Growing graffiti problem dims Seattle's holiday sparkle
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SEATTLE - It's not the image that the city wants to leave with tourists this holiday season. But sadly, more and more, their first and last impression of Seattle is an eyesore - graffiti scrawled and sprayed on buildings, bridges, tunnels, signs .... virtually any flat surface.
The graffiti has become an increasingly common sight as you enter the city - detracting from Seattle's holiday sparkle.
It's all over some of the city's main entrances - like the Mercer Street exit - on the way to some of the most popular attractions. And too much graffiti can send the wrong message.
Visitors to Seattle equate graffiti with crime, tarnishing the city's image.
"Hmmm - that might not be the safest place to bring to bring my family," says Seattle Center visitor Marty Fulford.
Seattle is covered in so much graffiti that Brandon Wright of Green Lake Pressure Washing makes his entire living just roving from place to place, cleaning up after taggers.
"They're having tag wars. ... Some of them I've removed a few dozen times," he says. "I do feel like I know them. I know their signatures, their styles.
Wright says he can read the story behind the tags.
"These guys came in - a couple guys came through in a couple of sessions. There's one you can see - they came in as a team," he says.
Internet research appears to confirm that the graffiti is not so much the work of street gangs, marking their territory. But rather it is created by specialized tagging gangs making Seattle their canvas in a competition.
"They want to get up high, in hard-to-reach places," says Wright.
Statistics show the city has spent literally millions of dollars removing graffiti over the years. A city poll revealed that nearly half of Seattleites think graffiti is a problem. There's a law on the books requiring private property owners to remove it.
The city has encouraged graffiti artists to contribute to murals, hoping that would stop the problem. And many people compare those murals to works of art.
But that hasn't stopped other taggers from attacking buildings, tunnels and bridges all over the city.
"Ninety-five percent of this stuff you see here is not art," says Wright.
At this time of year, when the city wants to shine and look its best, graffiti is one of the last images tourists take with them when they leave.
"It's not a positive impression of the city that it gives," says Wright.
And almost as soon as the graffiti is covered with fresh paint, the taggers are back - striking again.
The graffiti has become an increasingly common sight as you enter the city - detracting from Seattle's holiday sparkle.
It's all over some of the city's main entrances - like the Mercer Street exit - on the way to some of the most popular attractions. And too much graffiti can send the wrong message.
Visitors to Seattle equate graffiti with crime, tarnishing the city's image.
"Hmmm - that might not be the safest place to bring to bring my family," says Seattle Center visitor Marty Fulford.
Seattle is covered in so much graffiti that Brandon Wright of Green Lake Pressure Washing makes his entire living just roving from place to place, cleaning up after taggers.
"They're having tag wars. ... Some of them I've removed a few dozen times," he says. "I do feel like I know them. I know their signatures, their styles.
Wright says he can read the story behind the tags.
"These guys came in - a couple guys came through in a couple of sessions. There's one you can see - they came in as a team," he says.
Internet research appears to confirm that the graffiti is not so much the work of street gangs, marking their territory. But rather it is created by specialized tagging gangs making Seattle their canvas in a competition.
"They want to get up high, in hard-to-reach places," says Wright.
Statistics show the city has spent literally millions of dollars removing graffiti over the years. A city poll revealed that nearly half of Seattleites think graffiti is a problem. There's a law on the books requiring private property owners to remove it.
The city has encouraged graffiti artists to contribute to murals, hoping that would stop the problem. And many people compare those murals to works of art.
But that hasn't stopped other taggers from attacking buildings, tunnels and bridges all over the city.
"Ninety-five percent of this stuff you see here is not art," says Wright.
At this time of year, when the city wants to shine and look its best, graffiti is one of the last images tourists take with them when they leave.
"It's not a positive impression of the city that it gives," says Wright.
And almost as soon as the graffiti is covered with fresh paint, the taggers are back - striking again.
If you think that amazing street art (LEGAL graffiti, tagging, murals, etc.) can not be found in Seattle, or does not compare to other cities then you are not paying attention. The Flickr Seattle Street Art/Graffiti group alone has over 2300 members and over 53,000 images. There is an interest in this medium, clearly. There are at least a dozen places in the city where you can see amazing painted legal street art. This page, half way down, has a map and a list of locations, educate yourself: http://seattlestreetart.com/
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As is true in all cities, these personal public expressions touch on the struggles and triumphs of the current culture. In many cases, more can be gleamed from street art than from what is covered in the mainstream media.
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For me the question is, why do people tag illegally, well, I don't believe it's entirely wayward ego gratification. Maybe it's a way to say I'm alive, I'm here, I'm not a commodity or a consumer or a money source in a culture that can be suppressive for some. And yes, their misdirected actions can be redirected through conscious understanding but not further punishment. Making individuals do community service will not prevent people from marking spaces. It will only stop the rare few who actually decide not to do it again after punishment. Most would just rebel because they are being punished. We all know this. I'm a bit surprised by the anger and lack of compassion in this forum.
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Socially, It's just as irresponsible as illegal tagging when you comment on something that you are not willing to understand through considering other perspectives.
Wish they knew that people specifically travel to particular cities in Europe as tourist to go on guided Street Art and Graffiti tours to see the local art and is a contributor to the local revenue, business and economy. Yea maybe the SODO tunnel needs some polishing, but no one seems to like when people spray paint for free. Maybe we can ask KOMO to put their money where their mouth is and sponsor Stunning Seattle :) Stunning Seattle will bring several high caliber mural artists to Seattle to create several large scale murals in 2013. http://stunningseattle.org/
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"by paying its artists to paint their walls with murals instead, is that as the newsstory states--this simple action acts as a major deterrent, painted walls are far less likely to inspire graffiti and at the same time, they make a city look beautiful, give it character and personality." So true. Support your local artist!
Far worse in this city is the companies that hire poster companies to cover the walls for their wares--if you hate graffiti--you should also detest that.
That is where the hypocrisy lies in this argument.
Brandon is no sort of authority and KOMO shows its lack of seriousness using his word as any sort of factual resource--however, if there is any truth to what he says, then KOMO and all you lot are getting riled up over visiting taggers using the city for their games. There is nothing that can be done if that is true, but what this city should do is focus on what it can do, here, today and that will actually have an impact. As White Center has proven--by paying its artists to paint their walls with murals instead, is that as the newsstory states--this simple action acts as a major deterrent, painted walls are far less likely to inspire graffiti and at the same time, they make a city look beautiful, give it character and personality. Murals by myself, Ryan Henry Ward, Starheadby and the rest of the P.O.W. are part of the cultural landscape.
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Now, I know it sounds so much more macho to tough-talk about how Seattle is being over-run with graffiti etc. and rile the out-of-towners, but there are much better ways to handle the issue of graffiti in the city. Work with the artists, hire them to cover these walls, beautify Seattle and give the remaining graffitos less space to work on. Show the next generation a more positive way to express themselves. Policing is not the only way to deal with these things and honestly, it is rarely the most effective. We are Seattle, we are Washington--we can come up with better and more effective ways of solving these problems--and as always, we can do this together!Â
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Xavier Lopez Jr.
Is a local artist, muralist and covers the alternative, "Subpop", and urban art scenes for the Post Intelligencer Culture Blogs.Â
Is the city reluctant to punish taggers? Only punish the property owner who don't timely remove it? what good is government? Is the city concerned about diversity in taggers?
If they can find out who some of these people are and catch them make them scrub the graffitti off some of the walls. Put them to work for a week doing nothing but cleaning. Might teach them a lesson.
So you see graffiti and conclusion is it is not a safe city for your family? Da fuq is wrong with these people?Â
Exactly which fantasy princessland are these visitors coming from where there is no crime or graffiti?
 @thatsjarrod No idea. Suburbia has tons of meth  problems. Farmland has tons of meth. I really can't think of a place with super low crime and i've traveled around the US a good bit.
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Seattle was the 4th safest city in the US in 2008Â http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/26/safest-cities-ten-lifestyle-real-estate-metros-msa_slide_8.html
Comment is, no comment.
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You tolerate it, guess what. Just like skin cancer.
Bring back the Free Ride Zone. Make things in Seattle cheaper and easier to do. These guys are just plain bored. Give them something to do.
You reap what you sow. When you cater to the bizzare you will attrack the same. I mean a Gum Wall? A Man Boy statue, and oh yes the Troll. It is anything goes in Seattle that is what the mentality is. Do what ever makes you feel good. Hemp fest , Naked bike riding?? That is what I tell all my friend who want to visit Seattle. It is just a Wild and crazy town.Â
@missyk Maybe we should all lock ourselves in the bathroom with a laptop like you so we can post on the forums.
 @missyk Well yes, we don't make laws about frivolous things. It's almost as if we believe in personal freedom as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else...
uh, when this is on city signs maybe they should clean it up? no excuse for the city to not clean their own property, the Mercer St sign for example.
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when its on private property, maybe they should clean it up? there IS a "law on the books" as the article states...
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when its not cleaned up, a warning - after that, a fine.
Seattle loves it gangs - doesn't it? It must. Tacoma cracks down, does raid with the feds, and their County prosecutor is known throughout the Nation now as tough on crime.
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Group hugs, santuary city, cannot go out at night alone. Yup, Seattle is going in the right direction
Seattle is becoming a dump and the citizens don't want the police to do anything about it.
@Common Sense  You said what I was thinking.Â
Maybe after they clean up their own mess, they can start painting public property normally, though I think the union might have a problem with that.
Treat it like it is when the taggers are caught, a crime. Defacing public property. Make them go out and clean it it up. It's called community service.
If  wearing knee pads one can politely appeal for a secession of such wanton acts. If that does not work it is time to change the laws and make the experience more meaningful for everyone concerned with jail time. In the meantime I guess we have to take it onthe chin reading such stories in our local newspapers while wringing our hands in frustration and anguish. Really pathetic. Â
So todays flavor of the week is tagging and graffiti and not the druggies, homeless and panhandlers on every corner in downtown Seattle driving away tourists, one of Seattle's movers and shakers must of got some paint on their sports coat...
To all of you advocates of "tagging" arguing that it's "art." I've been thinking about expanding my creative horizons and want to go BEYOND just playing musical instruments and working a full time job. I want to PAINT, and I need a canvas. I'd like to encourage ALL of you to put a little sign in the back window of your car giving me permission to use YOUR vehicle as an expression of my work. Thank you in advance. "The Artistic Expressionist!"
Most everything around Seattle is tagging, not graffiti. There's a difference. Wanna see REAL graffiti? Go to LA or NY. Nothing but a bunch of scribblings by little gangster wannabe boys here in Seattle.
Why not do a sting to capture scums that have been tagging I-5. They come out during the early morning hours. Or better yet, have a sharp shooter shoot them dead on the spot.
 @STK right? open season on taggers. seems easy enough
hello everyone unfotunatly there has been a big increase down here in the palm springs area as well weve been clobbered for the past month.
Even with the Tubs graffitti wall near-by, some desperate nutcases when and "detailed " the whole side of a catering van right off NE 45th. I say if anyone gets caught, their sentence will be to clean off the works and the next ten blocks from their friends.
When caught, tattoo their "art, tag, signature, etc" onto their FOREHEADS, them make them clean using a toothbrush; all graffiti splats within a 10 mile radius of where they were caught vandalizing buildings. Let's see how long the thrill lasts for these miscreants. I only like graffiti when they actually have something thought provoking to say; not your usual gutter crapola, (sigh).
My family and I are here for about two or three more years, depending on how our youngest son is and the care he gets from children hospital. I can honestly say that when we go back home, graffiti will not be a thought of Seattle. All of our friends and family that come and visit, say the same thing, "Everything is high price, and the taxes are outrages." No one has ever said a word about graffiti.Â
I'll be sure to add a little twinkle or sparkle on my next piece just for you Seattle ;)Â
Plus, New York City has ALOT more graffiti than Seattle, yet everyone comes back saying how beautiful and magical the city was. I think you should focus on the crackheads and the mass amounts of homeless people in Seattle, since those are the things I always remember when I leave Seattle.
2000+ year-old graffiti has been found in Romans ruins (i.e. Pompei). Graffiti will never be stopped. Here is one such example, "Restituta, take off your tunic, please, and show us your hairy privates". So long as there are cities there will be graffiti.
 @FossilSpark The Victorians were avid graffitos--tagging churches, tombs--and this goes all the way back--in Salisbury Cathedral, England even the windows have etched messages made in the 12th century.
 @FossilSpark I feel as though there is a huge difference between graffiti and tagging. Please. Putting your stupid ass initials on something and making a thought provoked mural are two different things all together. Nobody cares about TDK.....or. KTB....I don't know; pick 3 random initials. It's the saddest  form of inappropriate attention seeking of the modern age. Losers
 @FossilSpark I've seen quite a bit of interesting carvings and writings in historic places in North America, Europe and Asia--particularly in places where people were held captive for a long period of time. Most of those were carved into rocks and were no bigger than size of my hand. I find very few graffiti attractive or interesting enough to want to pay attention. We're not exactly talking about Keith Haring or Banksy.Â
 @MyTacoma  @FossilSpark Tacoma, would you know a Banksy or Barry McGee if they weren't pointed out to you? Or their equivalent?
Graffiti is just a symptom of Seattle's social climate that has inevitably lead to graffiti, gangs, drugs and violent crimes. Most people can remember when Seattle was a very livable place and a magnet for tourists. Â I'd recommend heading north to Vancouver or Victoria B.C. or any of the innumerable places more civilized than Seattle. Â Â Â
 @Opus8no5 lots of drug users ,and crimes can be helped, they r simply looking to that and hoping for a cure, no it wont happen over night. and running them off or putting them in jail isent a cure
Graffiti is not art. Period. Â It's been doen to death, the same designs over and over. The guys that think they're artists are just doing the same thing people have been doing since the 70s. It's so derivative. Â Unless you're painting on a building you own, or a canvas you bought, it's VANDALISM. Â Â I really do wish that Bush had had the cajones to bring the Draft back... then we'd have something to do for these pampered young men who seem to lack any value to society. Â
@DT But I want to do what I want, when/where I want to. And I want you to take the blame AND clean it up whlie at it. What's not to like here? Until it's YOUR property it's just fine. If the economy wasn't in the toilet perhaps more would have something productive to do? I suppose we're going to have to now tax ourselves to remedy this too? Punish these punks. Give 'em a job!
 @DT http://www.myjack.org/2012/graffiti-art-seattle/graffiti-art-seattle-2/  This isn't art?
 @quidproquo  @DT Like DT says, it is not art unless the building is yours! Hi Quidwhatever, why don't you invite those punks into your home, have therm decorate your nursery, your living room and your kitchen, have them repaint your house on the outside every year! You will save hundreds of dollars in maintaining your house, and I am sure your property value will skyrocket!
 @WhatdidIsay? I was actually joking to my husband a second ago that I should invite an artist to go to town on our fence.
Some graffiti is art some is not. People have a bad habit of just calling gang tags graffiti but there are some graffiti pieces that took week of planning and long hours to complete that are absolutely beautiful. Tubs used to have an angel near the top of it that was amazing in every way.Â
 @quidproquo Beautiful? Yeah.. whatever.  The same crap is painted over and over again.  Unless they own the property, it's not art, it's vandalism. It's the twisted minds that think it's art that are causing the problems.  Any tattoo artist in Seattle can do the same crap these "artists" do. Â
 @DT  @quidproquo Many of the Tattoo artists in this town are muralists (wall artists) the only proven antidote to bad graffiti.
 @DT http://www.flickr.com/photos/98092274@N00/2477015651  You should check out the sodo freewall.  Its not illegal to work on so people have more time to make something amazing.  And actually no. Being able to scale up and work with spray paint isn't an easy skill. I went to Cornish for painting and traditional printing and I know I can't do graffiti like a few guys in my year could.Â
Also, there was a half torn down building across the street from the paramount for like 4 years and someone made a moonscape on it. It really made that horrible shell look great.
http://waheedaharris.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/seattle-graffiti1.jpg
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Here's that half wall I was mentioning.
Also, how can people here look at what someone like Banksy does and not call it art?