Hi. I went on the website today for this project and was kind of bummed that it seems to all be focused on specific locations, rather than a REAL citywide cleanup, where every person on every street is outside doing something...
For instance, I was hoping that the city might put dumpsters in some strategic places, so I might finally convince the apartment landlord next door to throw away the defunct air conditioner/mouse condominium that is in the backyard next to ours.
Will you volunteer to clean up a chosen site?
Will you stick closer to home?
Will you watch tv?

I also think they could have given this a little more planning/publicity leeway on the date... later in April or early May. I'm afraid it doesn't have time to gain real momentum.

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Tell me your dreams, snowflake.

And the website would be?...

here is the link http://www.phillycleanup.com/pages/H...p?Section=Home

Ok so I do not think I would go pick up trash anywhere else but my block. Don’t we supposedly pay outrageous taxes to pay people to keep the city clean? HA
I still have to pick up in my neighborhood since there are so many people who believe the sidewalk is a trash receptacle.

Will our taxes go down?... We pay enough money to the city to live here and now we have to do other peoples' jobs? Since the city is clearly saving money with this program what good things will they be doing with the $$.

You are an idiot. You don't pay enough in taxes to have personal servants pick up after you. Your taxes pay for a garbage man to pick up trash that is properly canned at the street once a week. The garbage men do not follow around all the scumbags 24/7 and pick up after them. If you are going to complain then complain to your scumbag neighbors that leave their trash around the neighborhood.

Outragious taxes!? That made me laugh, the low taxes was one of the reasons I moved here, very appealing compared to every other place I have lived. Luckily it's pretty tidy around me, a few coffee cups here and there, not much more. There are some areas of the city that some people use as dump sites, they do need cleaning up. However, it won't be long before these areas are full of unwanted junk again, this is a short term PR stunt and not the answer long term.

ndebergerac, does a cleaner city not inspire hope? which may, in some way contribute to the longer term solutions? I am 36, not 10, in case you think I'm too naive for words.

On my street, I clean up OP's dog poo, cigarette butts, badly packaged trash, litter, unwanted menus and endless city papers that someone's kids think it is wildly entertaining to tear apart and throw everywhere.

I'll be out there doing this on April 5th, and sweeping our steps, helping our older neighbors do theirs and planting our dirt square out front, but I don't think I'm inclined to go needle-diving in Fairmount Park, even though my property taxes are ridiculously LOW.

__________________
Tell me your dreams, snowflake.

Of course a cleaner city would be a great thing, and a sign of great things to come. I was mearly stating that this is simply a short term solution to a long term problem. I'll do my bit like everyone else, but unless we go out and clean our neighborhoods every week for free then the problem won't just go away. Maybe taxes need to go up so we can have regular street cleaners like other countries have, I wouldn't mind paying more, even in a small town in Scotland I was paying 5 times more than I am now, and that was just a 1 bedroom apt.

The city should put brooms and garbage bags in the hands of the thousands of homeless people in this city. Give them 10 bucks for every bag of garbage and wet rotting tree leaves and just hope they don’t spend it on booze.

Chicago is a city similar in size to Philly and its one of the cleanest cities in America. Its also illegal to be homeless there. In DC, which also has a homeless problem, you can get a permit to be homeless.

Also I have yet to see a city street sweeper at all in my time here.

I wouldn’t mind paying an extra 100 on my taxes to have someone street sweep my street. There are what 40 homes on an average street per block. Art museum must have at least 100 blocks. That’s 400k, divided by an average annual salary of 35k; you can employ 11 people. Shovels and push cart garbage cans only cost maybe 150 a shot.

Sound extreme? Probably, but i just created 11 "living wage" jobs today. What did you do?

Oh btw in case anyone is wondering. I already clean up the street from garbage and leaves along my street. I just wish the city cared about it image more.

I wouldn't say Philly's taxes are low. Either way the taxes are not the problem. This city has too many slobs. Everyone should be responsible for themselves and their property. If everyone just cleaned up their own property that would eliminate 90% of the garbage.

When I am in charge of the planet I am also going to eliminate the free newspaper bins in the city. Those things are a nuisance. At every corner with free papers there are free papers covering the streets. Then the bums use the bins for trash.

The next thing I am going to do is get rid of the homeless. I haven't figured that one out yet but they are a damn nuisance. They leave garbage everywhere.


I am also going to fine the hell out of owners that don't clean their properties.

The city has machines that look like golf carts with a giant street vac. I would get a few more of those things and layoff some of the guys that walk around picking up trash by hand. The ride on cart probably does the work of about 10 guys on foot. It would pay for itself easy. I would have that machine drive up broad street at least once a week.