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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced during his annual State of the City address last night that he'd like to add 5,000 more garbage cans to the streets of L.A.This might not be the big news—like Uber and Lyft being allowed at LAX—but it is very practical. Garcetti promised to put 5,000 new trash cans on the streets of L.A., saying that the streets are currently "lined with broken TVs and abandoned couches," the L.A. Times reports.
A recent report indicated that there are only 700 trash cans in the nearly 500 square miles of Los Angeles, resulting in overflowing bins and garbage on the streets. We also learned that only 35 percent of L.A.'s street are cleaned on a regular basis, which might drive you crazy if you get a lot of those pricy street cleaning tickets. When it comes to those abandoned couches and other pieces of furniture, Los Angeles is shelling out $12 million every year to clean the curbs and alleys, and City Hall has thus far been ineffective at enforcing the laws against illegal dumping.
Garcetti's Clean Streets L.A. Initiative was approved last month by City Council, KPCC reports, and will be run by the Public Works Department. Teams would locate problem areas, then form "strike teams" that would clean them up. Streets would also be indexed on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 ("very dirty") containing over 15 pieces of litter per 100 feet of curb. Assessments will also involve checking for graffiti, checking to ensure that trash receptacles are in good repair and not overflowing and ensuring that trees are in good shape.
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