one appearing. I think they often function nowadays as a means of sneaking advertising space into busy public areas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-places-still-have-phone-booths/555927.md?page=2)