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    « Tired of waiting for the bus? - There's an Ap for that. | Main | Ethical Edinburgh Christmas Trees »
    Tuesday
    24Nov2009

    Graffiti crack down on Leith Walk

    Dealing with graffiti is a tough problem. Local authorities spend a fortune getting rid of the stuff, and even then, it's pretty hard to get private property owners to remove it. After all, it can be expensive - and they're the victims of crime. Not the perpetrators.

    And besides, sometimes people have some sympathy for the graffiti 'artist.' For example, Local blogger 'Suitably Despairing' catalogues the exploits of the 'ethical graffiti' artist who took to commenting on bill boards posted around Leith and North Edinburgh.  In Bristol, home of Banksy, they're proposing to involve local residents in deciding whether graffiti is street art or vandalism. In Glasgow, they've been paying local graffiti artists to do official murals, like the one below, to cover up the unofficial ones - as this is cheaper than removing it again and again from the same places.

    Many people will recognise the graffiti in the photo at the top of this post from Leith Walk, and it's clearly caught a lot of people's attention as there's loads of photos of it, and graffiti like it, on photo-sharing website Flickr.com.

    However, at the end of the day, there's a lot of graffiti that falls into the category of mindless petty vandalism, and one persons art, can easily be regarded by others as a scary indication of high crime rates. So, we think it's certainly good news to hear that the City of Edinburgh Council have confirmed that they're going to do a thorough clean-up of Leith Walk. It needs it - and we hope they'll deal with all the flyposting on the empty shops too.

    Reader Comments (4)

    Thanks for the namecheck! Unfortunately I'm no longer "local", since I left for the wilds of Gorgie last year. I'd rather be in Leith, though.
    November 24, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterDespairing
    Never mind the stuff on the Walk - what about all the graffiti appearing at roof-level? For example, there's a lot of OE graffiti on the roof of the old Station, and also on the side of the clock. Hopefully one day these idiots might fall off and remove themselves for the gene pool, but until then we need to deal with these eyesores too.
    November 24, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria Swingbridge
    do not be afriad is my favourite... I wish it wasn't covered over by lesser graffiti. The old Shurbhill social work dept had a beautiful bird graffiti'ed on it but it got boarded up - does anyone have a link to it.

    And someone is pasting up Adbusters posters on the old job centre !!
    November 24, 2009 | Unregistered Commentercreativevoyage
    Why does the council not give out free paint so locals can paint over graffiti themselves? I would definitely be willing to do this if someone provided the paint...
    Or maybe Greener Leith could get together a group to do this, similar to the litter action? Although it would be better if locals could do it themselves, so they can do it more regularly.
    Graffiti needs to be cleaned off / painted over regularly, so the perpetrators don't think it's worth putting up in the first place.
    November 30, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVerena

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