[SunriseChampion]

This is true....there's quite the diff....buuuuuut...some tagging is just as lovely.
And stencils are usually very appealing.

Well....to those of us so inclined, I suppose. Everyone else hates spontaneity and character.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Not at all - that Banksy scribble down by The Esplanade is spontaneously falling apart quite charmingly.

 

[ducati0000]

I see the graffiti removal companies are doing well...I seen three crews around Spadina,Queen,College area spraying off the tags by the "artist" of TO....I was talking to one store owner and she got a letter from City Hall threatening with a fine if she doesnt remove it within a certain timeframe...cost her $450 to remove it.She was very very mad mentioning how hard its to run a business downtown and this extra expense doesnt help.If she gets tagged again the city will allow her more "grace period" to remove it again...great........

 

[gabe]

I see far more tagging and racist graffiti than actual artistic graffiti like what Banksy does. it's hard to catch these pigs, i see a lot of tagging on store doors and windows and street signs done by permanent markers.

 

[Eug]

I see far more tagging and racist graffiti than actual artistic graffiti like what Banksy does.

Yep... although I don't think I've seen a lot of racist graffiti. Just a ton of tagging, and some really bad street "art". To make up a number for it, I'd say for every aethetically pleasing piece, there are 100 that qualify as ugly vandalism.

P.S. I kinda like the new mailboxes. They seem to resist graffiti to a small extent, for now.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

This is very typical of the crap I see around where I live along with flier postings everywhere.

 

[Urban Shocker]

The good news, however, is the restoration of the red brick front. Imagine the improvement if that green-painted building to the north of it, and that row to the south, were similarly stripped of their commercial defacements.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The good news, however, is the restoration of the red brick front. Imagine the improvement if that green-painted building to the north of it, and that row to the south, were similarly stripped of their commercial defacements.

We can dream. I've heard that the green building just out of frame on the right (Burgundy's/Florida Jacks @ 780/782 Yonge) is in pretty bad shape with mold, ongoing roofing problems and electrical issues. Sounds like a bad mix to me. There are a few other buildings along that stretch that have pieces of the facade that are loose or crumbling. The neglect with some of these buildings is downright painful.

 

[CHAMMY]

Can anyone give me an update on how the " War on Graffiti " is progressing?. I saw our mayor this week powerwashing a wall in a photo-op, was this just a one off stunt or has progress been made. I live in the suburbs and to date I do not see much action happening, regardless of all the rhetoric being thrown around.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

It's beginning to move along now thanks to letters from the City to property owners, and in the process creating beautiful blank canvasses for fresh, new graffiti murals.

 

[junctionist]

The changes in my area have been noticeable. Suddenly, the variety stores that were covered in graffiti for many years became clean. Laneways also became cleaner. At first, I thought that with spring around the corner, people started to do some cleaning. Then I heard that the city had issued more clean up notices than in the past several years combined.

 

[nfitz]

Then I heard that the city had issued more clean up notices than in the past several years combined.

Ah, maybe it's time to start calling in complaints ... though City, Metrolinx, and other government property seem to the ones that they never seem to clean up.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I'd really like the City to attack bills being posted on most any available surface. This has been an increasing problem since the 80's. It's really out of control and leaves behind one hell of an unsightly mess when neighbourhood types rip them all off light posts, mail boxes, phone booths and such.

 

[RC8]

Over the weekend the streetcar stop I usually get off at was vandalised.

Graffiti was put over it, the glasses were scratched, and at least 3 food bombs (ice cream it appears) were thrown at it. Goes on to show that the vast majority of graffiti is done by people who get off by vandalising property and not 'artists'. The perpetrators are probably happy knowing that if the city wants to get rid of it they'll have to spend money that would have otherwise gone into social programs, etc.

I hope Rob Ford finds these people and sits on them.

It's morons like the ones who did this that got him elected in the first place, though.

 

[nfitz]

Call 311 and report it.