A Car Wash as a Public Space

Automobiles occupy lots of space in Los Angeles, a city that does not cater as much to pedestrian traffic as much as it caters to cars. In fact, many Angelenos feel as if they need a car to get around. While some have a car out of necessity, others have one as a luxury. Whatever one's reason may be for owning a car, we all generally like to keep it as clean as possible.
Some car owner's like to clean their vehicles in their driveways; others prefer to use a car wash. The car wash that I visited is the self-service type where you wash your own car without paying someone to do it. The most obvious distinction between a self-service and a full service car wash lies in the people who make it a more public or more private space.
The self-service car wash that I visited serves mostly people who are not necessarily poor but not affluent either. Most people who use this car wash use it because they do not want--or cannot afford--to pay ten or twelve dollars to have their car washed when they can do it themselves for five dollars. Because this is a self service car wash that runs more like a service station and not a business, it is open to anyone. The lot is open and without gates, offices, or service workers to keep "unwanted" homeless people and solicitors out. The people who were using the car wash, including me, did not mind having solicitors and a homeless man nearby. Without any type of restricted entrance, this car wash definitely functions as a public space. But some may feel that this space is too public. Does making a completely open space jeopardize the public's security, or are we responsible for our own security no matter where we are?