My wife and I do a fair amount of walking around the Georgestown neighbourhood using streets, parks and the great trail system. It’s always been a very refreshing way to enjoy the city. For a long time I have become acutely aware of the graffiti in this city from our daily excursions both on foot, by bicycle and in our vehicle.
Since Aug. 30 I have noticed how pervasive this form of anti-social behaviour has become. Since then a prime example relates to some residents on Circular Road who had repainted their large concrete retaining wall. When it was finished it made a huge difference to the appearance on this very busy street by covering previous nonsensical graffiti tag symbols and images with a deep grey colour.
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Since then it had only taken a short three weeks for the vandals to return and plaster the wall with graffiti again. I feel that this is symptomatic of what occurs throughout the city when well-meaning residents try to interrupt this scourge. I feel so badly for the homeowners in this case and feel we should collectively do something.
If we as a community want to change this trend of indifference in the general public, we will need to develop some lasting solutions. My experience tells me that this is perpetrated by loosely organized individuals determined to gain exposure by tagging as many public and private spaces as possible with their personal symbols and acronyms ie. AVC, S$N, EAT, LCB and many others in competition with each At its core, it is purely wilful disrespect to challenge societal norms in a form of blatant intimidation.
I wondered if The Telegram would take this topic on and research the extent of the problem and possible solutions? These individuals must be known in some circles since many groups are in competition with each other, not to mention the cost of paint that this effort takes to inflict on society.
Tom Horrocks
St. John’s
