Wow! This is perhaps the most difficult issue to wrap one's head around. What does "quality of life" mean to you? For some people in some neighborhoods, it means not being able to walk on the street in front of their house at night. For others, it means watching people drop their used Transpasses on the ground to be swept up into the swirl of trash. Clearly, depending on the circumstances it means different things to different people.
Does that mean that people who live in high-crime neighborhood don't care about trash on the streets? No. Absolutely not. It just means that in the list of priorities, not getting shot probably ranks ahead of trash.
Anyway, Radio Times is just wrapping up a show that tries to explore this issue. Here's the promo copy:
The third in our series of issues of importance to Philadelphia voters -- quality of life in Philadelphia. We'll explore everything from crime trash pick-up with our guests, JEFFREY BARG, managing editor of the Philadelphia Weekly, PEGGY HOCH, president of the East Frankford Civic Association, and AISSIA RICHARDSON, who lives in the Belmont/Mantua section of the City and works in North Philadelphia.
I've been listening and it's been pretty interesting but I've heard this conversation a few times now and no one ever seems to drill down to exactly what the expectations should be for city government. Peggy Hoch, the guest from East Frankford who has seen a few generations come through Philadelphia, brought up the idea that a lot of quality of life issues can be traced back to a certain attitude that is instilled in people at a very young age. If that's the case, it seems like it would be damn near impossible for the mayor to change it.
To some extent, I agree. For example: yesterday as I waited for the bus I stood on the corner with a woman with her two kids (a girl who was probably about 12 and a boy who may have been about 8). Out of the corner of my eye I saw her Transpass (you didn't think I referred to that by accident, did you?) fall out of her wallet and onto the ground at her feet. Actually, she took it and threw it to the ground. It stayed at her feet for a while before a gust of wind blew it into the middle of the street. Another gust brought it back to the curb where I was standing. I reached down and picked it up. Fighting the urge to let her know that she "accidentally" dropped her pass, I crumbled it up (it was expired) and pocketed it. I saw no benefit in starting an argument with the woman, something that most likely would have happened had I confronted her with her litter, especially with her two kids present.
But I felt bad. Never in my whole life do I ever remember my parents throwing trash on the ground. In fact, I've seen my dad go out of his way several times to pick up litter from in front of other people's houses on my family's street. Watching the woman toss that piece of trash on the ground in front of her children reminded me that a lot of the smaller "quality of life" issues - litter, unkept houses, graffiti, loitering - are learned behaviors. How does a mayor teach a 6-year old not to litter when a parent, whose own parents probably taught him or her, is teaching him that it's ok to litter? Where is the line between what a parent is responsible for and what the government is responsible for when it comes to these issues? Can the mayor influence the behavior of the next generation with the "bully pulpit" and use his position to reach them through the schools?
I told you it was one of the tougher issues to wrap your ahead around.
Anyway, the podcast of the show will be available here at about 12:15pm. I encourage you to give it a listen and share your own opinion of "quality of life" in the comments.
(edited to add)In case you missed it, yesterday's show focused on education as an issue for the next mayor. I know I missed it so I'll be listening to this podcast.
Comments (1)
I was walking down Walnut last week and I saw a teenage girl casually spit her gum on the sidewalk. What the hell is up with that?
Posted by Colin Schmitt | April 19, 2007 1:27 PM