Over the past two months, I’ve noticed (and reported) hundreds of graffiti tags in my community, and I’ve also had some discussions with city staff about how to deter graffiti vandals.

As in many cities, Hayward encourages community members to create art on surfaces that might otherwise attract graffiti.  As you can see in the last picture below, metal utility boxes (electric, phone, and cable) are a common target for graffiti vandals, and they’re also an ideal canvas for community art.  Most graffiti vandals respect this art and won’t “tag” over community art (but a few will).

Another strategy that I’ve noticed as effective is the use of vegetation (especially ivy) to cover or obscure walls that would otherwise attract graffiti.  This week, I noticed a simpler solution: tinsel hung in a spiral around a stop-sign post had effectively deterred vandals who had tagged every other signpost in the area!

(Click on any picture to see a larger, clearer version.)

One Response to “Deterring Graffiti: Murals and More”

1. Mark Welch says:

   June 21, 2010 at 2:09 pm

   There was a nice photo spread showing some of the other utility boxes with murals, on page 7 in the June 10, 2010 edition of The Pioneer (the student newspaper at California State University, East Bay). Hopefully, that edition will soon be available on their web site.