There are abandoned shopping carts all over the neighborhood. Literally. Every time I drive Durham or Shepherd between I-10 and 610 North I see dozens of shopping carts littering the sidewalks. What's worse is that I see people pushing them up and down the streets as if the carts are their personal property. From the store to the bus stop where they are unceremoniously left. Seemingly without any type of consequence.
Am I the only one bothered by this?
It is not my intention to take aim at the homeless person who is collecting cans or carting around all their worldly possessions. In fact, that doesn't even seem to be the case here. Most of the carts are just lying around. Forgotten by the person who pushed it there and left to clutter the neighborhood which I love and have come to think of as home.
Why is this OK? If you were to go behind Kroger and try to make off with the milk crates you would meet with serious resistance if not theft charges by the store or the milk company. So why are the carts of no seeming importance?
Whenever I talk about this with friends I invariably hear how "the carts are supposed to lock up when you leave the lot." Yes, I have heard of this technology but, obviously it is not stopping anyone, even if it is in use. Besides, the carts are from a dozen different stores not all of which are chains large enough to afford the techno-carts.
The carts come from everywhere it seems. Some carts have migrated from as far away as Target, but looking closely you will see Lowe's, The Home Depot, Kroger and Fiesta represented, as well as a slew of unidentified carts strewn about.
The problem is really epidemic and I am not sure who is responsible for fixing it.
Obviously the stores lose money when their carts are rolled away, so you would think they would have an interest in stopping the loss. Maybe they should be held responsible. Perhaps they should be ticketed when their carts are all over the neighborhood.
The carts are obviously stolen property. Maybe we should aggressively ticket the offenders who are cluttering our neighborhood. A few stiff fines and word would spread quickly. But the police seem to be nonplussed.
So who is it that can fix the problem? I am left wondering.
I moved to the Heights for the small-town lifestyle. The feeling of a real neighborhood where folks cared about their homes and their neighbors. Was I wrong? Is it too much to want a clean neighborhood? Or is this problem just West enough not to bother people?
Let me know what you think. Tell me: Am I getting all worked up over nothing or does this bother you as much as it does me? Take a look below. I took all of these photos in about ten minutes.
One thing is for sure, right now, no one is rolling in to clean up the mess.
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