Trashing Our Neighborhoods

I am fortunate to live in an architecturally beautiful area of urban Los Angeles: the Miracle Mile. The streets here are lined with stylish old apartment buildings, most well-kept by their owners. The problem is the residents and their disregard for litter. The amount of trash on the sidewalks and lawns is staggering. I watched a man walk down the street yesterday eating an orange and leaving a trail of rinds. Apple cores, banana peels and orange skins are litter. Just because they will naturally decompose in six months doesn’t mean they are not garbage. The same goes for cigarette butts and the cellophane that keeps them fresh. People who blatantly litter are an easy target, but they are only part of the problem.

The density of the neighborhood means that a lot of legitimate garbage is generated. The people picking up all that trash do not have time to crush boxes or pick up the litter that surrounds the garbage pails. No one bothers to take the time to properly prepare their trash. Does it really take that much effort to break down that cardboard television box or call the city to arrange for the proper and fairly efficient pickup of your broken futon frame? People dump their junk on the curb where it becomes a magnet for more junk, everything from dog waste to fast-food garbage. Eventually the mess spills out on the sidewalk and the cycle continues.

My neighborhood is a very dense and mixed collection of renters. The fact that the people living here are not property owners probably doesn’t help. Where is the pride? I am amazed at how much garbage people will step over and around. It doesn’t take that much effort to pick up an empty cigarette pack or piece of newspaper, even if you’re not the one who put it there.

I have a neighbor who sadly complains that the neighborhood doesn’t feel like a community. I am tempted to remind him of the time he left a mountain of empty boxes on the curb for a month. He walked around it every day, as if it were not an eyesore of his creation. Someone else eventually got fed up and dealt with his mess. If you want community, then take some responsibility for your street and how it looks.

Trash blowing up and down the street is not a necessary part of city life. It is only a sign of the arrogance and selfishness of the people living there.