Graffiti and Community
The impact of graffiti in communities is increasingly becoming a much more serious topic. In the last decade many communities have overlooked graffiti as a major contributor to social deterioration. Although some cities have maintained an active approach to graffiti, many have not. Due to a sweeping perception of graffiti as a form of art, many cities have underestimated the negative impact of graffiti in communities. Consequently, many communities are now experiencing the economic and social ramifications.
In reality, a vast majority of graffiti has nothing to do with art and everything to do with destruction of property (See Art or Vandalism). Aside from the enormous financial burden, graffiti in communities impacts well-being from a social, emotional and economic standpoint. As neighborhoods strive to become strong social hubs that promote interaction, inclusion, reciprocity, and engagement, the presence of graffiti in communities undermines this.
Although difficult, in building strong communities, the prevention of graffiti is essential. Most cities find it difficult to respond to graffiti and in most cases it seems that graffiti appears faster than it can be dealt with. Fortunately, we have developed several strategies that allow us to stay on top of graffiti and ensure that entire communities are cleaned quickly and they stay clean.
Community
As so many communities struggle to overcome the impact of graffiti, it is clear that the challenges are many. Although it may seem like there are no real solutions, there are a few.
Community engagement is key. We work with our community partners on implementing programs to get others involved involved in graffiti removal and prevention.
One such program is our Clean Sweep Program.
Graffiti In Communities
The Community Cost of Graffiti
Graffiti causes billions of dollars in damage around the world every year. From the financial cost of removals, depreciation of property value, loss of business revenue, and decrease in tourism to the social impact of perceived lack of security, social isolation, decrease in long term residency/occupancy and the influx of other criminal activity, graffiti is more than just writing on a wall.
Importance of Removal
It is no surprise that the best thing we can do to combat illegal graffiti is to remove it immediately. The sooner the graffiti is removed the less reward is provided to the vandal. The more rapidly the graffiti is removed the less likely the vandal will return, and the property will become less attractive to other potential vandals. This applies to not only properties, but communities as well. The less graffiti a region has the less likely vandals will enter the community for the purpose of tagging.
A Community Challenge
Much of the difficulty in overcoming graffiti on a community level is ensuring that the entire community is engaged. If several properties and locations within a community are not onboard with keeping the community clean of graffiti it adversely impacts the rest of the community. No matter how diligent one property is in responding to graffiti, if their neighbour does not remove graffiti, the problem will persist. The challenge is not just to remove the graffiti, but to get everyone to remove graffiti.
A Community Solution
As challenging it may be to keep an entire community free of graffiti, it is possible. And we do it. We have several strategies that we use that achieve success in keeping small to large communities free of graffiti in an economic and cost efficient way. We know that we cannot do it alone, so we specialize engaging various branches of the community to help. Contact us to learn more about our Clean Sweep Program.