Take back the alley, if only for an hour
I have heard from some dog owners that a good way to keep the 'activity' down is to walk your dogs through the alley. This is not for every one and every alley. Another thing I was told, was cutting down the weeds and removing the trash, so the dealers would have fewer places to hide their products.So for about and hour or so I took to cleaning a small part of my alley. I leave the regular maintenance to alley cleaning man, his broom, and his tersely written signs. I had a big garbage bag, some gardening gloves, some garden tools and a hatchet. For entertainment, music and an earphone in one ear, leaving the other free to listen out for cars that are occasionally known to drive through.
While I was cleaning and whacking down weeds I noticed a man on a cell phone near the mouth of the alley pacing by and looking down the alley. I got the feeling that if I weren't in the alley he would have walked down it. Then a little bit later a red sedan, possibly mid to early 1990s model, started to turn into the alley. I moved out of the way, but it had enough room to change plans, and not come down the alley. About 10 minutes later, I swear the same car began to turn into the alley on the other end, backed up and drove away.
Well, 8 feet of the alley is now weed free-ish, and trash free, and whatever was to have happened in the alley thwarted.
Labels: crime
posted by Mari @ 7.8.08
5 Comments:
Interesting! I'm willfully ignorant of what goes on in my alley, other than the homeless using it as their toilet.
I've been a lurker on your site for a few weeks now and enjoy the updates. I've been doing a little alley care myself by walking our german shepherd back and forth. Though I haven't seen much activity as of late, I'm sure it's still prevalent. I'm pretty sure my place is close to yours just from reading your blurbs ... please let me know if you'd like some help in cleaning up the rest of your alley as I for one would like to curb the "activity" that seems to be creeping back into the neighborhood.
Various parts of Shaw has Clean-up days. BACA has received the help from people doing 'community service' as part of their sentences.
I cleaned up a portion of the alley behind my house on 5th st. Stuff found behind my back fence: A car tire (in good shape), a suitcase without any clothes in it, Bicycle tire tubes, beer cans, liquor bottles, a trash bag full of perfect mulch, random trash.
Last fall there was an abandoned bicycle, construction waste, yard waste, a car boot.
Not to mention the dog crap all over the place.
My hope is that having it clean will deter people from using it as a dump.
Good for you. I used to cut down trees etc, clean broken glass and drug bags, move dumped couches (dumped, but not without apparent purpose and certainly not unused...) and guerilla-plant native flowers in my alley. I did that for a few years, others joined, and there's definite improvement.
Mark
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