Nagin calls us a dirty city, some of us pointed that out already (Philadelphia: city hall)

[carolinajack]

was ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans(if you know the big easy you know how dirty it is, pre Katrina) right to say Philly is a dirty city?? I think he was right, as the culture seems to love to throw their trash right on the street, loves to spit on the street, curse out loud and not care about what the city looks like.

Center city is doing a better job and Chestnut hill is nice as well as University city but the rest can look pretty awful. there are places in the worst areas where individuals try to fight to keep their blocks and stoops clean, but the trash is ghastly in most areas along with abandoned buildings

[lititzman2003]

Granted, Philly, like alot of cities, small and large, have trash issues. However, the majority of the residents that I knew worked very hard to maintain their properties. I lived in two sections of the city(Southwest and Mayfair) for over 35 years and I never witnessed the things you apparent have. Sure, maybe the teen-ager hanging out on the corner will throw trash into the street, but his/her attitudes changes when they buy a house! Many times the residents, after becoming frustrated with City Hall, took matters into their own hands and moved their cars to sweep the streets themselves. Rarely did a day go by without someone sweeping, hosing down their sidewalk, planting flowers, etc. Even the business owners on Woodland and Frankford Avenues would spruce up their properties with flower boxes, using pressure washers on their sidewalks, etc. Philadelphians have always had a strong work ethic and take pride in everything they do.

[carolinajack]

i live in Center City and still see even in these better areas trash thrown on the ground. it is pathetic to see adults treating their surroundings like a dump, and then just go north from the cc and wow the trash is awful--

but this is a city that refuses to see that as Democrats they are a segregated city as well

[Ohiogirl81]

Nagin probably could have made fewer enemies had he been a little more diplomatic when making his point.

[KoZmiC NinJa]

I grew up right outside of Philly and spent a lot of my
youth in it. That said, I believe its one of the scummiest
cities on the East Coast...In the caste' system of cities,
its right down there with Camden and a whole universe away
from NYC.

[Icy Tea]

Slobs are stupid lazy people and they drop trash on the ground, period. In Reading Pa you see trash, not as bad as I see in Philly but still annoying. I've driven across the state and seen small run down towns with higher unemployment and poverty( coal regions, old mill towns) and they are at least clean of trash even if they are falling down. Make trash a top priority after schools, jobs, drugs, crime, etc....