Almost every town or city has large problems. Mayors and City Councils across the nation are struggling with refinancing public dept, improving public schools or repairing aging sewers. In addition to these difficult civic dilemmas, there are the endless smaller issues that can get overlooked every day.

These seemingly trivial signs of municipal indifference appear on every block: weeds growing in the sidewalk, filthy bus shelters, booming car stereos, waist high grass, and graffiti on everything. These little nuisances, like steady drips of water upon a stone, can slowly wear away the quality of civic life and send more families to the suburbs. Each drop reinforces the message of acceptance and apathy.

New York City is the grand illustration of how action against the small drips can make an immense difference a municipality's quality of life.

When Mayor Giuliani came to office in 1994, he labored intensively to fight the broken window effect. Graffiti was removed from the subway cars. Building inspectors took uncooperative and delinquent property owners to court. He locked up aggressive panhandlers. This enforcement frequently led to individuals wanted for more serious crimes, thereby further reducing what the British refer to as Anti-Social Behavior. Paired increased enforcement with Police Department restructuring and new tools like COMPSTAT crime tracking program has made New York into one of the safest large cities in America.

The costs for such enforcement are minuscule, especially compared with the silver bullets schemes that are all to often dumped at our doorstep. Even if the sole result of vigilant enforcement is a cleaner city, the returns are exponentially worth the investment.

Beyond government, there is a place for individual action: repairing an old fence, planting trees, painting the front porch and picking up the trash that blew in the yard. A small property tax deduction for materials could even incentivize the upkeep of public property located on private land like mail drop boxes or light posts. (see "How to remove graffiti")

While it would be simplistic to suggest eliminating these nuisances would create the perfect city. For Buffalo, the large issues would likely still remain; jobs, schools and public safety. Nor can these small things be remedied with a snap of the fingers. However, a long-term strategy of consistent renewed enforcement can eventually create an environment where individuals can again be proud of their community and a culture civic indifference is unacceptable.

Photos:

Good: Workers recently install raised tree beds outside the Elmwood Village Market 

Bad: Workers at one point laid asphalt over the tree beds at the entrance of the Evans National Bank parking lot on Delavan near the corner of Elmwood.