Residents welcome Philly’s citywide cleanup, but complaint data show trash quickly returns

My Nguyen and Cloud, her big and fluffy dog, walk through their Kensington neighborhood every day. She worries that Cloud will rifle through the garbage on the sidewalk and get dirty — or worse, choke on something.

Just a week before, the area had been swarmed by city crews armed with leaf blowers, street sweepers, and water trucks — part of a citywide summer cleanup targeting every corner of Philadelphia.

“It doesn’t last, because people keep littering,” Nguyen said.

From Kingsessing to Kensington, residents have welcomed the added investment but said it is not a long-term solution. Garbage complaints keep rolling in to Philly311, the city’s reporting system for nonemergency complaints.

Still, the city says it is making visible progress.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s “Cleaning and Greening” team of 13 city departments and agencies began systematically leaf blowing, street sweeping, and clearing the city of refuse on June 3. Each of Philly’s 13 sanitation districts was allocated the same amount of time and resources — one entire week of deep cleaning for each district.

The Office of Clean and Green shares live updates on the project’s progress, and as of late July reported having cleaned 9,509 blocks, 3,465 vacant lots, 1,818 commercial corridors, 860 inlets, 184 schools, and 51 green stormwater drains. Crews have removed 1,436 instances of graffiti, and fixed 4,228 potholes.

In the weeks following the cleanup, some neighborhoods actually saw an increase in 311 complaints. Others saw immediate reductions.

In Kensington, the city received 153 garbage-related complaints in the two weeks before the area was cleaned; in the two weeks after, complaints rose to 173.

Nguyen has lived in Kensington for three years, and wasn’t surprised to learn that people were still complaining about trash even after their neighborhood had gotten a deep clean.

Other residents felt their block didn’t need the help at all.

“We keep it clean around here,” said Jennifer Williams, a Cobbs Creek resident who works with her neighbors to keep their block tidy.

According to city data, some neighborhoods have three times the number of yearly garbage complaints than others. But for the summer cleaning, each will be allocated the same resources.

That’s by design.

Carlton Williams, director of Clean and Green Initiatives, said he hoped that “every resident can feel like a part of one Philly.” Areas with “less visible issues” would be treated for weeds and overgrowth, he said, while others would be treated for garbage, graffiti, and abandoned vehicles.

Williams said the aim is for residents to see their city clean, and feel motivated to keep it clean. But delayed trash pickups and illegal dumping — frequently cited by residents as the top cleanliness concerns in their neighborhoods — cause uncontrollable spread of garbage.

Here are some solutions that residents said would have a longer lasting impact:

Nguyen said that she always picks up Cloud’s poop, but some dog owners are not as responsible. In addition to pet waste, a variety of garbage is frequently thrown on her sidewalk.

Also in Kensington, Patrick Vinh suggested that “[the city] needs to be anal about ticketing.”

The city claims to be making progress. Williams reported that with the help of more cameras, their illegal dumping crew has identified over 75 people this year for illegal dumping — but there have been over 11,000 complaints this year.

“If they had the trash cans like they do on Chester Avenue that would help,” said Valerie Mills in Cobbs Creek. Her neighbor Sharita Manire even tried to leave out her own trash can on her sidewalk, but was told to take it inside or she would get a ticket.

There’s “no reason it has to be like this,” said Manire.

When trash pickup is delayed or missed, garbage gets blown through Vinh’s block. He has seen stray animals also dig through the trash looking for food, so the garbage ends up attracting rats and sometimes maggots.

Before the cleanup began, there were an average of 76 trash pickup complaints per day across Philadelphia. Since then the average number of complaints per day has risen to 84.

Williams said they “want people to call” so they know where the issues lie, because the program is just one part of a $214 million sanitation effort over the next five years.

“It doesn’t make sense to leave things undone,” said Williams, excited about Parker’s goal of making Philadelphia the “cleanest and greenest big city in the nation.”

This year the city budget allocates $13.5 million to expand a program initially created by Parker in 2020, that cleans commercial corridors and adjacent residential areas in 140 commercial zones.

Additionally $6.3 million this year has been earmarked for a twice-weekly trash collection pilot in neighborhoods “most challenged by trash and litter.” The details for the pilot will be released in the fall.

Williams said the city will also begin installing 1,500 Big Belly trash cans — 800 for garbage, and 700 for recycling — in August. Some of these will replace worn out Big Bellies, while others will be placed in new locations, focusing on commercial corridors with a lot of litter.

Residents are watching to see if the exhaustive effort can get Philly clean — and keep it clean.