Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Not So Clean...

Trash around dumpsters, LivornoLivorno is not a clean city: people may have spotless houses but are quite capable to throw stuff just outside their front doors.Trash around dumpsters, LivornoThese three pictures were taken within few days in streets no more than few meters away from “Via Grande”. No garbage collectors on strike, just some quite ordinary dumpster overflows...Trash in the harbor, LivornoThe last photo was taken from the “Ponte dei sospiri” (Bridge of Sighs), the main access to the city center from the “Porto Mediceo”. Cruise passengers, crossing the bridge, may have a good look at this: perhaps they find it somewhat picturesque...

31 comments:

stromsjo said...

Literally a Bridge of Sighs then...

We could all make an effort once in a while to show a glimpse of the darker side of our cities in between all those postcards. No place is picture perfect.

Thanks for sharing. (And, incidentally, garbage is literally a growing problem here as well...)

Andreea said...

:) I doubt the tourists find it picturesque, most likely they just ignore it or think that there's a strike going. I've seen the same problem in Sorrento a couple of years ago and ya, I've ignored it :) My in-laws were a bit shocked, but then it was their first time out of Romania and they believed that Italy must look picture perfect (my mother-in-law kept asking "Why isn't anyone singing in the streets? " :)) I don't know where she got that idea about Italy , probably some movie.

Gunn said...

Not nice........ :-(
But as a documentary the photos were good.

Stefan Jansson said...

Hopefully someone in charge will see this and think, this isn't good for our city, we will have to do something about this.

Luis Gomez said...

What a pitty. You show so many beautiful places in your photos. It is sad to see this.

Lowell said...

Well, I'm glad to see that folks are just as messy in Livorno as in Ocala! We do live in a throw-away world, for sure. Yikes!

Maybe you need more garbage collectors. Or bigger dumsters! ;-)

Kcalpesh said...

I believe, someone's job's still pending and things will be cleared out soon!!!

- Pixellicious Photos

nobu said...

Every city have scenery not so clean.

Mo said...

Wow that's a lot of mess

brattcat said...

I agree with Leif.

joo said...

You should come here and see rubbish!
Photos are superb but scenery...well, not very nice.

B SQUARED said...

I guess people are the same everywhere.

Cezar and Léia said...

oh it's a pity, I could not imagine it!
Léia

Halcyon said...

It's sad that people don't care more about their own city.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Unfortunately, parts of Detroit look like that, too. I always get hate mail though, if I post those pictures. (I have done so a few times). Nice to see ALL sides of a city.

Ming the Merciless said...

Yikes, the city may have to increase its garbage collection efforts.

It is sad when stuff like that ruins an otherwise beautiful city.

Frank said...

I agree that you should show this side of your city occasionally. None of us live in a "picture postcard" city and examples of this kind of refuse and trash can be found everywhere. We just don't want to see it, photograph it or paint a bad picture. Your city IS magnificent, you show us often enough. Maybe someone will get the "picture" and do something to fix the problem.

Good post!

VP said...

Today I have read your comments with much more interest than usual and you may guess why.
After almost three hundred posts and seven hundred photos, I feel myself entitled to show occasionally some of the negative aspects of my hometown.
It wouldn't be honest to hide this and some other flaws under a blanket of neat postcard views.
Thank you again for your sincere comments, I'll try to amend for these images with the next few posts.

cieldequimper said...

Looks like my place on the first Wednesday of the month. It's sad I think, because it's their environment as well as that of others.

Ilse said...

Obviously there is a need for more frequent trash collection. Nevertheless, it looks like Boston when the students are moving out. This occurs in June. Then another transition in late August & early September. The city trash collectors work overtime in order to pick up all the junk.

Roberto S. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roberto S. said...

I'm a late fan of this place (great blog, Vogon, and great nick, give my regards to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal when you meet one). This is, like, the twelfth post I read here and I was hoping to see some more of the bright side of the city before facing the ugly truth.
No need to talk about the beauty, that is well depicted by your pictures, but, regrettably, garbage is not the only flaw in an otherwise stunning seaside Tuscan city.

More on the dark side of Livorno (shots taken in 2006) at
http:\\www.robertosciascia.com\slideshow\slideshow.php?gallery=Livorno&lang=en.

Baruch said...

Our pavements will soon look like this when we can put out all our inorganic rubbish for collection

amatamari© said...

:-(

Copenhagen said...

This reminds me of Taiwan, where residents just dump their garbage in front my father's store. People don't know how to maintain a city...

tapirgal said...

I agree about showing the darker and uglier sides, if we're going to give a true idea of our cities. I think Astoria does a pretty good job within the city limits, but all over the U.S., or in places I've been much of the time what I hate is being in the beautiful countryside and finding yards full of trashed cars and rubbish, or places along the roads where these are left to ruin the landscape. Anyway, it's an interesting topic!

Wolynski said...

What can say? It's a prosperous city that throws so many beautiful things away. The tourists must be thrilled.

Unknown said...

This is upsetting to see. We definitely have a few areas of Toronto that are "unofficial" dump sites. Then, there was the garbage strike!

Tinsie said...

Yes. Now I see why the Greeks say about the Italians that they are "una faccia una razza".

Julie said...

I support your efforts to give a full account of our city, VP. I do that a lot: show the old and the new. Show the bad with the good.

Ellie said...

You are honest about your surrounding - that is good - keeps you grounded in the real world.