By Sophia Battaglia
Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in America by population according to the 2020 census and Nicetown is a neighborhood within the city that was established in the 17th century. Although this neighborhood is rich in its history. However, the neighborhood faces significant challenges, particularly concerning air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency “flagged Nicetown as a neighborhood with some of the highest rates of fine particulate air pollution in the nation”.
This is a huge red flag and concern for the area and the health of the people living there. Environmental racism is a term that defines when there is a disproportionate amount of pollution being exposed to lower economic areas and areas with a higher population of color. This is because of deep-rooted racial discrimination and less care for people with a lower economic status. Along with all the trash that has accumulated in the area there is also worry about the air quality and disregard for the people living in Nicetown by a SEPTA natural gas plant.
Not only is air quality an issue in Nicetown, but the handling of trash and waste also becomes apparent to those who are living in the area. There is also illegal dumping sites that have been used in the neighborhood. People go to throw their trash and will recklessly litter the neighborhood. According to Tonya Sears, mother, and Nicetown resident, exclaims, “it’s a dump site, constant trash dump. All the time. Bags, construction, constant trash”.
This frustration that was expressed over the consistent dumping of trash is backed by the Litter Index Map that shows a lot of streets in Nicetown are highlighted in red indicating that have high levels of litter and trash on the streets. Sears has observed that this has also led to many pest infections she states, “ We have raccoons. We have cats. We have squirrels. One of the things that I laugh about, but it’s not funny, and I tell my girls is the squirrels eat chicken. It’s not just the trash, it’s also that they’re tearing down a lot of homes and digging and rebuilding and these animals have no place to go, so they’re forced into the neighborhoods. These lower socioeconomic neighborhoods have a bunch of abandoned homes. And so these rodents take up residency in these abandoned homes”.
Her statement illuminates another issue of gentrification causing residents to have pest infections in their neighborhoods. Making new buildings and knocking down older buildings pushes out a lot of these animals and if there is no action to take care of this problem they end up infesting houses. Sears has also explained having to cover her trash bins with heavy objects so no pests can get into it.
A lot of the trash and littering that occurs in this neighborhood correlates with crime maps showing that where there is more trash there is more crime. Nicetown and Tioga also “crime rates are 417% higher than the national average”
These statistics get worse when looking at specifically violent crime with Nicetown being 732% over the national average. These concerning numbers are very prevalent. According to Brandon Pousley, CEO of Glitter an organization geared to helping Philadelphia neighborhoods become and remain clean, “We’ve been involved in that work is for a private called Safe Steps Northwest, which is an effort to build on that research base that shows that cleaner streets are safer streets, and we’re operating right now in German town and about area on a 330 block project that cleans a block every week to not be the only solution toward creating a safer block”.
These efforts are being made to stop gun violence in neighborhoods based on studies that show there is a correlation between trash and gun violence/crime. Without a clean environment, there is a sense of being devalued, and one theory to explain why this could be is that people who feel there is a lack of care will feel less pride in their community. This leads to people feeling discouraged and can lead to more crime.
Overall, there is a lack of mindfulness about waste management in Nicetown County and there needs to be more support for the community. There are many solutions to this and steps that can be taken to solve the problem. Glitter’s organization offers help to those who need it and has a motto of paying what you can afford to get their service. Pousley proclaims, “Everyone deserves a clean and safe place to live. So we’re trying to provide as many tools and resources and make things as affordable as possible for everyone to be able to achieve that and have that within their own means to do it and not have to wait on a politician or wait on a separate service”.
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