PG County Trash? (Bowie: renters, crime, mattresses)

[Superhornet]

I drive through PG County routinely, both for work and otherwise.

Why in the world is there so much trash everywhere? I mean epic/biblical quantities of trash along the roads.

As soon as you cross the river into VA there's 90% less. As you push east into Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, the same.

[North Beach Person]

A combination of factors. Some of it is that Calvert and Anne Arundel hit roadside trash pickup pretty hard. Some of it is mindset of the residents.

Roadside dumping in Calvert tends to be more brush and leaves. The County, even after all these years, still doesn't have a good collection system for that, the "Convenience Centers" (essentially regional trash drop off stations) won't take it, so you have to take it to the main transfer station/dump right above Solomon's. Or put it along the roads to "create" habitat.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Superhornet

I drive through PG County routinely, both for work and otherwise.

Why in the world is there so much trash everywhere? I mean epic/biblical quantities of trash along the roads.

As soon as you cross the river into VA there's 90% less. As you push east into Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, the same.

That's a cool statistic. Source? Or did you create a data model on just the roads you travel?

Trash on roads could come from a number of factors.

1. People that actually throw trash out the windows of their vehicles.

2. Overstuffed trash bins that can cause litter to be blown off and away. There have been times when my trash bin was raided by raccoons and I've had to pick up the aftermath. If there are strong winds, some of that trash can escape. I have since put a clamp on my trash bin.

3. On trash pickup day, and I have seen this and it frustrates me, the trash collectors do a messy job. Trash falls into the street and they don't pick it up. It then gets blown everywhere. Even the recycle collectors may leave broken glass on the street.

4. Illegal dumping. Which is an issue. I believe PG County has one landfill. People are lazy. I get it. You don't want to have to drive to the Brown Station Rd. landfill to unload. So, you dump it on the side of the road.

5. Resources. PG is a pretty big county by square miles. Undoubtedly there are cleanup crews. But they may be stretched thin. Let's be honest, there's not a line to apply for trash cleanup crew.

I will say that PG has initiated a new program to go after illegal dumpers. Not sure it will help, but it sounds promising.

https://pgcproud.com/blog-post/princ...llegal-dumping

Other cleanup initiatives.

https://twitter.com/CEXAlsobrooks/st...926722052?s=20
https://twitter.com/CEXAlsobrooks/st...616222721?s=20

[bufflove]

Are you talking about along state roads? More funding and focus is now going towards that than in recent years. https://www.roads.maryland.gov/mdots...ryland%20roads.

[Superhornet]

Fair point; obviously 90% is calibrated by my eyeballs.

The point still stands though; there's a demonstrably greater amount of trash on the side of the roads in PG than other area.

Just curious as to what's so different about this particular county that the trash magically localizes itself in this particular county.

Items 1-4 in Sky's list are the culript(s) but the stuff doesn't get there on it's own.

[DCBornAndRaised]

I've lived in the county for 40 years. I see a dramatic change in the amount of trash in the last 5-8 years or so. These are "my observations".

The county, I believe especially inside the beltway, has a lot of overcrowded housing. I suspect a good number of these properties happen to be rental properties. There are single family homes with 3-4 bedrooms that have 10-15 or more people living in them, many of whom are not related. They are so crowded that they are in violation of county ordinances which are not being enforced by DPIE. All one has to do is scroll through the private property service requests on PGC311.com to see just how bad things have become in our communities. Now this overcrowding could be due to the "affordability crisis". It could be due to lack of code enforcement. It could be due to landlords taking advantage of renters and trying to make as much money as they can off one property by jamming it full of people.

The amount of trash and recycling generated by these overcrowded properties exceeds the capacity of the bins. As the bins fill up during the week, they are so full that the lids cannot be closed. The wind or animals looking for food pull the trash/garbage from the bins. It can land on the ground near the bin and blow across the yard or be carried away by the animal. Sometimes it appears little effort is made to pick up what has fallen to the grown or fallen into the street from an over-filled bin. I've seen tenants walk past the trash in their yard and make no effort to pick it up. Maybe they want the wind to just blow it somewhere else. Drive around the streets on trash pick-up day and see the overflowing trash bin and the trash bags next to the bin at the curb from one house. It's been said that tenants don't take as much pride in property maintenance as home owners do. I don't want to paint with a broad brush but I have increasingly witnessed such over the last 5-8 years at rental properties, in particular. It's been said that you can drive down the street and pick out the rental houses by their appearance.

These overcrowded houses also seem to have an inordinate number of mattresses that come and go out of the house. Those mattresses get dumped along the roadside or in the wooded areas in the county, rather than getting prepped to be picked up by bulk trash.

I would add that Prince George's county is losing population.

(https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/bl...0respectively..)

Recent news stories suggest that the wealthiest black residents are taking their wealth and moving to Charles County.

(https://www.nbcwashington.com/discov...ck%20in%202020.)

As the quality of life in this county continues to decline - e.g., trash - I suggest folks are going to continue to leave this county.

I would agree with the list above. I'm suggesting this also as an additional observation.

[Superhornet]

Going beyond the topic of trash in PG County to PG County in general.....

I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel for the county. The usual crime outrageousness is still outrageous. The same areas are still bad....and have been for some time now.

Good observations about rental properties. Spot on.

[BostonBornMassMade]

There is indeed an ungodly amount of trash on PG county roadways.

[Quick Enough]

Originally Posted by Superhornet

I drive through PG County routinely, both for work and otherwise.

Why in the world is there so much trash everywhere? I mean epic/biblical quantities of trash along the roads.

As soon as you cross the river into VA there's 90% less. As you push east into Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, the same.

This is what happens when dems have constant control.

Most other parts of the country that are dem run are the same way.