[QUOTE=3rd&Brown;9398085]
Quote:
Originally Posted by cardeza
Every city north of DC with the exception of Baltimore functions at a higher level than Philly.
TBH, part of me doesn't even care if the city functions 100% effectively in all areas. But I do care about it for the things that we all see. Cleanliless, trash pick up, etc. I mean, those are functions that rely on literally no one but your self. There are not externalities that affect the ability to sweep a street or weed a tree pit or clear an empty lot.
Since I've moved to Northbank, I've made it a habit of taking a trash bag on my morning walk every day. I've filled at least 30 trash bags of debris and disposed of them in my own trash or in random dumpsters. Most of my cleanup efforts have been along northern Delaware Avenue etc.
There are 3 or 4 random tires I thought I'd put in my car and try to dispose of (legally of course). Do you know how difficult it is to throw away a tire in Philadelphia? I can't find a single site that lets you drop off tires. When I queried the Streets website, I found information saying that there are a couple of events a year where you can drop off tires but you have to be a part of an RCO to do it.
I mean. Can you believe the absurdity? You have people willing to do the right thing and the city is like, no, that's impossible.
I also opened a ticket on 311 to clear a sofa and a mattress from Berks Street. It's been closed as 'resolved' and the sofa and mattress are still there.
You know you can open a ticket to have a sewer outlet cleaned? I mean that's great. But why aren't there just a roving crew that does it as a matter of course. When I opened the ticket for the sofa, all 4 drains were clogged at the same intersection. I thought about opening a ticket for it, but I was like, this is absurd. A simple crew tasked with just that responsibility could probably cover half the city every single month without requiring a response to a single ticket. Just make it a system.
You tell me what's so difficult to solve about these very simple problems.
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Great anecdotes, it doesnt have any relation to the article I was commenting on. Lots of middle class black people are and have been leaving northern and west coast cities for the South. There are a host of reasons for this discussed in that article, their views on local politicians were not mentioned as a key factor. YOur premise was that these issues would go away if only city council members were as smart as the people on here. Im saying its much more complicated than that and some of these trends are just inescapable- people are going to do what they want and for the last 50 years or so many have been gravitating towards warmer climates, newer and cheaper housing and a perceived lower tax burden.
Im all for trash pickup but to be frank the stuff you are talking about pales in comparison to Philly's biggest current problem- gun violence. Now THAT is an issue that is driving people away and rightfully so. But like so many other issues, it's difficult to address comprehensively without any cooperation from higher levels of government.
BTW you cant have it both ways- a few weeks back people were jumping on me (and others) for pointing out issues in center city- basically saying every city has these issues and in some cases denying the issues downtown were even noticeable. So if we are going to tout development, population growth and philadelphia's rising profile you cannot then claim the city is a shithole ONLY due to the people in city hall. Here is the reality, the city population is less white and more left leaning than its ever been- that is reflected who is on council. When you say the people who were chosen are incompetent and in essence stupid, you are inferring that the people who put them in there don't know any better. Just because you don't agree with people doesnt make them incompetent. Some of these people and their constituents have different priorities than you do and thus their focus may be on different issues and solutions- doesn't make them wrong.
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