Spokane, WA is on its way to being completely covered in graffiti. When we moved to the inland NW six years ago, it was very rare to see any graffiti anywhere except the downtown area of Spokane. Now the freeways, signs, bridge abutments, guardrails, sound walls and buildings are COVERED with it. The city keeps painting over it, but, just as in Portland, it’s a losing war.
The worst thing is it is headed east toward Idaho and, as near as can tell, Coeur d’Alene is totally unprepared for it. I’ve reported the occasional graffiti I’ve found around Coeur d’Alene to the city council and they have dealt with it immediately. In fact, one time I reported graffiti at a downtown park to the City Council around 7 pm and by 6 am it was gone.
It’s way past time we took despoiling our civic areas seriously. It’s an assault on all citizens. Long prison sentences are called for. I wouldn’t be unhappy seeing some hands lopped off the worst of them.
Yes, I moved here in 1999 and the city was clean and safe. Now Division street is filled with empty retail stores and trash every ware.
The massive development of apartment building on the north end near Wondermere has been a disaster. There simply isn't enough infrastructure to support all the new people. The apartments are just a future ghetto in the making
As soon as the new apartments were occupied the graffiti started showing up. The graffiti was not the local type stuff you would expect like "Jonny Loves Mary". Its was gang related MS-13 type stuff.
Having grown up in So/Cal I could reading the writing on the wall so to speak and instinctively new it was time to move farther away.
I moved out to Sun Crest and I'm loving it. I avoid going back to Spokane whenever I don't have to.
City planners are fools.
It is a form of violence just like stopping traffic