The D.C. government is taking a unique step in the war against graffiti.
According to the local public radio station, WAMU, the city usually paid out nearly $800,000 to clean up graffiti in 2007. This year the city plans to give $100,000 to help local graffiti artists produce legal murals. By supporting legal graffiti the government hopes they will have fewer illegal taggers.
If this works, and the city ends up spending less to clean up illegal tags, I would think other cities may follow suit. I am impressed that D.C. is trying to get at the problem in a new way, rather than just sticking to old methods which clearly have not stopped illegal tags.
I also wonder if residents will take time to appreciate the graffiti murals as art — since, for once, they won’t have to worry about paying to cover them up.
