Bull Creek park litter issue (Austin, Giddings: 2015, condo, college)

[DCtoTejas]

Recently there was a KVUE story on the amount of litter in the park - Kids to community: Clean up your trash

I took some out of towners there as it is a place I like to show as representative of Austin's natural beauty and it was disgusting, baby diapers, condoms, beer bottles, charcoal ashes and what smelled like human urine. I saw this article that suggested that APD was doing zero tolerance in the greenbelts but it doesn't seem to have been effective as a long term deterrent. Doing some searching I see news articles at several year intervals about the issue. Question for those who have been here for many years, is this an issue that comes and goes based on enforcement or other responses or are things actually worse now?

[Nitwhit]

This is an example of diversity failing. In Mexico people leave their trash were they unpack. This is the result of being tolerant and accepting. Even if you wrote tickets, who would actually pay?

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by DCtoTejas

Recently there was a KVUE story on the amount of litter in the park - Kids to community: Clean up your trash

I took some out of towners there as it is a place I like to show as representative of Austin's natural beauty and it was disgusting, baby diapers, condoms, beer bottles, charcoal ashes and what smelled like human urine. I saw this article that suggested that APD was doing zero tolerance in the greenbelts but it doesn't seem to have been effective as a long term deterrent. Doing some searching I see news articles at several year intervals about the issue. Question for those who have been here for many years, is this an issue that comes and goes based on enforcement or other responses or are things actually worse now?

I lived in NW Hills for 10 years, and at the time I'd say the problem was definitely intermittent. The parks there are open to anyone, and people do come in from all over town. When the parks are heavily used, particularly the ones with swimming holes/creeks when the water is high (like this year - Barton Creek is the same way), the litter goes WAY up. The parks department doesn't seem to have any procedure to address these "surges" and up the trash collection. Trash bins overflow, and there are always those inconsiderate users who will just throw litter wherever. This year may have been particularly bad with all the spring rains, after years of drought and dry creeks.

[another_hot-day]

Originally Posted by Nitwhit

This is an example of diversity failing. In Mexico people leave their trash were they unpack. This is the result of being tolerant and accepting. Even if you wrote tickets, who would actually pay?

Agreed.

[DCtoTejas]

I agree on the group that is the biggest contributor to the problem, however they're not the only contributor, and I'm not sure they are Mexican I tend to think Central American. Does anyone else have an opinion on whether the problem is the same / better / worse?

[ScoPro]

Well, when I first started going to the Bull Creek area in 1959 it was privately owned. To gain access to the swimming hole area we had to pay 25 cents to the old crusty mom/grandma parked nearby in her 1940s era pickup truck with a shotgun.

On weekends there would be scores of young people out there.... and NO litter. After 1966 I graduated college & moved to Giddings for a couple of years. Moved back to Austin , then when our kids were old enough in the mid-late '70s, we took them to the old swimming holes, but they were public property by that time. Litter was not a problem. Haven't been there since the early '80s.

[cBach]

The creeks are flowing but it's been real dry the past couple of months. If there's another rain, it usually washes the trash down the creek and clears things up. Sad but true fact.

I guess most of that trash ends up at the bottom of Lake Austin eventually, and either decays if it's biodegradable or doesn't.

When there's an extended drought, nobody goes to Bull Creek and it's clean then.

It's gotten worse in the last few years with the population explosion. Too many people moving here for economic reasons instead of moving here because it's Austin.

[ericsami]

Originally Posted by cBach

Too many people moving here for economic reasons instead of moving here because it's Austin.

an Overwhelming majority of people always move because economics.

soon enough Austin will be too expensive. our infrastructure will prove to be way too stuck in the past.
and then people will think about the hot whether and will pass up on Austin.

at this point Austin is definitely the most hyped large city in America.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ericsami

an Overwhelming majority of people always move because economics.

soon enough Austin will be too expensive. our infrastructure will prove to be way too stuck in the past.
and then people will think about the hot whether and will pass up on Austin.

at this point Austin is definitely the most hyped large city in America.

What we need is a real hot fall to scare away people. I remember that fall when it was 95 degrees in mid October.

Some yankees were abandoning ship just for that, reminiscing about the crisp fall weather and leaves in the Northeast.

Hot falls won't deter Californians though because fall is when the Santa Anna winds blow and is the hottest time of the year in CA.

But it's an El Nino year, so looking mid to late September the weather will probably break and the rains will return.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by ericsami

an Overwhelming majority of people always move because economics.

soon enough Austin will be too expensive. our infrastructure will prove to be way too stuck in the past.
and then people will think about the hot whether and will pass up on Austin.

at this point Austin is definitely the most hyped large city in America.

Pretty much true. Just goes to show us not all is well in many other parts of the country.... and it's not going to get any better.