The Beautification Committee of the Bella Vista Town Watch organizes four to six neighborhood cleanups per year, but this problem requires individual property owners and residents to be daily vigilant about cleaning up the litter in front of their homes and businesses. Apartment dwellers are particularly lackadaisical; they figure it's not their problem.

Yes, I know about the cleanups, and they're great, but this is a daily and persistent problem that will require great collective action. I keep the street near my front door as clean as I can, but to be honest, there's no way that everyone will be vigilant. Instead, those who care about this need to all pitch in and hire some regular once-a-week street cleaning, the way some neighborhoods do. Or apply for an Improvement District (like the one that just got voted down, stupidly, in Chinatown). This neighborhood is great but it could be so much more than it is.

The pin on this issue -- 8th and Fitzwater -- is about 10 blocks north of where it should be.

Queens Village is a model of cleanliness compared to 8th from Ellsworth to Reed St.
Genos and Pats, a bunch of property owners who just don't give a F***, auto-body shops... It's filthy.

But is there anything we can do other than cleaning up when we can? The problem is bigger than we can solve on an individual level.

8th and Fitzwater is not Queen Village. It has litter problems. Sounds like instead of commenting on this issue, you ought to create a new one at Pat's & Geno's corner.

Washington Avenue Renaissance WAR; in formation) is getting bids from Center City District for street cleaning; "like" us on FB to be kept in touch and if you want this servcie for your area, pleae contact us via FB at http://www.facebook.com/#!/WARphiladelphia?fref=ts