« Pigs On Mt. Hope Streets: Who is Mentoring these Childern? | Main | Every Urban Problem Under Heaven »
Filthy Streets Indicative of Neighborhood Health
Just as a patient's fever is a sign of possibly serious illness, Mt. Hope's filthy streets and sidewalks are an indicator that city officials and residents have a lot of work to do to make it a safe, quiet and drug-free community.
I agree that Mt. Hope residents are not teaching their children to respect the neighborhood and dispose of trash properly. I constantly have to pick up bottles, cups, paper and other trash tossed in front of my property. Of course, it's not just the little ones who are doing it. So do older youth. Some of them even urinate on property near the "inconvenience" store, as I call it. There's an anti-littering law on the books, but apparently people are smart enough not to do it if there's a police officer around.
The trash problem was mentioned at the second community meeting, but I guess no one was listening.
Peter C.
Posted at August 5, 2007 10:36 AM
I had always read that if people see trash on the street, they're more likely themselves to litter their garbage on said street. When I moved onto Camp Street, our little front "yard" (no more than 5 feet by 12 feet) was littered with garbage, weeds and dog shit, as were the nice street trees just planted. So, one day me and my friend weeded the entire sidewalk in front of my building, sprayed vinegar down to kill all the roots, picked up all the garbage and put a nice little garden fence around the street trees with flowers. Then, just last week, a landscaper finally came and planted bushes and laid mulch down in the "yard." I thought this would send a message that we care for our property so don't mess with it. Sadly, it didn't. Daily I remove napkins, soda cans, blunt wraps, etc. from the garden and sidewalk. If people can't respect the hard work we have put into making our street a little cleaner, then I have no respect for them and will stop trying.
It may sound trivial to some for us to be bitching about litter since it's not killing or hurting anyone, but it's just one more thing (like graffiti) that brings down the quality of life in the neighborhood. I have a great tolerance for urban living but it gets tiring sometimes having to deal with what seems to be EVERY urban problem (drugs, prostitution, littering, graffiti, violence) all in one hood.
Posted by: Adam at August 8, 2007 03:57 PM
I concur with Peter’s testimony: that in Mt. Hope some people litter without forethought, (as if they don’t know better) and some people urinate where they please, such as in the park, on the street, between people’s houses, in people’s garages, and with no respect for people’s private property, let alone cleanliness or proper sanitation.
Cleanliness and filth are indeed effective, if facile, indicators of health, especially mental health. A mentally healthy person does not live in filth, especially filth of their own creation. Observing the way a person maintains their personal hygiene and the manner in which they maintain the cleanliness of their personal space are clinical markers used by medical professionals such as social workers to diagnose mental illness.
Peter and John are correct in bearing witness to this important marker of a neighborhood’s health.
If ever a neighborhood could use the legal defense strategy of Diminished Mental Capacity, it is Mt. Hope. But wait, isn’t that the defense this community has tried to use for 30 years?
Posted by: James at August 5, 2007 06:31 PM