Dan McGrath: Yes, most graffiti is related to gang activity. Ed Kohler: I don't believe that's generally the case. However, along 38th St between 35W and Cedar this week, that's probably an accurate statement. The important thing to keep in mind - as Michael Atherton pointed out - is that people tend to associate graffiti with gang activity, blight, or both. It's similar to the reaction people seem to have to shoefiti (How could I not mention it?), only graffiti is more prevalent.
Dan McGrath: The notion that most graffiti in our neighborhood comes from suburban kids is ludicrous. Kids aren't getting Mom to drop them off on 38th Street with cans of spray paint. Ed Kohler: The tags along 38th are definitely not the work of suburbanites, nor are the ones along E Lake St between 35W and Hiawatha and the blocks between those two streets. There are two taggers to the East of Hiawatha on Lake that seem to be responsible for the majority of the tags that pop up in Longfellow. Based on the patterns I've seen in the 100+ tags they've created, I think they may be students at the U of MN. I'm also confident that they know each other and go out at night together from time to time because they share paint cans (different colors) from one tag to the next. I rarely see gang tags in Longfellow beyond the grain elevators. Don Johnson: It may sound a little impractical but I'm betting we can somehow put an extra tax on this stuff so we can recover some of the terrible cost of the vandalism and the higher price would discourage some of the young blighters from buying it in the first place. Ed Kohler: I don't think that would make much of a difference because spray paint is stolen, bought outside the area where they're used (the cans I find near tagged walls are not brands carried by any of my neighborhood stores), or bought online by the 'artist' crowd. In fact, if you happen to be viewing this post from the mailarchive.com web page, you may see some Google AdWords ads running along the right column of the page for graffiti supply stores (the ads are triggered by terms appearing in the text on the page). http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg39516.html Gary Farland: I think there is only one way to stop graffiti: plant surveillance cameras at places that would be in high probability of getting hit. Ed Kohler: I've wondered about the use of motion detecting cameras to document tagging at common graffiti hot spots. They're not particularly expensive compared to the cost of removing tags. Here's an example (Bushnell Trail Scout VGA Waterproof Hunting and Field Digital Camera): http://focuscamera.com/prods/964597775.asp What's the most effective process for getting graffiti removed from abandoned buildings? It doesn't seem like the city addresses that issue well at this point. Quick Shoefiti update: Xcel actually took down two of three pair hanging near the airport (34th Ave & Crosstown). They were first reported on June 28th. A 4th pair popped up in that same area and has been reported. -Ed Kohler Shoefiti-less and largely graffiti-less in Cooper REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
