The first picture I took on a weeknight with the kids eating ice cream at the clock tower and I posted on the Fort Thomas Matters Facebook page. The second picture was taken by Tim, the owner of the Midway, a couple nights ago outside his bar and reflects the decorative flower pots being used as an ash tray.
There was some good conversation about the first picture regarding the lack of respect of the area kids to leave the central business district in such a mess and the second picture gave all of the Midway fans a chance to lobby to bring back the guacamole.
Regardless, there is a common denominator here and that is the lack of cleaning the city is doing in their nicely renovated business districts. I hear regular complaints about how infrequent the city empties the trash cans around town and now we have two recent examples where our beautiful town is trashed.
I could use this post as an opportunity to bash the city for not cleaning up more often but I have to ask a question - whose responsibility is this? Should regular citizens take more responsibility? Many of the comments noted that it is hard to blame the kids at the clock tower when there is no place to put the trash but why couldn't there be a group of citizens that act as ambassadors and sweep the common areas and empty the trash more regularly. Downtown Cincinnati has employed this very successfully and it has gone a long way toward changing the perception of downtown for the better.
I think the city should organize such a civic opportunity - what do you say?
7 comments:
Hard to blame the kids? Oh, come on! If the garbage can is full, then it's ok to leave your trash strewn about on the ground?!?!! I take my children for ice cream and we use to enjoy sitting outside by the clock tower. I have called the city to request they clean it up but the kids keep making messes. Why don't teenagers have to take some responsibility? If the city is going to organize a civic opportunity, the teenagers that hang out there better be out there picking up the garbage they left behind. We as parents should teach them that littering is disrespectul, regardless if the garbage can is full!
I pay taxes. Real estate, car, sales and payroll and split the cost to pave our streets. If the city wants to refund me a portion of my taxes I will gladly "take out the trash". Cigarette butts liter tower park and the garbage cans are overflowing half the time. Which brings me to the question should people really be smoking at the playground around our kids. I think not.
I think it is time that indiviuals start being more responsilbe and respectable of themselves, as well as others and the properties of others. The citizens are given the nice streets, parks, etc thru taxes and it's the citizens, young and old, who need to be respectable and NOT expect others to pick up there mess. Granted the city may not pick up the trash regularly, but the city has a contract with rumpke so exactaly whose responsible for emptying those trash cans?
Would it be possible to put the entire Midway district in a trash bag and set it on the curb?
It is EVERYONE's responsibility to take care of our neighborhoods. Young and old. The kids need to be told to pick up the trash and we adults need to set the example. If the bins are full all the time, then the city needs to pick up the trash more frequently, but that isn't any excuse for the kids to be able to throw their trash on the ground or in people's yards. Same with pet owner's - they need to pick up their dog's poop when out walking. What happened to people caring about each other and their neighbors? If I'm out walking and I see trash and I'm near a can, I'll pick it up and throw it in. Its not my job and I didn't make the mess, but its the right thing to do. I tell my kids this all the time. I also hope that if it were one of my kids up at the clock tower, that they would clean up. They aren't old enough to be out on their own yet, but if they were up there and someone saw them leaving trash, I'd hope they would get scolded by another adult and then I'd find out so I could get on their case, too. That was the way it used to be. You couldn't do anything without being seen by someone who would tell your parents and then you were in trouble. Now kids know they will get away with it so they don't care and the parents aren't teaching them not to throw litter on the ground. Its the city's fault that the cans are full so its ok if you throw your trash on the ground. That's the message they are given.
I agree that we should all teach our children to be mindful of cleaning up after themselves properly (and adults should, too). That courtesy should be extended not only to beautiful public spaces but also to private yards. As a resident of Ft Thomas Ave, I can't tell you how many times I find trash in my yard, dog poop (never see stray dogs - must be careless, disrespectful owners), etc. When I bought my home I accepted the fact that I would have to deal with extra traffic and noise. Litter and poop in my yard is over the line, I think. This goes for residents of any street, but with the extra foot traffic on the avenue I'm just guessing that we probably get more of the litter.
Funny though, I walk past their every evening and I have seen one can full at night when the garbage is not being picked up, but I counted 4 cans in and around the area. Cans being full sounds like an excuse to me.
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