| There is every reason to believe that Philadelphia-by the end of a year-will no longer be infested with 31,000 garbage invested vacant lots- now neighborhood eyesores and safety hazards for adults and children.
That's because Mayor John F. Street has turned his guns on the vacant lots with the same vigor he used to clean the city of 41,000 abandoned cars.
He not only toured eight different vacant lot eyesores this past weekend, but lent his hand cleaning up the trash from those lots. Members of the Philadelphia City Council, the State legislative caucus, and a cross-section of the Mayor's Office of Community Services personnel accompanied him.
The whirlwind approach used to the launch this campaign, he said, was to show his administration's commitment to improving the quality of life in Philadelphia's neighborhoods and to strengthen the city's growing reputation as one of the most livable places in the country.
"I have promised to help our stable neighborhoods maintain their livability and attractiveness," said the mayor at each of the stops. "We want to help our marginal neighborhoods recapture their strength, and to help our deteriorating neighborhoods reverse their decline."
"I believe our neighborhoods should be places of hope, not places of despair," he said. "But we need, each one of us-neighbors and city officials alike -to make the ultimate commitment to work towards this goal," concluded Mayor Street.
After the initial cleanups, he reports, the City will use several methods to keep the lots clean and safe. Municipal workers, with the support of neighborhood volunteers, will maintain the lots. Block captains will also be recruited by the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee under the auspices of the Community Caretaker Program which will administer the follow-up program.
The program effort will be marked in neighborhoods throughout the City by the appearance of two-man cleanup crews pushing brooms and loading dump trucks during the next twelve months. All Philadelphians are being asked to help by participating in an anti-litter campaign beginning in July and will be asked to continue efforts to help keep their neighborhoods clean.
According to the Mayor, the blight is so extreme, the City has been subdivided into five areas to launch a thorough attack. Three of the areas have between approximately 8,000 and 10,000 vacant lots. The Council District with the greatest number of vacant lots is District 5 in North Philadelphia, with 10,769 lots. The least number of vacant lots is found in Philadelphia's District 10, in Northeast Philadelphia. That Council District has 192 vacant lots. The cleanup sequence uses a 140-person cleaning crew and has been organized to allow for methodical and efficient movement through every neighborhood.
City residents will also benefit from the Vacant Lot Cleanup Program because it includes a major effort to enforce trash disposal regulations as well as organize cleanups along Girard Avenue and other business districts. The City's Program will also include substantially enhanced illegal dumping enforcement efforts, which City officials say will lead to fines, vehicle confiscation and arrests for violators. In addition, the City's 56-year-old Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee will recruit additional block captains to assist in the maintenance of lots, streets and sidewalks in every community. Currently, the City has more than 4,000 block captains. The goal is to increase that number to 5,000.
The City expects to clean all lots in the Northeast and Northwest Areas during the summer months, as these areas have fewer vacant lots compared to the other three areas. Over the course of 12 months, the Program will achieve a complete and efficient cleanup of Philadelphia's vacant lots from the City's periphery into Center City. In addition, four cleaning crews will be assigned to clean lots along the City's major roadways.
While other cities have conducted small vacant lot cleanup initiatives - notably Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit - Philadelphia officials believe the City's vacant lot effort is the largest such program ever implemented in a major U.S. city.
According to City Managing Director Joseph Martz, whose office will coordinate the Vacant Lot Cleanup Program, the budget for the program, which has already been approved, will be $6.5 million, and include $516,000 to support increased anti-graffiti efforts.
Approximately $500,000 worth of new equipment, such as used pick-up trucks, trailers, wood chippers, bush cutters and mowers, will be purchased. In addition, the program will make use of existing equipment from the City's various operating departments, such as the Streets Department, the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.
The program is also attracting support from the private sector. Officials from Home Depot will participate in the launch-day activities by assisting with the cleanup at the kick-off site. The company will also issue $100 vouchers to the first participants in the City's Small Vacant Lot Abatement Program, through which residents will assist in the upkeep and maintenance of the cleaned lots. The McDonald's Corporation will provide food, and Coca-Cola will provide refreshments for cleanup participants at all of the sites in Saturday's kickoff activities. |
