Trash Me

From a reader:

I wanted to follow up on your recent Inquirer blog entitled “I’m with Mayor Nagin, and notes from New Orleans,” especially as it pertained to the effectiveness of trash cans to reducing litter. Please see the email, below, which I sent recently to Mayor Nutter’s constituent support department.

I recently moved from the suburbs into South Philadelphia to be closer to my job in Center City. I enjoy living in the City, yet I am appalled by the amount of trash in the streets. (I sweep my own block about once a week, and pick up between 1-3 bags of garbage. My block is as clean as a hospital compared to the 700-900 block of Snyder Avenue.) In an address to the Philadelphia Bar Association on March 17, which I attended, Mayor Nutter said that the City must attract people like me (young professionals) from the suburbs. Yet if this trash problem is not corrected, I will go right back.

-David

I agree with David. Retaining and attracting this “target demographic,” young professionals, will depend on the City’s ability to respond to living issues like this. Unlike other residents, David’s and my constituency, the 24 – 30-year olds, have the flexibility to relocate if the situation remains the same. Whether that’s abandoning one neighborhood for another or leaving Philadelphia entirely, losing the young and dedicated is something that cannot be afforded if the city wants to compete with other world-class locations.

For other young professionals frustrated with the litter issue, what is your tipping point?