East Falls: Residents Worry About Trash Problem

Trash accumulating on the streets of East Falls is becoming a problem, some residents maintain. Walking along the streets of East Falls, residents see piles of trash along fence lines and around drainage grates.

One of the concerns in East Falls is the abundance of unsanitary trash. It only takes a short walk down Ridge Avenue before used condoms and medical gloves can be seen lying on the side of the street like the ones found in front of Inn Yard Park, just feet away from children playing.

Debbie Bier, an East Falls resident, said she thinks it’s the city’s responsibility to clean the streets, but there is also a large element of personal responsibility.
“People need to clean up after themselves and not just throw trash in the street,” Bier said.

She said if the city added more trashcans to the street it would make it easier for people to get rid of their trash, instead of just tossing it onto the ground.

John Schwab, a city resident who travels much of the city while exercising, said trash on the streets is a huge problem. It has nothing to do with wealth, Schwab said, it’s more about how you were raised. He said he feels the city needs more service volunteering to help clean up trash littered throughout the streets and that people need to clean up their own trash.

“People treat places the way they look. If an area is nice people want to keep it that way. When an area isn’t kept well people don’t care as much about it and throw their trash everywhere,” Schwab said. He said parents should teach their children to pick up after themselves and not litter on the streets that everyone has to use.

Some residents noted the closer you get to the Schuylkill River the worse littered trash becomes especially where Ridge Avenue cuts through East Falls.

It is somewhat ironic that powerful politicians such as former Gov. Ed Rendell and former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter call East Falls home.