Diver Dan it was a recent trip to Sydney that renewed my concerns.
I then remembered the footpath art and looked at a few sites including the New York Times.
Found true great art there.
But as Rechtub says we should blame ourselves, yes my party gets it very wrong some times.
See we do not have it much in the country, but come school holidays,visiting kids and its every place.
Seems poor silly beggars think putting their badly spelled name/tag will make them famous?
Comes down to this, until recently I have from 2002 mowed the front of my home and 3 more both sides a lane and a street.
WHY community pride, a belief we should act for each other.
Why should a kid with a can of paint get a kiss on the forehead for doing that to us?
I no longer mow all that lawn, bit crook sometimes very, to see a 30 year old with no understanding of respect, mow just his section?
Pleasure is sometimes in not being used as a door mat.
Community, small word but we should never let a kid, or one in an adults body not learn from such as this.

Dear Belly,

I can fully understand the frustration of finding
Graffiti on one's private property annoying. And,
the trouble and expense to have it removed is
equally upsetting and expensive.

However, having said that, there are some amazing
artists out there - and it would be really something
if their graffiti could be turned into thoughtful,
well organised art that everyone could enjoy. I don't
think that punishing is going to work. You've got to
catch them first - and that in itself isn't easy.
However - if local, and city councils were to provide
designated areas - especially for "graffiti art,"
and encourage these artists to participate in these
projects - we may end up with some very vibrant and
interesting art work in our suburbs that people could
enjoy.

Artists should we encouraged - but in the right direction.
Worth a try!

Lexi, what you suggest may work for normal well behaved, dicipline kids, but the rogues that destroy property with grafiti simply don't want to paint where they ar allowed, as that would take the thrill out of it.

Grafiti is like a crime and they generally go back to the scene, along with others to admire their handy work.

Th only answer i can see is a toughening of our laws, most laws that deal wit juveniles in fact as they are beyond th law and they kno it.

Dear rehctub,

I'm not sure that more enforcement is going to work.
Catching them is very difficult
and not very practical.

The solution
according to the city of Houston, Texas - which has a huge
graffiti problem - is to undermine the motivation of
the "tagger." (which is what they call graffiti artists).

Houston feels that the solution is to wipe out their
"tag," (art) immediately.

What they do in that city is -
as soon as the graffiti is discovered by a citizen or
police on patrol - they call 000 and they have a 24 hour
response team - which is sent out to paint over the graffiti
with some neutral colour. Ideally they state that this "art," shouldn't live more
than a few hours before it's wiped out.

Apparently this demoralizes the graffiti "taggers."
Why go to all that trouble when your "art" will become a grey
blob by sunrise. Nothing to show off.

The response team is apparently not expensive. It often is
just a single guy with a power painter.

They claim that it has reduced graffiti
by undermining the motivation of the "taggers," (artists).

Sounds good to me.

Lexi I understand, it has been tried, two very different types exist some are true art,but then can art excuse it appearing on private or public walls without permission..
A buildings owner home owner or just our town bridges and fences.
Any value in those?
Places all over the world have been set aside right now the New York story is like a walk in an art gallery.
My area saw a retired man,we have coastal area full of sea changers, started removing this the next day.
He is dedicated and got a council Ute and is our savior.
We just do not see it twice.
But as a community, it is still possible in the bush, what value on such as his unpaid for efforts if the kids walk away without learning.
A lady artist did her house, an old timber cottage near here, it looked great.
If an old timber workers cottage village, some still exist, could be done that way it could be a great tourist attraction.
Scrawls however out number art work.

Belly:

If Julia gave every kid in Australia a boat, there would be no crime; kids wouldn't have time for it...Oh, forgot about drug smuggling, but that aside...kids are bored and basically without "frontiers" in their totally controlled lives. Staying at school for the duration of their childhood and adolescence is creating a madness not seen before.

Graffiti, apart from the annoyance, is a low level crime and really an investment in keeping kids out of more serious trouble, by allowing the frontier of the challenge it brings, to escape capture.