I have heard from some dog owners that a good way to keep the ‘activity’ down is to walk your dogs through the alley. This is not for every one and every alley. Another thing I was told, was cutting down the weeds and removing the trash, so the dealers would have fewer places to hide their products.
So for about and hour or so I took to cleaning a small part of my alley. I leave the regular maintenance to alley cleaning man, his broom, and his tersely written signs. I had a big garbage bag, some gardening gloves, some garden tools and a hatchet. For entertainment, music and an earphone in one ear, leaving the other free to listen out for cars that are occasionally known to drive through.
While I was cleaning and whacking down weeds I noticed a man on a cell phone near the mouth of the alley pacing by and looking down the alley. I got the feeling that if I weren’t in the alley he would have walked down it. Then a little bit later a red sedan, possibly mid to early 1990s model, started to turn into the alley. I moved out of the way, but it had enough room to change plans, and not come down the alley. About 10 minutes later, I swear the same car began to turn into the alley on the other end, backed up and drove away.
Well, 8 feet of the alley is now weed free-ish, and trash free, and whatever was to have happened in the alley thwarted.
5 thoughts on “Take back the alley, if only for an hour”
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Interesting! I’m willfully ignorant of what goes on in my alley, other than the homeless using it as their toilet.
I’ve been a lurker on your site for a few weeks now and enjoy the updates. I’ve been doing a little alley care myself by walking our german shepherd back and forth. Though I haven’t seen much activity as of late, I’m sure it’s still prevalent. I’m pretty sure my place is close to yours just from reading your blurbs … please let me know if you’d like some help in cleaning up the rest of your alley as I for one would like to curb the “activity” that seems to be creeping back into the neighborhood.
Various parts of Shaw has Clean-up days. BACA has received the help from people doing ‘community service’ as part of their sentences.
I cleaned up a portion of the alley behind my house on 5th st. Stuff found behind my back fence: A car tire (in good shape), a suitcase without any clothes in it, Bicycle tire tubes, beer cans, liquor bottles, a trash bag full of perfect mulch, random trash.
Last fall there was an abandoned bicycle, construction waste, yard waste, a car boot.
Not to mention the dog crap all over the place.
My hope is that having it clean will deter people from using it as a dump.
Good for you. I used to cut down trees etc, clean broken glass and drug bags, move dumped couches (dumped, but not without apparent purpose and certainly not unused…) and guerilla-plant native flowers in my alley. I did that for a few years, others joined, and there’s definite improvement.
Mark