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Citizen complaint of the day: The slobs of Salutation Street
By adamg on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 11:40am
Not one but two disgusted citizens snapped photos of a mess so big it slopped over from Salutation to Hanover in the North End this morning:
A major mess and it is now 9:15am.
But wait, there's more: NorthEndWaterfront.com has more photos of the soon-to-be-fetid piles, just a few days after it inquired: Salutation Street or Pig Alley?
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Comments
Pigalle? How dare you! Oh,
Pigalle? How dare you!
Oh, Pig Alley. never mind...
Explain again
Why people put stuff out on the sidewalk in little bags instead of sorting it into a set of communal dumpsters?
Or do they like rats and trash everywhere?
Because this is Boston. We've
Because this is Boston. We've always done it this way and fuck you if you don't like it. Does this help?
The answer is..
..the latter.
Scavengers
I'm betting somebody "sorted" through this stash and didn't do a neat job of it.
The North End could use eurostyle bins - this sidewalk thing only seems to work for raccoons and human scavengers.
Trash and parking!
Trash and parking will never stop being the top issues in downtown Boston. Ugh.
The city proposed cutting back trash pick-up to two days in the N.E. but it hasn't gone anywhere. Some (Felix Arroyo, I'm looking at you) thought it a terrible idea - but it isn't. Having trash out three days a week from 7pm (earliest) to midday the next day (until pick-up) means there is trash on curbside for as many as 50 hours a week!
I'm all for communal trash bins downtown but it seems impossible to coordinate. Are we going to be like Manhattan where everyone has bins on the front stoops? Not every building has a back alley so what are they supposed to do? And not every building has a vestibule so you can't put the trash inside - and who would want that, anyway?
Very old cities
Somehow, France and Spain seem to be able to find places to put them where they can be used by citizens as needed an frequently emptied (usually in the evening hours). I've even seen them in cities built in the 8th to 10th century!
Why do you blankly say this would be impossible to coordinate? Again, very old cities with similar issues as the North End seem to manage both placement and collection. Boston could seriously learn a lesson or two from Europe here. These are not "new" problems in any way, shape, or form, Boston is NOT special in this regard, and they aren't "intellectual property" that cannot be copied, either.
It's very simple.
Ideas from outside of Boston are not allowed within Boston. At least that's how it looks from my comfy chair in Somerville.
I wonder if the state is somehow responsible for the garbage piles? Sort of like how the state is blamed for the lack of functional clearance signs on Storrow, the lack of liquor licenses for willing entrepreneurs, and control over policing certain very popular parts of the city.
Tell me more of this mythical place
How do they do it these places? Residents have their own household trash and put them into communal receptacles? Do they keep them separate from the trash bins on the streets for the use of tourists and passersby? Do they have separate receptacles for recyclables? Is the trash picked up by municipal, provincial, or federal employees?
Have you made City Hall aware of this option?
Mythical place?
Just go to a GoogleMaps street view of Barcelona and cruise around. Plenty to see there.
Citizens carry their trash bags to the collection points, which are nearby, and dump it off. Seemed to me that this usually was done when on the way to the bus or subway or walking to work, or after dinner while walking the dog (and/or smoking a cigarette and pushing a baby carriage).
The city does the regular pickups, which are listed on the receptacle. There are trash bins for "incidental" trash on the street, although nobody would stop you from popping a soda bottle into one of the municipal collection bins.
City Hall should damn well know of it - several people have suggested it via citizen's connect.
Never happen
"Citizens carry their trash bags to the collection points, which are nearby, and dump it off."
Do you really think people would do that around here? There are some people who actually just throw trash out WINDOWS, or toss it in front of their house in flimsy trash bags from the dollar store even when it isn't collection day, and you think they're gonna carry it down the street like they are mailing a letter?
Another fatal flaw
Another fatal flaw in this plan:
If any of these public dumpsters were ever introduced in Boston, they would be filled with construction debris within five or ten minutes. Preventing this usage by commercial builders would require some sort of proactive law enforcement from the local police agencies, so I trust you can see why such a plan would be completely impractical.
managing by anecdote
Just because some people will screw up any system is no reason to do nothing. [directed at anon "Never Happen"]
When you make it easier for people to dispose of trash properly when it is convenient for them, at least some of them will improve their behavior. As things get cleaner, it's harder to rationalize making a mess. People react differently to "the only bag of trash" vs "just one more".
I think you mean these foot
I think you mean these foot pedal operated miniature dumpsters? https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Via+Ghibellina,+Flo...
Sadly the yuppies would rather live with waist high piles of garbage than sacrifice a few parking spots for mini dumpsters emptied daily.
Those would totally work
Is it weird to think those dumpsters are cute?
You could coordinate them with street cleaning--put them out when everyone is supposed to have moved their cars, pick them up before the cleaner comes. Obviously the frequency won't work for all your trash needs, but could cut down on the mess/smell/vermin if at least some of the waste stream was diverted.
Upper East Side Manhattan is
Upper East Side Manhattan is disgusting on trash days. Walls of garbage stacked 8 feet tall blocking sidewalks. The putrid stench in the summer makes you want to puke. Never expected to see it in such a wealthy section of NYC!
Trash pickup is expensive, but it's also a necessary evil if you value a measure of sanitation and prefer not to be overrun with nasty disease-carrying rats.
Ghetto
Boston is becoming one giant ghetto. Transplants are always wishing why Boston can't be like NYC. We are almost there. Ghetto living.
You must be under 30
Either that, or you never actually explored the city in the 80s and 90s. Most places are far cleaner and well-lit than they were in those days!
Let alone the 70s.
Let alone the 70s.