Naples in further south must be even worse pestered by filthy streets. The mafia has a contract for public sanitation. All they do is collecting the money though. Why is this a matter of affairs forever then? Brown envelopes in their pockets the Italian civil servants and politicians know the answers. Don't expect them providing any though.
2
This would keep from ever visiting again.
3
Now having spent a half-year in the Eternal City, my wife and I agree that it really comes down to the Romans themselves: the opprobrium SPQR (Sporchi, Porchi questi Romani) is the root of the problem. They drop their loose trash on the sidewalks and in the gutters at will; they are too lazy to use the little effort required to push their garbage meant for the trash bins fully into the receptacles (I’ve had to do it for them many times over), leaving bags on the curbside instead; they refuse to crush their cardboard boxes, clogging up the trash units meant for “carta;” there is almost zero sense of the need to sweep clean the sidewalks and curb sides in front of apartment buildings (shop owners are far more conscientious).
It’s easy to write stories like this, blaming the public sector workers for the mess. Yes, there are long-entrenched problems, including Mafia influence, and the Romans are more than ready to blame the government (and the local government is not the only target).
But, let’s face it, there is almost no local pride or care of the public spaces. The verdict: Romans are careless with their trash (just take a look at how recycling rules are widely ignored), and they are still too lazy to do anything about it. So they should spend less time complaining about it and more time picking up after themselves. And The New York Times should spend more of its reporting resources reporting that more difficult story...
4
I have lived in Europe for 20+ years and every time I visit Italy I'm appalled by the filth. It's not just Rome but it's many cities. When I go to Milan or the Naples area I just want to shower as soon as I enter my flat.
3
I remember being astonished by the cars parked - and double-parked - all over the sidewalks. (Who cares about pedestrians ?). By the hordes of stray cats living among the ruins. And by the pile of cooked spaghetti somebody had dumped on a street...where another stray cat was devouring it. I didn't even try using the public parks - already littered and neglected.
That was in 1985.
This problem has been a long time coming.
3
Rather than "who is to blame" the better question is: how do you fix this? New York and other North American cities solved a similar problem in the 1980s by developing effective public-private partnerships such as Business Improvement Districts and Park Conservancies. Maybe Rome could learn from this proven model.
11
I do agree that certain parts of NYC are very clean—Downtown Brooklyn, for instance—thanks to the diligence of the Ready, Willing & Able work program men who work for the BID.
5
I don't understand, it's been run by socialists for decades so the taxes must be low, the government clean, the budget under control, and the mindset of citizens must surely be on individual responsibility and faith n government as the dilution to everything. What possibly went wrong?
3
One lifetime is not enough to capture all the beauties of Rome. Many cities struggle to fight the garbage and disrepair -- the splendors and history remain unchanged.
The Eternal City rocks!
7
I was in Rome a few years ago with my wife and kids and everything the writer was was 100% true. But by far the worst part is the graffiti, it just has to be seen to be believed. We stayed a bit out of central Rome and took a commuter train into the city each day of my stay. The graffiti was so bad on the train that I had to sit by the door, looking at what station we were at each time it opened.
The sites of Rome are as spectacular as I had imagined them to be, but this is one city that needs a giant power wash.
5
It is not just Rome. Portland Oregon has been lauded as a model in transportation, housing, parks and a desirable place to live. No longer: it is full of trash, human waste on sidewalks and joining the smell
of urine and fecies are thrown away needles and liquor bottles in its once pristine parks. Downtown is becoming a place of empty storefronts, graffti and dirty potholed streets. Panhandlers are everywhere. City evenings that used to be safe to walk, are now places to avoid. The governing council and mayor are dysfunctional.
It is not just one city, it represents a reality that infects wellbeing in many cities. It is not being addressed, instead “bandaids” are applied with no cure in sight. What is scary is the spread of dysfunction encroaching it’s neighboring towns who are also ill equipped to handle rapid growth.
8
I spent a good chunk of my childhood and teenage years in 1970s Rome. Our little neighborhood (very close to the Piazza Navonna) was often littered and smelly. Drunks slept in the covered portico of a tiny church around the corner, leaving behind a perpetual stench of urine and old wine. The daily outdoor market just down the road from there meant daily piles of trash and rotting vegetable and fish, much of which eventually disappeared thanks to vagrant animals (including rats). Regular strikes meant plenty of trash and no water or other services. The only difference to today was there was far less plastic, but no recycling meant paper and bottles still piled up everywhere. To live in Rome means to learn how to get by. I still love it, warts and all -- maybe especially warts and all.
3
I love Rome, but really have to comment on the lack of public bathrooms---even at the Rome airport! What gives?
3
Just returned from Rome; each morning, we found several spots to be covered in litter. The available garbage cans were usually stuffed full, but they were very small. It appears the nightly revelers used the available bins, but they were just too small. If I were mayor of Rome, I would buy bigger bins.
3
Donald Trump thinks all those immigrants are dirty people. As the globe warms, as the world gets smaller, or because their own governments won't fix their problems, people are heading northwards. From North Africa to Europe, from Central and south America to North America. A few centuries ago, it was the Europeans who left their countries and occupied Africa Asia Middle East Americas. Its a constant shifting of "dirt".
2
'...shin-high weeds breaking through the cement...'
Note to editor: Cement is a powder which, when mixed with water and gravel, becomes sidewalk concrete.
lol
7
I was in beautiful, magical Rome 25 years ago and even then I was surprised at the litter in the parks.
3
I noticed. Rome is a filthy place, the proof of what happens when minimalist small government is accepted. I found black rings on my sink beneath my water cup. Has Rome ever checked lead content in its water system?
2
We loved Rome, particularly the Villa Borghes. The piazzas and the fountains. But the amount of graffiti is striking. The dumpsters that line some streets seem so obtrusive. Yet, one must look beyond these objects for Rome stands as a beautiful place to be and to experience. (I do confess to editing out the trash and other objectionable items from photographs. )
2
In Rome, in 2011, I carried the sticky remains of an ice cream container for over a mile while looking for a trash can. When I finally found one, it was overflowing with trash. I was brought up in Argentina where people worshipped Europe as the source of all that was good, gentle and refined. I was sorely disappointed by Italy.
7
@CharliePappa, the Europeans came saw conquered Africa Asia Middle East and left them in turmoil and ruins. They took advantage of the mineral rich resources of their colonies, fully exploited them, in the name of spreading "civilization" or Christianity among "primitives and uncivilized" and proceeded to enrich themselves and their treasure chests back home in Europe.
4
We were in Rome this past April, our first visit to that city. We noticed and remarked on the trash spilling out of receptacles, the streets and sidewalks littered with cigarette butts, unwashed cars parked randomly, City busses on which no one seemed to check if passengers had paid to ride.
Over all, though, we had a wonderful time with friendly, generous people, wonderful food and wine, unbeatable visits to historic sites.
Still, it would have been better had we been able to come home without having to mention how surprised we were at what appeared to be a splendid city under poor management.
6
The world has Tokyo. 30 million people living in a clean megalopolis. That's proof of concept right there.
Cities are not dirty because "that's just the way it is."
They're dirty because people trash them up.
If they get cleaner, it's because people take responsibility.
It's the governments fault, it's (choose your hated political party)'s fault, it's history's fault - blah, blah, blah.
No. It's our fault.
The solution is for us to clean it up.
21
@yogi-one, in places like Japan and Singapore, they invest heavily in sanitation workers and they penalize heavily when anyone litters. Try that in the US. I was shocked when Liz Warren announced she would run for Prez and people reacted by saying she should run in Denmark or Sweden not in the US!!! Cuz only those countries invest in their workers. seriously, there's something so wrong with the American capitalism model that corporate CEOs and their buddies keep getting richer, the Trumps and Kushners keep avoiding to pay taxes that would help the country, and the conservatives constantly resist raising minimum wages because according to them poor people are lazy.
7
Not a fan of Rome or Sicily, did not care for the rude people or the trash everywhere.
2
One word: overpopulation
4
Funny, all the commenters "who didn't see nothing," where you in it for the Instagram photos? Did you do the 36-hour-in "pick your city?" Were you on a carefully circumscribed tour?
Yeah, I guess you can visit a few Rome highlights and not see issues. Could you really have "walked all over?" Not in neighborhoods.
Yes, I have been going to Rome for more than 20 years. Yes, I see what the author is concerned about. Obviously, he loves Rome and loves it's rich history and culture. That doesn't mean there are not challenges and issues to be noticed and fixed.
You can visit Rome and love it. You might not notice trash.
7
We were in Rome the days before and after the massive storm hit in late October early Novemer. There was a huge Protest occurring at a convention center pushing back against the mayor who had done nothing about the garbage. I am sure those trees that blew down during that storm are still down. At least the cars can't park there. I have lived in a the city and the burbs. And until someone starts taking pride in their city, even three times a week, Roma will grow as a trash bin
3
Want to see a dismal glimpse of the future of many of these large cities?
Watch "Soylent Green".
Sure, many things in the movie will not happen, but some will, if they haven't already.
Fascinating to note the attitude. "I can make a mess, because everyone else makes a mess." "I can park illegally because everybody does." Sounds an awful lot like "whataboutism".
It's hard to teach children to obey rules when others break them with impunity. Similarly, it's hard to teach children that telling a lie is bad, or that being civil and working together is a positive trait, when a man who tells lies incessantly and is incapable of working with anyone has been rewarded with the presidency. People learn what society tolerates, and how bad behavior gets highly-rewarded. And things collapse from within...
8
I’ve been to Rome twice in the last 9 months, and while it is definitely not a paradigm of clean, it is A LOT, and I mean A LOT cleaner than my own city of New York. But maybe us New Yorkers, like the Romans, have become immune to the filth. It may not be a bad idea to look at your own backyard once in a while (Port Authority anyone???).
8
I have traveled to Rome all my life and have watched its slow but steady decline into garbage plus ever-increasing teeming hordes of locusts aka tourists. But my wife had never been to Rome. So last year we traveled down from Germany planning to spend a week or two. After two days we turned around and went back to Germany, for many of the reasons this excellent diagnostic article highlights.
5
When I returned from a trip to Rome in 2007, I was so disturbed by the graffiti marring every inch of the city that, desperate to express my concern to someone, I wrote to the Italian consulate here in NY. Not surprisingly, I received no reply. Eleven years on and the problem can only be eleven times worse.
I used to work in urban environmental education, dealing with issues like litter and graffiti abatement. It IS possible to conquer the ills described here and corroborated by so many readers. However, it takes will and vision. Start with the young people. Talk about stewardship, about HOME. They are a built-in PR machine, a force to be reckoned with within families and peer groups, and - most significantly- the future.
4
Funny - I was in Rome last year, walking all over the place and didn't notice anything like what this story depicts. The trash situation seemed typical of a large city - no more than that.
25
@PNS
I also spent nearly three weeks in Rome last winter. I don’t recall anything like what is described in the article in the way of litter except at Campo de’ Fiori, an outdoor food market, after a busy day. The article seems more of a rant veering from trash, to poorly parked cars, to tour buses, discarded furniture, potholes. I took hundreds of photos and walked from one end to the other. Lots of graffiti but virtually no litter. Maybe Rome is just wearing on poor Jason and who would be happier in Geneva or Oslo.
5
So mr Horowitz , The problem of the garbage and of the problems in Roma is not a political responsibiity , but also a question of our life style and behaviour, the " menefreghismo" ? We dont have care about our City , our life and our self ? We are co responsible ? This opinion remember me another article of mr Bruni the previous corrispondent in 2013 : the italian financial crisis for him was a responsability of the " menefreghismo " of Italians . Please , are you really a Journalist or a provocateur ? Well , i m a Roman Citizen , a Professor in Sapienza University and also a Journalist. Every day i try to improve myself and my City and your comment about us , mr Horowitz, is offensive , racist and Full of the usual American stereotypes about Italians and romans. I will use this article in the future as a bad example for my foreigner students . Yes mr Horowitz, we have a problem , but WE ARE NOT The problem !! So please , respect me and the romans , and dont tell the hypocritcal : i love Roma but NOT the romans . We are fed up with this cliché . We are Rome , in the better or in the worse situation .
6
I just spent six months in spotless Tokyo.
Now I am back in Filthy Philly.
Rome looks a lot like Philly in terms of the trash and graffiti.
Whereas Tokyo is clean. There aren't many public trashcans in Tokyo, oddly enough. But the Japanese citizens pick up trash when they see it, and they take pride in their country and in its cleanliness.
9
@OnKilter
Interesting and I agree - having been in all 3 cities.
Are there many immigrants in Tokyo?
2
There are no garbage cans in Tokyo because it is the culture not to carry out garbage into the streets. One eats at home or in restaurants and disposes of trash there (no walking around with Starbucks paper cups to go, plastic water bottles, wrapped subway sandwiches, ice cream in paper, etc.) If no trash is carried outside the streets remain virtually clean. No need for trash cans. Such a great system!
2
I know where you are trying to go with that comment, but interestingly enough, Western foreigners (American and Australian, notably) in Japan are often seen as committing dirty faux-pas all over the place—wearing shoes indoors, putting feet up to rest on public seating and hand poles (along with manspreading on the public transportation)...That said, any foreigner can adapt native habits. There just happens to be stronger collective public behavior modeling in Japan than the more individualistic societies of the West.
3
I have traveled to Italy 17 times since the 80s. Last year was our longest trip, two months. Eighteen days were in Rome, near the Campo dei Fiori. We walked 5 to 8 miles a day, took the bus and metro ( thanks to Google maps) and never saw the disaster that was depicted in the article. My wife and I visited several areas away from the center and found them to be clean and free from trash. There will always be some graffiti, but much less than in the mid 1980s. The Campo dei Fiori market closes each afternoon, and the entire piazza is cleaned up in about an hour to become the center for the evening nightlife. Our only encounter with major neglect was in Napoli during several prolonged strikes. Rome is still una bella citta
2
Born and raised in Rome, I am back after living 40 years between Westchester County and Manhattan and longing to "go home" all along. I so love this city of mine , which I have visited regularly every year for at least two months, that it truly pangs me to see it the way I see it now.
Which is much much worse than ever before - Rome has never been clean and easily cleanable. ...one bad administration after another... But I refuse to accept any idea of "romanization" - I fight and resist with volunteer work in my Trastevere together with likeminded people: Trastevere Attiva!!! We do what we can with the garden and playground at Piazza San Cosimato, graffiti and trash clean up projects in the piazza and surrounding areas. A drop in the ocean??? If there were many many more such drops, we would see a huge difference. So, people of Rome, roll up your sleeves and start removing trash in your streets instead of kicking cans around!!!
17
I fell in love with Rome on my first trip in 2005. By 2012, my third trip, I said never again. The city was filthy, the graffiti everywhere, and the beggars almost criminally aggressive. This article confirms my time and money is better spent elsewhere. Too bad, Rome has so much to offer.
4
What is so disheartening is all of the graffiti!
6
Be patient. We’ll clean it. In the meantime go and visit the Sistine Chapel , possibly not just looking to your clean shoes ( like “your” Donald and madame) but to the ceiling of Michelangelo ( following the instructions of Goethe , for instance). Happy new year. And thank you for your support. Rome is still “caput mundi”. Don’t you agree?
6
I haven’t read any comments about the impact the volume of visitors/tourists might be having on Rome and their ability to support this volume in its infrastructure. I know tourism is an important economic force but maybe the locals are sick of so many of us traipsing through their city for a few days and creating crowds everywhere. And I say this as someone who recently was a tourist there, trying to be aware of my privilege and impact.
6
@Trippe
Well , We in Italy are 60 milions residents and We have every year 60 milions of foreigners tourists . The tourism is important for italian economy but NOT so important: it the 6 % of our Gdp and the 10 % of the employment. The 70 % of the tourists visits for few days only the 30 % of our huge cultural heritage . So it s a sort of human pollution : visit Italy with a group for a week is the worse way but its the common way for the foreigners ! So We have a big problem in Venice , Florence , Roma , Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast . Now in Rome We want to limit the passage and the stop of the tourists buses . These crowds have a part of the responsibility of the trash on the streets. For the residents this is a problem
: We love to socialize with our local community and it s sad to be surrounded by too many strangers and temporary people without any relations with us . The residents and the tourists are community totally separate , also Air BNB people . We avoid the most famous and crowded places . Next week i meet some cousins from Australia and i asked them : please go alone in Saint Peter and Collosseum , but i wil show many other fantastic places without people because in this fast tourism is possible to see incredible places without tourists also in Roma. And out of the massive tourism We have 6000 fantastic villages and 90 cities which are more than 2000 years old and without crowds of tourists with flip flops at feet and shorts .... as is the touristic habit
6
@Romano
"Next week i meet some cousins from Australia and i asked them : please go alone in Saint Peter and Collosseum , "
And what I say to visitors who come to New York is "please go alone to Rockefeller Center and the Christimas tree and the 9/11 memorial" as I don't want to have anything to do with the crowds at those places.
2
@ellienyc yes , i dont want to go . Whats is the problem? I dont like the crowds of people or tourists and i always try to avoid every where . I think it s normal. In Roma we are surrounded and sometimes it s not a good experience!
1
We just got back from 3 weeks in Paris and northern Italy. Paris is amazing, probably the best big city in the world! But if you would like to visit a stunningly beautiful, very clean, well-maintained and prosperous small Italian city, go to Bergamo! Milan is only 45 minutes away by commuter train, Alpine lakes abound nearby and Bergamo itself (especially the ancient walled upper city) is one of the nicest places we've ever been to in Europe. If you enjoy cultural and historical tourism and don't want to run into a lot of other tourists (especially large group tourism), visit Bergamo during the weeks before Christmas and you will not be disappointed. If only we could live in a palazzo in Bergamo ....!
4
I love Rome, have visited the city many times, and usually look forward to the thought of returning for another long stay. But I have to say that this article makes me reconsider doing so, and it seems unbelievable to me that the government would let things degrade to such an extent that SPQR is allowing the slow ruin of the eternal city.
3
Cynicism is so endemic in Romans' DNA that the recent fire that destroyed tons of garbage at the garbage treatment center was seen paradoxically as the "mother of all solutions". Piles of trash overflow the treatment center? Let's burn them up to make room for other garbage awaiting on the streets to be picked up let's hope within the end of January 2019; who cared about the smoke hanging over the city that would potentially pollute the air with toxic dioxin.
That reminds me overhearing years ago (when the municipal police would still fine motorists that parked their cars wrongly and would tow them away - now no more of that, adding urban decay to urban decay) two guys talking about how unfortunate was the fact that the police towed away their car: "I got my car towed away" said one, and the other quipped: "they've made room for another car".
2
A few facts missing from this article:
Horowitz’s “guide,” Massimiliano Tonelli, is actually a colleague of his, an art critic who relentlessly attacks the present populist (Five-Star) administration in Rome. Many local activists who oppose the present Administration have distanced themselves from Tonelli because, instead of offering solutions, he carries on with hysterical accusations that, say, a local museum director nominated by the Mayor’s office is the equivalent of Mussolini haranguing his fellow-fascists from the balcony, and in addition is a tool of the financier George Soros.
It’s easy to see what Horowitz himself gets out of this when he mentions his preference for MAXXI, the museum of Contemporary Art which, after costing a fortune to build, went belly-up, leaving the average Roman citizen to pick up the bill, not to mention the payment of bonds on the construction, the interest on which is hugely inflated by the EU’s economic policy of throttling the Italian economy—the same policy the Five-Star movement is attempting to reverse.
The vast majority of Romans would much prefer to see their taxes going to clean up the streets—which, by the way, are no worse than they were under past administrations—instead of paying for the construction and upkeep of white elephants like MAXXI whose main purpose is to flog the art collections of the global elites. If, as is apparent, Mr. Horowitz feels otherwise, then he should at least have the integrity to state so openly.
23
via privatization, externalization and austerity, the transformation of some serious social problems in explosive emergencies (strategic transformation as well, I fear), the decline of the traditional components of the city's economy and their substitution with a very aggressive and extremely low-quality touristic exploitation of a limited part of the city. Let's know and talk more about this - maybe also by talking to a wider set of actors, at least wider than the author of a blog - and also let's explore a territory larger than Monti and Villa Sciarra and than of a couple of trattorie (the references to them makes me think that it is actually a piece for the travel section, the same sensation that I had by seeing all these cliché references to Romans, Barbarians, "Rome was not built in a day", the "ruins" and so on and so on). Overall, I really think that the US public - being expert of urban crisis - would find very interesting to really know something about the crisis of this city that while being cherished for its history is a XXI century city as many others. The crisis of Rome is a crisis of our time, let's not forget it and let's unfold it in all its dimensions and also reactions to it.
7
Dear Jason Horowitz, I'm a long time subscriber of the New York Times and I thank you for your interest in Rome. An interest that I share, as someone who lived there for many years, as an urban researcher who has spent quite some time to study it and even as somebody who had the privilege to serve it as a public servant (even if for too short a time!). However, I would have expected a little more from the NYT coverage of what you correctly identify as a multi-dimensional crisis (which is why, by the way, it is both so interesting and, of course, very hard to solve). I doubt that discussing the legendary crisis that New York City experienced between the 1970s and 80s arguments that included generic references to the role of "liberalism" or of "Dutch mercantilism" would have been considered serious and useful. So, for the same reason, I would kindly advise you to drop "arguments" about socialism (?) and Catholicism that, of course, do not explain anything of the current crisis of the city. That is instead explained by the final explosion of a series of more long-standing, contemporary if not trivial issues such as a structural debt and an unresolved relationship between the city and the state, 50 years of unsustainable spatial planning choices, the strategic mismanagement of city government-controlled companies and the dismantling of the city's bureaucracy,
18
This city is the worst capital in Europe and it’s only saving grace is a rich history that is 100% in the past. No good art, even in film, in the last fifty years. A fifthy cesspool of scum and dirt, which somehow people can’t help but ramble on about, as if they really care about the history whatsoever, despite being unable to name three emperors apart from Ottaviano, Caligula, or Nero or even name three popes.
It’s a dirty Disneyland. Good for tourists to stumble about, but not much else.
4
Not just Rome.
In NYC, folks - including many tourists - do not hesitate to pile garbage on overflowing sidewalk trash cans (which falls to the pavement and leave Starbucks cups everywhere, including in stores, the subway and elsewhere...
9
Don’t forget the NYC dog owners who (inadvertently? Purposefully?) become gross polluters by leaving their individual little dog poo bags sitting on the sidewalk, thinking that the Department of Sanitation has an army of fairies who will pick up those bags and dispose of them. No. They just get left on the sidewalk, get stepped on, they pop open, and the contents get smeared about. And then someone else has to clean up your mess. Take your dog poop to a public trash receptacle, please!
3
Once upon a time, the Roman Empire was truly exceptional.
Exceptional requires excellence every day.
Rome is in severe decline.
It’s people no longer strive to be exceptional; they rest on the laurels of their past.
I’m sure there must be a lesson in there relating to American exceptionalism; I just can’t quite connect the dots. Oh well. USA USA USA!
3
As they say in Genoa (about Italy in general & all things Italian): sempre peggio . . .
In twenty years, after Rome has been cleaned up, we’ll see an endless barrage of articles and quotes bemoaning the loss of “the good old days” when the city still “had character and a sense of freedom.” If New York’s history is any guide, enjoy the trash while you still can!
8
If you’re old enough, you might remember the “crying Indian” ad campaign in the 70’s. It seems to have worked. However, as a foreign student in Japan in the mid-80s, I remember being shocked and saddened by the sight of millions of discarded cigarette butts on the beach at Kanazawa. The bottom line: individuals need to simply put their garbage in a garbage can.
5
I was in Rome for several days last week, walking for many hours each day, soaking in the vibe.
What a fabulous city! The people, the food… everything! I loved it!
From what I saw, Rome is FAR cleaner than New York.
There were street sweepers working everywhere.
The area around Tremini terminal was spotless.
Sure, there were a few dirty alleys and streets and areas around dumpsters with piles of trash, as in any city, but nothing like the photos in the articles.
Seagulls? OMG, the end of civilization! Seriously?
The panhandling Africans hovering around monuments and historical sites, who aggressively appproach and have the audacity to actually touch you, are a pretty big problem.
The photos of trash and seagulls seem cherry picked to push some sort of agenda.
Stay home Americans! It’s a filthy world out there.
Just ignore what our country is up to.
14
https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/18_dicembre_25/roma-sacchi-rifiuti-protesta-sotto-l-albero-natale-piazza-venezia-eefffb96-081d-11e9-9efd-ce3c5bf3dd59.shtml
A sad protest on a sad state of affairs.
"...wild populists", Horowitz? Sure...
1
San Francisco, a once beautiful city has its out of control homeless problem and human feces and needles problem. I think I would prefer Rome!!!
15
@Andrew LA too...Send Tonelli to
downtown LA where, tragically, over 50,000
people live on the streets - no sanitation and fears
typhus. I’m with you on preferring Rome.
1
Naples was trash clogged because the Camorra(local mafia) had sold the 'rights' to the Tuscany garbage men who didn't want their region overfilling.
4
roma is always the same. nothing is changed in last 30 years. you should be more equilibrate in your judgment
5
I always thought the “ adopt a highway “ program a good example of success in public participation. Some cultures believe in cleanliness and some could give a hoot. The first time I traveled to Europe I could not believe the filth and graffiti. The first time I went to Disneyland in Anaheim I could not believe the cleanliness. It takes a desire, the political will and money. Put people to work cleaning if they have no other source of income.
7
Spent a couple of garbage strewn, potholed filled days in Rome in the spring. What a difference from tidy Trieste and lovely Ravenna. In Paris now where street sweepers are out promptly every morning. Rome seems to have given up. Sad!
6
New York City was once a madhouse as Rome is now being described. At the time we had a mayor named Dinkins. Then we got a mayor named Giuliani and within a year or two it stopped being a madhouse. The solution is for the police to enforce ALL laws, even the most minor ones. Law breakers are ticketed. If they are stopped again and found not to have paid the earlier ticket they spend the night in jail. Commissioners who say they cannot do this because they do not have enough resources are relieved of their duties.
8
I really like that story that David Sedaris picked up so much trash on the country roads in his home in England that they named a garbage truck in his honor. Thanks to not needing to be thanked for anything and his OCD, he got the place picked up every day on his walks.
We can all do something to help and honor the places we love in spite of the habits of slobs who threaten the day, the city, the planet with their disregard.
21
It saddens me to see this. My Father was part of the 1st Special Service Force in WW2 that liberated Rome. He loved the city and returned to it, forty years after he left it, for a visit. He didn't mention anything about Graffiti, or decay. I hope caring people will unite to solve this problem. All Roads Lead to Rome.
4
@Richard Pratt If you look at any movies shot in Rome and other Italian cities at the end of WW2 (like those of Roberto Rossellini -- "Roma Citta Aperta," "Paisan," etc.) you may better understand your father's reaction. The difference between then and 40 -- or 50 or 70 -- years later is astonishing, and in generally good ways. Graffiti may not have been an issue then, but crumbling buildings and an absence of the amenities we take for granted today certainly were.
1
I visited Rome for a week about four or five yrs ago and walked many of its' streets from the Vatican across to Tiber to Colesso and all other tourist spots in the middle.
It is sad to see what you report, it must have really gone downhill since I was there. It was clean and beautiful.
The only rampant problem there when I was there was pick pocketing. I was a victim of it.
8
Jason, I went back and read your 2017 piece on Rome and your family's search for a place to live there. While the title suggests Roma la Bella, in fact you spoke a lot about "the degradation"in that essay too.
I'm glad that you (and apparently your wife too) are reacting so strongly to the filth and decay. Without such a reaction, Rome--and many other places--will be lost. And without "civic engagement" (apparently denigrated in Rome), there is no hope. It took concerned citizens (with money, of course) to bring Central Park back from the brink. It takes constant pressure from citizens on officials to keep things in order. And a willingness to take one's own broom to the street.
I am from Los Angeles and have felt sad to see what a dump much of it has become. Trash and graffiti make driving through some neighborhoods very depressing. Walking or biking would be worse. It actually hurts my eyes. I now live in Miami Beach, an amazingly clean city. What a difference this makes--to one's senses and to one's psyche!
Keep up the fight!
6
We visited Rome this past May and must have stayed in the clean parts of town because we didn't see any of the garbage this article talks about. Parking on the sidewalks, yes, but no garbage everywhere. We had just come from Naples and were happy not to hear honking horns and the buildings in Rome looked power washed compared to those in Napoli.
8
So, basically Italy's San Fransisco.
6
Living and working in Asia and traveling to places to which tourists flock...supposedly beautiful places like Indonesia and the Philippines and even my current home DaNang Vietnam...I’m convinced of the de-sensitization of entire generations who see plastic and trash as normal. A few years ago, my young tour guide to the Atlas Mountains in the Sahara desert remarked ‘isn’t it beautiful” to which I could only respond, “it could be if there was not plastic trash blowing by the scenery.” Even in the Sahara desert! Yet he was shocked by my observation obviously unable to imagine that there might be a trash free space in the world. Asian cities are filled with plastic trash and cigarette butts and all manner of obscene garbage. Most large cities are unsustainable and in truth many places in the US are getting there. I’m convinced nothing gets better and without strict rules and cultural sensitivity like those enforced and reinforced in Places like Taiwan, Singapore and All of Japan, we will drown in the refuse that makes our lives momentarily more convenient.
20
Whatever do you think Rome looked like between it’s supposed fall in 476 AD and ... when? Victor Emanuel II?? Mussolini??? Don’t romanticize the 60s and 70s, just consider today to be part of the historical normal!
2
Socialism on parade.
4
sa a Roman native I read with interest the article which does hold some truth amid the usual foreign cliches and historical blunders so common in coverages on Italy; to mention a couple, Petrarca was in fact a deep admirer of Rome and no "foreign overlords" have ever ruled the city for long spans of time.But where the article rally falls short is in omitting mentioning mass immigration from developing countries as one of the reasons behind the poor state of the city in mano area. In other words Rome in some areas resembles a third world city for the simple reason that mano of its dwellers come nowadays from third world countries, a condition today common to many European cities....
8
Rome has a liberal local government, as most cities in the western world have. Many commenters mention that there are many other cities that are in the same bad shape - e.g. NYC, San Francisco, LA, Portland, Phila, etc.) Liberal politicians are in charge and need to step up and solve the problem. Instead of advocating for better services for their citizens, these politicians are advocating for mass migration of foreign nationals, and sanctuary cities (in the US). The result of unliveable cities should therefore come as no surprise.
10
@Philly,
The current mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, is from the Cinque Stelle political party which is actually center RIGHT wing. She has been unable to do anything about the situation of garbage collection in Rome.
5
You are a mystifier of reality as well as being a fan of the political class that has destroyed Rome and Italy for so many years. I live in Rome for 56 years and the situation has not deteriorated since the previous administrations. Now the politicians, mayor Raggi in the head, do not steal anymore ... proof it is the fact that the budget, for the first time in 50 years, is positive. And then better informed, but I'm afraid you're already well informed but you're only sending a negative message to your political opponents and your "beloved" and shameful renzi, the garbage situation depends mainly on the Region that is administered by an ex-communist who is strongly opposed to the boys who today are trying to rebuild from the rubble caused by the old politicians. You're doing part and worst politics.
9
Just returned from a few days in Singapore. Wow, just wow. And that’s just how impressed how I was by the numerous and sparkling clean public toilets. I could write a book on the quality and cleanliness of the subways. When people are proud of and take care of their city, anything is possible.
12
San Francisco is about the same. I used to work there, but now that I no longer have to go, I avoid it like the plague.
10
Wait, aren't we still supposed to mock the proletariat and plebeian rural areas and suburbs, and praise the superior urban patrician souls with their sophisticated sensibilities and lifestyles? Has this changed? I didn't get the memo.
4
Quite an eye-opener on places not to visit! Even sadder, how revealing a view of societies in decline.
2
My wife, son, and I spent an unforgettable sabbatical semester in Rome in 2002. The city had been spruced up for the Jubilee of 2000 and famous sites like the Fontana di Trevi were still sparkling. The only discord came, ironically, from groups of soccer fans from the UK who had obviously had too much to drink.
Fast forward to our most recent visit in 2016. There was trash everywhere and an apparently homeless man tried to steal my wife's suitcase.
We had talked seriously about moving to Rome when we retired, but after our recent visits have made other plans.
9
@Lutoslawski from 2002 to 2016 Rome has taken in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from the most God-forsaken places in the world. You can blame on them - and on whom allowed them in- the downturn that the city has taken.....
2
We went to Italy, including the small city, Nervesa della Battalia, where my grandfather came from, Rome, Florence, and Venice. I was stunned by the graffiti, trash, and general decay of all those places. The inside spaces were fine and the people were well-groomed, but it seems as if they have abandoned their public places. Sad.
5
The same article could have been written about Paris... And I do not mention the Roma (not romans :)) pickpockets in the subway.
7
Right because in a country that produced multiple transnational criminal networks, the only pickpockets are the group Europe has ostracized for decades.
The dregs of society are now running the show ... globally.
2
Rome is struggling, but not as much as Athens.
7
Plutarch commented on the scatological and ubiquitous nature of graffiti in Rome as far back as 100 AD. The city survived. In fact, between Plutarch's commentary and now, Rome's public domain has seen periods of greatness and degradation just like London's, Paris's, New York City's, and Shanghai's have.
Ancient Rome's proliferation of graffiti was, in fact, a textbook case study in ekistics: the anthropological use and adaptation of urban settlements. So is the situation Rome faces today. One cannot disconnect how people feel about and treat the places they live from how they feel about their lives in general. New York City showcases great examples of this relationship from the appearance and use of Times Square or Central Park in the early 1970's compared to how they appear and are used now.
To find other direct links between the policy-place relationship with respect for civic venues, simply look at FDR's Works Progress Administration's effect not just on infrastructure, but also on public buildings and parks during a time of great socio-economic despair. So we can certainly learn from the current signs that Mr. Horowitz adduces about Rome's seemingly insouciant transformation of the eternal city into a refuse-strewn dystopia.
But we should not interpret these acts as harbingers of doom for Rome or for cities, in general. Rather, we must recognize these acts as severe symptoms of the need for real policies in employment, housing and transportation.
6
I believe in the individual will,enlightened and transfigured by beauty. Ten years ago, when my mother in law collected,with bare hands, with obsessive care, every single refusal that she encountered along the Museum located in the park of Villa Borghese, I was worried and feared.
Now I know that light from Bernini, Raffaello, Caravaggio,Canova kept illuminate her mind and her heart.
My mother in law is from New York, but other Italian women and men, yes, even the Roman cynics are illuminated from the same beauty.
Many Roman domes stand out in the sky in a architectural continuum that gives us a dip in the heart and reminds us of our human nature tending toward the high that no dump can obscure.
7
@FPaolo
Your words are poetry. Thank you. I
love Rome, the art exhibitions, opera performances in churches, walking everywhere in this beautiful city, the Roman sky above, with many restaurants and cafes providing excellence in dining. My Roman stays are in the early months of spring. There this 2018, I did not see the city in Jason Horowitz's eyes. I have never seen it, as has Mr. Horowitz written. I think Horowitz politicizes his views of the eternal city. Why or for what reasons I do not understand. Horowitz even chastises his wife. There is always the sky above with the earth below- and in between art, beauty, architecture, music, and food.
2
Could be New Orleans
4
Maybe rather than a fire-eater, a juggler.
1
Ah yes. Rome. Old World charm. Third World governance.
7
I love Rome and go every year. The worst blight in Rome is graffiti. Why can they no get it under control? Where I liver in Seattle a property owner has 72 hours to remove it.
Look at the difference between what Paris has accomplished over the last 40 years and the complete lack of any attempt to clean the city's historical buildings.
2
I had the privilege to visit Rome early this year, and it a stunning beautiful city.
However, the outside the city center, one can easily see the toll that decades of liberal policies have had on that incredible city.
If you want to destroy anything great and beautiful; wether it’s basic human rights or a thriving metropolis rich with history; let liberals rule.
If you don’t believe me, just look at NY, Paris, London, LA, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, Spain, and every other place liberals have touched.
It is simply a fact.
5
This is uninformed delusion. Most of the cities you mention are vibrant and successful. They can and should be cleaner in some areas, but your pejorative use of labels like “liberal” as the cause is unhelpful and reflects a lack of depth or understanding. A FOX News opinion, rather than an analysis of facts and history. Each place is unique and has its own challenges, but nothing is going to get solved by name calling.
12
Recherche du temps perdu. 2,000 years ago, one would have waded through feces in Rome's narrow streets.
2
Uhmm ... quite like San Francisco, but maybe not as many homeless.
6
@BD
San Diego is following in SF's and LA's footsteps; our homeless problem is getting worse and worse.
1
Socialism destroys everything it touches with artificial reality built with govt overspending. Socialim's debt eventually swallows the economy.
Capitalism isn't perfect and requires rational regulation. Capitalism creates the necessary competition vital for human health.
The physics of the world requires certain behavior to keep the streets clean and safe. A bitter pill is sometimes necessary. Socialism promises a leisure filled world; leisure is too expensive.
3
You can't ignore the factors that drag a city down and expect to make it better. "Illegal souvenir sellers" all seem to be from Africa. Then there are the shiftless young males who loiter all day in public spaces because the new government makes it hard for them to get work.
3
The Socialists are blaming the Church for creating a culture of permissiveness? That's rich. The very people who have been working for 70+ years to reduce or eliminate the influence of the Church and promote liberation from sexual moors is blaming the Church for "permissiveness." Talk about chutzpah.
3
Forty-five years ago the opposite was true - Rome was a gloriously vibrant city and Naples was to be avoided at all costs (except when visiting Pompeii).
3
It was once said that Nero and other Emperors required handfuls of dry roses to be spread along the paths where they walked ( can be found in Tacitus and other historians of the time), should they ever venture off the main streets in Rome because of the repugnant smell- the locals were apparently immuned to this. In Ancient Greek the word Roma rhymes with Vroma which means "bad smell". Coincidental?
1
I was in Naples back in 1989 and I was amazed at the amount of trash blowing in the wind throughout the city streets. I think the Italians have simply gotten used to it.
3
The last time I went to Rome was the last for me. It was very sad and disappointing. I fear the same for many formerly beautiful major metro areas.
4
I was in Rome today visiting from NYC on my way to Florence, from Tremini station, everything is perfectly clean, no graffiti, no trash and everything is lovely. Do not believe the American propaganda to keep the US citizens from traveling. NYC is filled with garbage and graffiti...sad to go back.
8
@Maria
There is no "American propaganda to keep the US citizens from travelling." Our contry's MAGA propaganda is much more sinister than that. But no, it's not what you purport it to be.
3
I’m so glad I got to enjoy Italy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But to be fair, I thought Rome was a mess even back then.
2
The Eternal City has her problems just like other cities in the world. I have worn a face mask for smog in Beijing stepped in cow dung in India and walked over heaps of garbage in New York City. Rome is magical. Nothing can replace walking the Borghese Gardens listening to church bells and gazing out over one of the most beautiful vistas in the world. I will return as I have numerous times. Rome will get her act together...after all, it wasn’t built in a day.
42
@AMLIndeed the Borghese gardens where my children played hide and seek in the setting sun while we sipped wine from the little park cafe outside, keeping warm in freezing Jan-17. Rome is magical for sure, I hope the SPQR begin to feel some skin in the game for shared sacrifice and commitment to the commons. We could say that about some of our US cities too.
6
@AML thanks . I m Italian and Roman and , believe me , i m bored by these articles and comments that i read on Nyt against my country and my City . Yes , in these years we have a bad Administration in Roma and may be in Italy , but which is the real reason of these several articles and of These sad comments about my City and some times about my people ? Do you have an italian obsession ? Thank you . American people and Nyt make me sad
9
My several trips to Rome have nothing but good memories. The helpful people who guided me before google maps, wonderful places to stop and take in the local lifestyle keep me coming back. I live in Florida, and find it amazing that people will spoil our towns by dropping their trash along the roads and allowing children to throw trash out of car windows.
8
Could it be an insidious plot to give German tourists hives?
12
@David Williams, I’ve always thought it was serendipitous that the Italian for Germans — Tedeschi (teh-deh-ski) — sounds like expectoration.
@Passion for Peaches
In Medieval times, besides Latin, the populace in Germany spoke "theodische" which means of the people and from which the words "deutsch" and "tedesco" came to exist. PS: your definition of how to pronounce"tedeschi" in Italian is totally wrong.
1
Human decay blights cities across the globe. My own home, Los Angeles, has a allowed a shockingly disgraceful homeless problem to explode into a human rights crisis. Every city has its distinct challenges, but the increasing urbanization of human life would seem to demand deep re-evaluation of the cities we continue to build out and how we do it.
58
@peter This article is not talking about new cities. Have you been to Rome?
@peter
Urbanization can solve that problem. Ever been out West to Colorado in the way betweens? Filth. Humans have to be mandated to keep up properties. I support my local HOA after visiting neighborhoods that didn't have rules. Harsh, but if they come and park a big RV out front, they are foreclosed on. BEHAVE or MOVE ON.
2
@peter The homelessness problem in Calif0rnia has exploded since January 2017. Hmm. What happened to change things? Trump of course. Ever since he was installed as President by the Russians over the will of the people, America is dirtier, poorer, and in despair. I was at a holiday wine-tasting over the weekend in Santa Fe and all people could talk about was the destruction Teump ha she wrought on the-is country, especially on the poor, minorities, and women. Trump needs to be removed form office so we can start our own rebuild.
5
Graffiti- with its accompanying show of direspect for the property of others- is a sure tell tale sign of a city in decay.
56
If you want history, fantastic food, friendly people, spotless beaches and dependable electric service, head to Croatia, just across the Adriatic.
Italy is lucky to cruise on the shoulders of great men and women who left behind enough ancient ruins to keep this expensive dump with mediocre food and spotty electricity awash in tourists.
28
@Angelica
Sorry, I'll accept most of your evaluation, but mediocre food in Italy? It's there, but easy to avoid, and even the average food in Italy is splendid.
5
Mediocre food you say? If you eat in a restaurant located on the Piazza of San Marco in Venezia or near the Duomo in Milano, you’ll get the mediocre food, yes. For the next time you visit Italy, I suggest you to invest more time to find family-run restaurants away from all the tourist attractions in alternative destinations like Bologna, Lecce and Lucca. Put away your iPhone and the Tripadvisor app you’ve been using for the whole trip. Rely on the best source there is; locals - they are happy to help you.
11
@Angelica
Are you, perhaps, unaware that Croatia was a part of the Venetian Empire for hundreds of years? That the "fantastic" food you are extolling is of Italian origin? That Venetians had major influence, to this day, on the culture and people of Croatia? Italians are some of the warmest, friendliest, kindest people on the planet. I know because I lived in Puglia for 3 years. And to all the comments comparing Italy to Germany, etc. as far as clean streets, everyday, the women in my neighborhood were out sweeping the sidewalk in front of their homes. And they washed the doors and windows often as well. There was never any trash in the streets, ever. Roma is a beautiful city full of history and culture and amazing, fantastic food that we, as Americans, are lucky to experience. Yes, it has some issues like all cities with millions of people, but I'll happily visit every chance I get. I was in Rome last January, a perfect time to go, and it certainly was not as bad as this article states. My long time friend was with me, her first visit to Rome, and she never once commented on the cleanliness or lack thereof. And if readers don't visit Rome based on this article and some of the comments, it's your loss. And to address @Romano, I am sorry that Americans make you sad. I have seen some bad-mannered American tourists in Italy, and it's embarrassing. But we are not all like that. Just read all these comments. So many of us love Italy in general and Roma in particular.
4
I lived in Rome in the early and late 70s. Putting up with and even romanticizing certain things is one thing when you're a tourist, etc. Living with them is another.
31
The modern Rome (NYC) is in a similar state
29
@German Cavelier
Gotta disagree. I've lived in NYC all my 61 years, and while we're not without our problems, a persistent crisis of homelessness chief among them, the city has never been cleaner or safer.
It is nothing like what is described in the article by Mr. Horowitz.
3
I’ve lived here for nearly 20 years and disagree. The city collects trash reliably in my neighborhood though areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens are neglected. I stayed recently near Flatbush Avenue and was stunned at how much trash was blowing around early in the evening. But that trash didn’t just show up from nowhere - lots of people in that area were simply casting it on the ground, I saw this with my own eyes, despite empty trash cans nearby. Good sanitation is not just a service. It begins with civic engagement - people demanding trash cans, respecting the environment and teaching their kids to do so as well, among other things. I’m tired of people blaming the trash collectors. In reality, if people behaved then their services would be significantly less necessary. Look at the subway system, too - many people just throw their trash on the tracks, eat whatever on the subway, etc. In DC, where eating food on the metro is seriously enforced and frowned upon, I have yet to see a rat on the train tracks.
2
Really? Were you here during the late-1960s, 70s, 80s?
I doubt it because NYC is light years removed from the filth, decay, and crime of those years.
6
The mayor needs to solve at least one problem, much like Giuliani got rid of ten squeege men. Pick it, potholes, trash or graffiti and solve it. Shouldn’t be too hard. Tons of immigrants looking to work.
42
@Douglas Ritter, As they are Lt. Is. Rd.?
1
@Douglas Ritter the rules mean that the administration has to run an unwieldy, time consuming public tender to provide a company or group with the job. They can’t just advertise work available and get people to do it. The system is broken.
3
If you want clean visit a Germanic country. They wash their front steps by hand and sweep their unpaved dirt sidewalks.
29
@Jesse James hope you can give more info about visiting such clean and neat places. Maybe tourists will opt to go there instead..
8
@Jesse James, I will never forget seeing a public bus driver get down on his knees and he scrubbed the bus floor with a hot, soapy bucket of water and a scrub brush. This was in Switzerland.
6
@Jesse James I was in Prague a few Christmases ago and it was spotlesss! Same for San Miguel de Allende MX....spotless. The Italians have been condioned to grift off the government without putting much effort in.
2
Oh, Italia!
I spent three months in Italy a decade ago, during the Napoli Garbage Strike, where mounds of trash piled up.
It's ironic that Naples is held up as an example now. Perhaps that should give us all hope?
I, for one, do not care how dirty and decrepit Rome becomes, I will always visit if given the chance! Although I will hope and pray for a solution ....
10
It seems that Rome has been stricken with a disease. Do enough of the sick want to be healed? When people walk by garbage without seeing it, this tells me that they do not care to be healthy again.
18
As a frequent traveler to Rome over the last 50 years, I have watched the general decline of the city. It's not just the trash and disrepair of all things public, but the malaise of the general citizens who seem resigned to living in in such a state of filth and disrepair. It's no longer a joyous experience, and new tourists will be appalled at the appearance of all the historical places. It's not becoming a dump, it is a dump.
96
If you go to Rome and this is all you see, you're not doing it right!
29
I think the author’s point was more like, “if you *live* in Rome and you *don’t *see all of this, you’re not doing it right.”
5
Seriously? Have you all looked at the streets of New York?
A Brooklyn resident
29
To be fair, garbage takes up a good deal of public space in New York. The fact that it's piled up on sidewalks in black bags doesn't excuse it.
29
@SF Reader But it DOES get pick up on the appointed day, doesn't it. Those Roman streets appear to be accumulating the garbage for weeks.
26
@SF Reader--Unfortunately, NY has been built without back alleys, the way many cities are, so there is no other place for trash except the sidewalk. In general it's put out and collected on given days (as Anita says) so it generally doesn't sit around for weeks, as it does in Rome or (at least used to) in Naples.
No, not always.
In my summer tourist town, you risk stepping on discarded hypodermic needles on the beach as happened to my child.
Fortunately the needle stuck into his Crocs sandals. But beware here on 'pristine' Cape Cod.
50
Have junk, will travel...
2
Very smart. I haven’t gone barefoot at beaches (including in the water) for years. Not worth the risk.
4
Without a more robust understanding of organized crime's involvement in the Italian garbage industry, the author misses the point and attributes this uniquely Roman mess to individual “menefreghismo” and not a racket that extorts the public.
Nonetheless, a fun read.
36
@GR
Even if we accept your point, and blame the Mafia, isn't it ultimately the responsibility of citizens to take back their government? It all comes back to lack of civic involvement, as the author said. And PS: the problem is not limited to trash, but concerns vandalism, too. Which is not sponsored by organized crime, right?
1
Perhaps Christianity is as much of a problem in Italy as it is in the U.S.
Whatever idolatry clouds perception, it is the problem.
5
I know that this is in the TRAVEL section, but in the era of global warming, I wish people would jet to fewer tourist spots and spend more of their leisure time taking care of their own corner of the planet.
52
@Allison
No, I'll jet. Like Caprio and Gore.
1
@Name Required
USSR, try something new. Accountability and responsibility. Individual leadership. Stop the blame. Own your part.
Amen, Allison.
3
Yes , Roma is in a bad condition and administration. But on Nyt i read several articles against Roma and Italy . Is this an obsession or a political choice !? Sure, Roma has problems since 2014 for the waste collection and disposal systems and for me it s sad to see this problem on the streets. But We have problems also with the massive tourism and the immigrants. However this article is eccessive. Maybe that mr Horovitz love my city ( i m not sure ), but many of these comments are full of insults and cliché against italians and romans.
22
@Romano Mr. Horowitz is simply giving a truthful and objective account of the very bad condition of Rome. Who wants to see a political and defamatory intent in his journalistic article actually wants to cover the responsibilities and inability of the municipal administrators. The illegality and lack of controls by the municipal police deliver the city in the hands of uncivilized criminals, who are not the majority of the citizens of Rome.
35
@Romano Finalmente! Great comment! Absolutely on target.
11
@Giovanni Prinetto
I was expecting the italian criticism ! I m Roman and i m Journalist . The problem of the Roman garbage ( and also Naples and Sicily) is real and know. But this articole is excessive and incomplete . To be complete is necessary to describe the reasons of this situation . It s not only a Mayor s responsibility but also a problem with the disposal system. In the center town there is also the problem of the behaviour of the massive tourism. But l read the Nyt and as Journalist i wonder : which is the reason of these several articles against Roma and Italy in this period ? Is because We have a " fascist" governement? This is my question because i want to read a free press . I dont care about the comment of a lady from Pennysilvania who insults Italy and believes to keep better food in Croazia . We have to many tourists in Roma, this is not a problem
4
Not just Rome, but other parts of Italy - and it's not so much trash as it is lack of maintenance. One glaring example is the rampant spread of bamboo, an invasive species, choking waterways and spreading through forests . . . most noticeable and quite distressing . . .
14
If one thinks that Rome is bad, well, visit Athens. That city [Athens] has a terrible graffiti problem.
11
@Eric I was just in several cities in northern Italy (Bologna, Padua) and was appalled by all the graffiti.
2
This is the underbelly of Rome. A culture where it's ALL about polarized politics & MAKING money (in that order). People are disenfranchised & not respected as being a part of the social fabric, no matter what role they have in it. Hello USA & Canada. We have a president who shuts down the government because he cannot have his own "special" way & an "acting" PM that wears costumes to India & selfies is his main point of contact with his electorate. So, can there be any doubt that there are some underbellies here too???
7
If Rome is in danger of becoming a dump, New York City *is* a dump, worse than a dumb -- a squalid, stinking, dystopian heckscape of deprivation, despair, and dysfunction.
In New York City, garbage is literally piled on the street in giant mountains *as policy.* There is no health care system and people in need of insulin or mental health services languish on the streets. The concrete sidewalks -- zero attention to aesthetics -- are in disrepair. Outrageously greedy Brooklyn slumlords invest nothing in their buildings, leading to rats and bed bugs from the apartments to the basements to the streets. Take-away containers and black plastic bags are everywhere. Trash cans are overflowing in even the most "posh" parts of Manhattan.
The public transport system is literally collapsing like a dying star -- New Yorkers would "kill" for public transportation as efficient and reliable as that which exists in New York.
The violent crime rate in New York is dramatically higher than Rome, and vigilante religious police patrol the streets of Brooklyn, violently discriminating against people of color.
No New York City newspaper, or former resident of New York, has the right to comment about problems in Rome, problems that are minuscule compared to those which exist in New York and most U.S. cities.
Compared to New York City, Rome is a paradise of order, cleanliness and competence.
22
@James
You're wrong about the violent crime in NYC vs. Rome:
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Italy&city1=New+York%2C+NY&city2=Rome
Also, presumably you meant to say "Rome" instead of "New York" re: the public transit system.
12
@James Clearly you have a personal experience with and opinion about NYC, but have you really also lived in Rome to know that it is a "paradise," when someone who is living there now says it is not? The either-or hyperbole does neither city any good.
3
I feel a cool breeze...
Agree, Rome is as dirty as NYC. Visited in June of 2017 and decided it's not worth going back. Neither city has competent local governance.
23
You are absolutely right: Rome has become a dirty, disorganized and uncivil city. I was born in Rome and I can not wait to go and live in another city. What makes me more angry is that the municipality increases taxes, but those who pay them, unfortunately not all, do not receive essential public services. Also if you call the municipal police because a car is parked in a double row, they do not come and say that the staff is not enough. Civilians are forced to suffer the harassment of the uncivilized. However there are many places and cities to visit in the world. I am sorry and I am ashamed.
61
We visited Rome and, of course, rented an apartment and pretended to be locals. Oh what fun! How cool we felt! But wait. Where were all the locals? Why were our neighbors all tourists too? And, go figure, not one of us thought to volunteer to pick up trash in a park, lol. Where there is no community, there is also no care. Welcome to one more over-touristed, but economically challenged, city of 2018.
54
@cgg
It's even worse in Barcelona.
1
The Rome of the ancient Romans had aqueducts and huge public baths and presumably an obsession with cleanliness and order. But then, maybe they had aqueducts and baths preciselly because Rome was filthy even in "Roman" times. Whether this was so or not, it has certainly been filthy since "Roman" times -- what the author is describing is nothing new.
1
Cleaner than New York.
12
Glad to read this now. Planned a trip next summer, but instead will have to rely on past trips and memories of years gone by. Enought filth around NYC. Guess I'll go back to Barcelona or Madrid.
Ciao Roma!
5
@Linda come visit Switzerland!
2
@Linda
Why would anyone travel to western Europe in the summer? MAD is hot has hell in June-late Sept.
And Barcelona is teeming with tourists, pickpockets, and crowds during that time as well. You'd be better off in Canada.
Do not believe all you have read. My 18 days in Roma last year brought my wife and I into many neighborhoods from the city center to the outskirts. No bad experiences, only good memories.
1
As a past frequent visitor to Rome who has always adapted to Rome's quirks, hustle, and roughness around the edges to enjoy the Eternal City's great features like hidden gem restaurants that locals enjoy, espresso bars, museums, history, and architecture, it is sad to see the city sink so far with trash everywhere, wild boars, burning buses, and even more than the usual level of mayhem. I won't be going back until it turns around and I keep recommending to others not to go at this time either. They ought to hire the Swiss to run Rome's city administration.
17
I live in New Orleans. I'm pretty we can give Rome a good run for its money on any day of the week. At least our streetcars don't explode.
17
San Francisco is a popular tourist city with similar problems. We have countless homeless people sleeping on the streets with filth covering sidewalks as well. We have seen the City torn up to make major mass transit "improvements" while destroying entire important neighborhoods and businesses for years at a time. The politics behind these civic "management" decisions are less than obvious to the average citizen. So it goes.
15
How did Naples turn around? Maybe Rome could follow. Great story, thanks.
6
Because the major ( a judge, a serious man) and the wonderful citizens worked together. In Rome the major is a lawyer ( a serious woman) and citizen are wonderful too. So, hopefully,we’ll see.......
The piece does not mention it but immigration also plays an important role. Migrants take up tremendous financial resources, and the funds come from cuts elsewhere.
The migrants who come over by sea to Greece leave piles upon piles of discarded life vests on the beaches. Those who came by land left tremendous piles all along the land route. The photos from 2015 onward showed this quite obviously. The tent cities in France, the jungle and many other camps, are garbage thrown. Italy has their fair share of migrants, and contribute to the trash crisis, but of course this is not reported as a contributing factor because it does not fit the narrative.
46
You do have to wonder who's leaving all the plastic cups lying around. In the old days, of course, you drank your cappuccino standing up in a cafe and there was no trash in Italian cities.
Unless the Italians, weary from thirty years of men sleeping in their parks and squares -- true even in the 1980s when as a schoolteacher I spent my summers in the Mediterranean -- are now too heartsick to pick up after themselves.
Political graffiti there always was. The garbage in the streets looks like a combination of municipal corruption and people who have never quite gotten the hang of trash cans anyway. We also have lots of those.
6
Except Rome isn’t quite diverting its financial resources to managing migrants so that is no excuse. However, you will find no shortage of people looking to blame the piles of garbage in middle class neighbourhoods on migrants sleeping rough, and unattended, at a train terminal. German cities have more migrants but are hardly declining.
3
This is what happens when a minority populace is allowed to set economic policy. Plenty of money for the super wealthy via changes in govt expenditures but none for the rest. When the 1% get most and the rest get none, the yachts look great but the streets fall apart.
13
@The 1%
welcome to the US of Trump!
of course our own streets, roads, bridges,& infrastructure of US cities are all decaying & need fixed but will not be addressed under this pathetic administration.
there are so many issues that cost money (taxpayers') and are much more important and urgent-
but instead all we hear is an ongoing rant about needing to spend billions of dollars for a silly wall -
yea right, Mexico is going to pay-
why not charge all the 1% -ers who HAVE the $$ to pay to fix the US - AND pay for Trumps dumb wall-
it's not Mexico's responsibility =
1
@The 1%
You are not the 1%, I guess? Only envious?
2
I have live in Rome now for 12 years. Leaving trash to pile up in the streets is a political technique applied by the Real Powers that be to "passing" administrations that are out of favor with them. If it was bearable to non-existent under Veltroni (DC) it became increasingly noticeable under Marino (a non-major party candidate hated by both sides) and almost is reaching an hysterical pitch under Miss Raggi (5 Star Newcomers seen as a major threat to status-quo). Picture 60 years of Trump in America, and the effect that would have on American citizens and you can come closer to judging Romans' apathy, collusion and cowardice. Try imagining the limitations of providing public or private parking to a 4 million populace amid Roman architecture and you would understand the lawlessness of the triple parking regularly practiced here. Until then, you can have no idea.
23
I have been traveling and studying and working in Rome for 35 years, twice in the last 6 months, most recently last month. I find this article exaggerated and sensationalist. Rome has maintenance issues, like every big city (and small town) that I know. But let's please look at the bigger picture: Rome is also the most significant city in the world in terms of architectural history and incredibly rich in art and culture - and continues to manage the world's largest collection of significant historic structures. But if this article discourages some from visiting this great city, well that is probably a good thing - there are too many whining, demanding tourists there as it is!
22
@Stephen Day
re: your comment -
"Rome is significant in terms of architectural history and incredibly rich in art and culture - and continues to manage the world's largest collection of significant historic structures"
that's the point - did you look closely at the article's photos of those statues that were in the park?
Sadly, like those defaced statues, the art & history of Rome is now broken & ruined -
tourists are not doing ruining Rome- its own citizens are: because of lack of government control & apathy of locals, there is no respect and general sense of pride any more. Once that's lost, it's hard to get it back-
1
My husband and I toured Rome during our honeymoon in 2015. I have vivid memories of Rome's singular beauty and historical depth. But I also vividly remember the trash, the filth, and the smell of urine almost everywhere we went. It's a shame. Paris, on the other hand, was largely pristine.
17
Speaking of Paris, sit on the wall surrounding the hedges right in front of Notre Dame Cathedral on any given dusk and watch “things” move. Those are rats which scamper in and out of the bushes with impunity.
2
I love Paris too, but let’s be real — Paris, once you leave the tourist areas, is pretty dirty too. Filth everywhere.
But this is a problem in most big cities. I saw rats all over London, and NYC isn’t exactly a model of cleanliness either!
3
What a fascinating article. I had no clue that Rome was worse in many ways than parts of Oakland and San Francisco. While the blogger may be getting sued (I'm not familiar with Italian or EU libel laws, nor do I know what he wrote), one can surmise by this article that Rome's governing council, as a whole, is inept, out-of-touch and entirely incapable of fixing basic and significant infrastructure problems. That includes Virginia Raggi as the figurehead as mayor. So sue me, Mr. Raggi.
3
@Glenn Franco Simmons I haven’t read the article he is being sued for, but Ms Raggi and her party have a habit of suing people or threatening to do so for saying anything at all against them. I’m not saying that he doesn’t deserve it, but I’d take the whole thing with a pinch of salt in the meantime!
This is the most depressing piece I've seen in some time. I love Rome, but my last short visit was in 2006 and it seemed even then that things didn't work properly. In the 1970's, the cleanest and most efficient city in Italy was Bologna which was run by a Communist government. I'm not advocating that, just some personal responsibility. For now, I'm not going back as I can't bear the thought of seeing all of this.
13
@JWMathews the piece is hyperbole. Rome is still stunning, despite being run down. I returned from NYC recently and I don’t think Rome has worse problems than that other great city
4
@JWMathews
I was living in Puglia when the Red Brigades bombed the train station in Bologna killing 70 or 80 people. I believe that was 1979 or thereabouts.
The piece does not mention it but immigration also plays an important role. Migrants take up tremendous financial resources, and the funds come from cuts elsewhere.
The migrants who come over by sea to Greece leave piles upon piles of discarded life vests on the beaches. Those who c0me by land left tremendous piles all along the land route. The photos showed this quite obviously. But of course this is not reported as a contributing factor by the MSM.
9
Having just returned from a lovely vacation to Rome, I can’t help but question, has the writer been back to his home country recently? I’ve lived in a number of the biggest cities along the Northeast corridor and can confirm first hand that Rome is nowhere near as bad as some of our cities.
Have you been to our nation’s capital recently? I swear, there are more rats there than anywhere in the world. Philadelphia? Go beyond Spring Garden to the north and tell me how that looks. NYC? If you manage to actually get to your destination via our crumbling public transportation and gridlocked streets, you’ll get the authentic NEw York experience of a crazed homeless person threatening to stab you!
Rome is facing the same issues that every big city in the world is — an increasingly transient population which makes the sense of community fall by the wayside.
27
@Ian Cumulative effect of rinos and dhimms, all receiving globalist marching orders to overwhelm the vast majority white Conservative America.
I spent 8 days in Rome last year and again this year. There was a difference in the amount of litter but I didn't see anyone consciously littering. Never did I not feel safe and I travel alone. Granted I didn't venture out alone in the late evening but I wouldn't do that in DC or NYC. Never got ripped off by a cab driver. If the Romans are getting fed up then perhaps they need a Keep Your City Clean campaign. I love Rome and wouldn't hesitate to go again next year.
9
I spent a few days in Rome in 1984 and my main takeaway was "those were the unhappiest people I have ever seen." Scowls and frowns everywhere. I don't know how many times I turned around to look at someone screaming at someone else. I don't mean friendly arguments, I mean bitter screaming, particularly at service people such as cashiers. And I'm sure the cashiers sometimes deserved it, as they repeatedly tried to shortchange me. Finally, I thought I would take refuge in art, so I followed about 1000 other people into the Sistine Chapel, where cacophony ruled, since everyone just had to talk. Finally a great tall uniformed guard started clapping his hands until everyone shut up. I took advantage of the brief (I'm sure) lull to escape back to my hotel to start planning my next stop. Sad.
5
Good heavens. Wherever I have traveled, Italians are the most pleasant -- where in Italy or as tourists elsewhere.
You want morose, go to Greece or to an Arab country.
9
The real problem is tax evasion by the rich.
Isn't it.
Worldwide.
58
@Naples Who stole all the wealth via pro taxes and confiscatory gov't policies of borderline theft.
@Naples
And overpopulation.
3
We were in Italy last year and immediately noticed heavy graffiti in many places. From Milan to Sorrento, graffiti was present and in abundance. Also garbage. In Milan, in Rome, pretty much everywhere we went.
In many places in Manhattan, the businesses chip in and get private pick up along with the city pick up. Looks like they could use that model there. Also, there was a major effort over time to get rid of the graffiti here, and now it's pretty much gone.
The garbage and graffiti did take away some of the charm of the places we visited. I was surprised and saddened that it was in that condition.
8
My wife an I just t returned from a wonderful trip to Italy, including Turino and Rome. We are a couple who travel extensively as I work on a large project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
We must say that we saw no real basis for Jason Horowitz's over-dramatic assessment that Rome is in Ruins. Visit any large city in the world and you can selectively take photos of trash on the streets, potholes and graffiti-Singapore perhaps being the exception. Rome was actually magical.
Had we believed all the exaggerated stories of Rome's collapse written by reporters viewing the world from a narrow perspective, or who simply have a political axe to grind we would have missed out on a terrific trip.
17
Having lived in Rome for 24 years, and watched the city gradually decline, lurching from crisis to crisis, I’m tired of listening to Roman’s say “what can you do?”, and blame tourists, in fact anyone but themselves. The problem is a society that can’t be bothered to drive and look for a car parking space, or if the bin is full go round the corner to see if there is an empty one. A society where if you remonstrate with someone throwing paper into the recycling in a plastic bag, or not bothering to try to recycle at all, you’re told to “mind your own business“.
But it is my business, I live here, I pay taxes here, I weave between holes and motorino’s parked on the pavement, weave around double or triple parked cars when I cycle to work. And every day I photograph cars parked on zebra crossings, report those I can, lifting the wipers in protest of those I can’t. Every day I remove a dozen or so stickers from walls, shutters etc, illegal advertising or just plain junk. Every day I think of what it was like in ‘94 when I arrived, and how bad it is now, and I don’t agree. You can do something. More people should. It is not true that it’s always been like this, and it’s not true that you can’t do anything.
219
I visit Rome every few years. My last visit was a couple of months ago, and we also were in Naples and Sicily. Rome didn't seem any dirtier than usual, Naples was a little worse than Rome (apparently it used to be a lot worse), but Sicily was plagued by trash. I guess what constitutes a trash crisis is in the eye of the beholder.
4
Having just returned from Rome, which I hadn't seen for 30 years, I will add 2 other disgraceful signs of decline and neglect.
1) Some restaurants near Piazza Navona advertised that they had "real chefs" and "real food." When I asked what that meant, I was shown photos of giant piles of empty microwave dinner containers behind restaurants waiting for garbage collection. They is what Roman cuisine has come to. In 10 days, I had perhaps 2 good meals and 2 acceptable ones, eating in restaurants at every price level.
2) More than 50% of taxi drivers insisted on being paid as much as 5 or 6 times what the taxi meter recorded as the fare, claiming the meter was broken. My Italian is good enough to argue, at which point they would jump out of the cab and scream obscenities in English and Italian accusing me of trying to cheat THEM! At the Vatican Museums, after 4 hours of walking and desperately needing a cab, I was told to walk 3/4 of a mile to another taxi stand when I refused to agree to a minimum fare of 50 Euros for a trip I had paid 8 Euros for from my hotel.
When I told Italian tourist info people that these problems give Italy a very bad reputation and is terrible for business, they agreed but said there is nothing anyone can do to fix it. Seriously?
This is not the Rome I remember and loved. I will not be traveling there again any time soon.
150
@Norburt
I don't go to restaurants much, but I am pretty sure they don't serve microwave food, and as for cabs overcharging it's absolutely untrue. I take cabs in Rome all the time and when I tip them one extra euro above what the meter shows they thank me with tears in their eyes -- American habits of tipping don't exist in Italy. Rome has enough real problems with garbage, what the article says is true, no need to pile on with myths about Italians being crooks.
9
I am very sorry for what happened to you. When some restaurant or taxi driver ask you for an exaggerated amount of money, please call 112, the European emergency number, and ask to speak with an English-speaking operator.
29
@Pibinca
Sorry to say, it was absolutely true, although I wish it were not. I saw the microwave dinner containers, spoke with restaurant owners, chefs, and holel managers. and was abused by cab drivers every single day. It was appalling.
The officials I complained to were not surprised and did not dispute the accounts. I have no reason to invent negative stories about a beautiful city I used to love. But things have definitely changed.
14
Maybe they can use prisoners to do graffiti and street clean up like some US cities? Have people caught making graffiti pay and do the cleaning as well. Most of the litter are probably committed by the throngs of tourists. Place a fine. Also in the historic/tourist area garbage cans are hard to find so placing more would be helpful.
Not really so much a critique of this city as it is amazingly beautiful regardless.
3
No, the Politically Correct Police would attribute that to an attack on minorities and people of color.
1
I haven't visited Rome in a few years, but this past autumn we spent 10 days in Sicily. We were both quite shocked at the fly tipping and the piles of rubbish everywhere we went. Sicily has beautiful countryside, but as you marvel at the vistas, you look down at mountains of rubbish sacks, old clothes and furniture. We thought perhaps it was down to poor public services but then we had a a few eye opening experiences of driving behind Italians who were literally throwing their garbage sacks out of their cars as they drove. It made me very very sad at the disregard for their landscape.
62
I remember back in 1977 being appalled with graffiti on the Vatican wall and on some statues on a bridge. It shocked me that what I looked at with reverence Romans looked ar with indifference.
8
Historically, each village too care of itself. The people knew each other, perhaps faintly, but the responsibilities of caring for the commons belonged to the community. As societies grew, such social responsibilities moved to the govt. Individuals lost touch and commitment to making their local world a good place to live. Individuals moved and emigrated and expected others / govt to clean up the mess. Large modern cultures are overwhelmed by the failures of personal responsibility. One example, no one wants to pay taxes or fees for the social benefits they receive. Result: Rome etc.
22
This is not just a problem in Rome. My city, Montreal, is becoming filthy too and we have regular, reliable garbage, recycling and composting pickup. But my neighbours put out their garbage any old time and the local businesses do not bother to sweep or clean in front of their premises. I suspect that many large cities have reached or passed the tipping point in terms of population. Aggressions and micro-aggressions in crowded subways and on sidewalks, noise and air pollution from the continuous stream of cars, trucks and buses create the feeling of being under siege, even when just stepping out to get a quart of milk. Inhabitants care less and less as the level of civility spirals downward. One can blame the migrant population or a lack of education but there are plenty of non-migrants who leave their newspapers on the subway to be knocked on the floor, or candy wrappers or fast food containers. Local governments care more about maintaining political power than doing their jobs and they take bribes and kickbacks from criminals, developers and any other opportunist looking to make a buck. Citizens in an increasingly deteriorating environment are left to fend for themselves, but instead spout the mantra Why should I do anything? I pay taxes.
47
@France I agree that many cities have passed the "tipping point" - too many people cramming into finite space, yet calling for even more housing. So many places that were once desirable are becoming less so. In fact, overpopulation is the root cause of the decaying quality of life throughout the globe.
5
Indeed ... the problem perhaps is also that no locals want to really work in the Sanitation Dept.?
Keep getting this hazy thought about how 'immigrants' are willing to perform tasks that others feel they're above.
Figure it out!
6
I spent a week in Rome at Christmas in 2018 and have absolutely no recollection of seeing anything like this.
7
@Constance Konold
Now is Christmas week 2018.
You’re in both Paris and Rome at the same time?
8
I grew up in Rome. I have been there recently. I visit NYC regularly. There is no comparison. NYC has problems. Rome is a disaster area. Tourists are often forgiving. Residents have to live with the chaos and the dirt.
23
@arp yes, I visit Rome semi-regularly but I have zero desire to live there. Too chaotic, too dirty, too badly organized and sprawling
1
My wife and I haven’t been able to travel for many years due to my health. The last time we did, we were impressed by the beauty and cleanliness of the places we visited in Germany and Austria, depressed by the graffiti everywhere in the Netherlands, and to a lesser degree Paris, London and Edinburgh. Too bad we didn’t visit Rome then. After reading this article, if we are ever able to travel again, it will not be on our list. Nor will any city here or abroad, that lacks the pride or the will to do whatever is necessary to maintain decent public hygiene. That certainly includes NYC and San Francisco, both of which I frequented in the last century, neither of which I would trouble with today. It’s very sad, and a major reason is simply too many people.
8
@Publius
You might consider updating your information. NYC was dirty in the 1970s, 80s, and into the 1990s, but in the past 20 years has cleaned up its act in nearly every way: crime, litter, graffitti, parks, rivers, public transportation. State government is still corrupt, but that's the case in many states.
By contrast, Los Angeles still has some of the worst air pollution in the country. New Yorkers enjoy the health benefits of walking, while LA residents sit in their cars choking on smog.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Los-Angles-Air-Quality-pollution-480140923.html
11
We are all Rome. Here in Portland, it's just as bad.
I remember as a kid, reading about how filthy the Willamette River was, and the progress in cleaning it up.
After I moved here as an adult, there was some trash along the city freeways, but generally it was a clean city.
A charlatan named Bill Sizemore, campaigning on tax reduction, forced the city to remove all public trash-cans, and the city has since continued its decent into the trash-pile.
Now it's the homeless. There are transient camps scattered everywhere in this city, in every patch of "green space" and then some. There is trash cascading from these cess-pools on every hillside. It's gotten so brazen where tarp-shelters block sidewalks, and expand their holdings as the detritus spreads. The camps are set up on highway medians, under overpasses, and within on/off ramps, not even trying to hide anymore.
The waste problem should be enough to take the issue seriously. Even in the rare cases where the camps are addressed, the trash is not always dealt with. (I guess we should be happy when they are located in highly visible areas as the hidden places will likely never be cleaned out)
There seems to be no serious effort to provide these people with assistance, shelter, a means to gain employment.
Good thing the city focuses on essential stuff, like bike-lanes, ride-share cars, and electric scooters.
Portland, "The City that Works"
43
I totally agree about Portland. Visited several years ago and was appalled. Have no desire to ever return.
7
You want clean? Go to Spain. It is spotless in Madrid and Barcelona. The small towns and cities are very well kept also. Anywhere you go in Spain: elegant San Sebastian in the Basque Country with its several Michelin stared restaurants (none in Los Angeles!), Oviedo in Asturias, Santiago de Compostela, the city of pilgrimages, Salamanca with the country's most beautiful central plaza, and its university, one of the oldest in the world, Pamplona in green Navarra, ancient Avila, Segovia and Toledo are inmaculate. No wonder half of Britain wants to live there. Check it out. I'm not exaggerating.
98
@Rodrigo Palacios, Portugal is also very clean. Proud culture.
22
@Rodrigo Palacios good point. I just did the Camino Frances last year, and all along the trail it was VERY clean. Hardly any litter anywhere.
13
@Rodrigo Palacios
I read your comment re: Spain being clean- I wonder why it is that Spain & Its cities, local citizens are not trashing their own communities??
What is the difference between Rome/ Italy & Spain?
what makes Spaniards not throw their trash out a car window or a plastic cup down on the street?
I was appalled in my own country to see people do this in most cities in the US - it is an urban thing-
here in towns upstate there is no graffiti or street trash - we have lots of tourists- & NATURE. but with more people moving here sadly this might change
4
I was told that a million people come into Rome every day, including citizens and tourists. That's a jillion euros, but streets are being swept with twig brooms and the workers are on foot... I will assume that the greater part of that money gets filtered off. Weeds are everywhere, and it is a long way from charming. Even in neighborhoods described to me as upper class, the litter about, and it has been there for a while. This is not all new stuff that fell there yesterday; it has been there long enough to partially decompose. Other cities have cleaned up their messes and the citizens responded by being neater. They need some kind of "Keep Rome Clean!" program.
11
My wife and I visited Rome in late September this year. My overall impression at the the time was that Rome was in a miserable state, and that no body really cared if it got any better, or not. So I am happy to read that many Romans are fed up and are doing something about it. There is beauty and grandeur amongst the weeds and trash that is well worth celebrating. One thing I noticed was that trash receptacles we could find were so small that they were always overflowing. While they are about it, the city could be a lot more welcoming to walkers.
21
Rome is the heart of Italy and shows the reality: a third world country. The main reasons are its never ending corruption, zero sense of responsibility by the EU in Brussels, and forced mandates by northern Europe for Italy to absorb the African migrants. Same has happened with Greece and soon will happen with Spain. Thanks Angela Merkel, you opened the flood gates of Europe's disaster including the EU loss of England.
21
@rudolf African and Middle East refugees are fleeing the effects of my country's (United States) endless wars in those regions. Do not blame the EU or Merkel or even the refugees. America has leveled entire cities and subverted democracies in search of free oil and natural resources. When is Europe going to wake up to this?
3
A good friend of mine, a recently retired school teacher, who is an Italian-American, has been going to Italy all of her life. She arranged to spend 6 months studying advanced Italian in Rome and rented a place by herself, a life long dream.
She boomeranged back home here in a matter of a month but not because of the filth, but because she felt very scared in the streets of Rome alone, especially at night. She hated to admit how dangerous it has gotten in Rome. She did not even mention the trash. So there are other negative aspects and obstacles for tourists and Romans alike. Especially for women.
13
Every woman I’ve known who went to Rome alone (or even with a few friends) has always, let’s say, turned to black humor when describing their perambulations about the city.
But as a man (and especially as a Philadelphian), grit doesn’t bother me much. I’ve seen the landscapes in Antonioni films.
2
The City exists as a regulating civil body whose authority is granted by its citizens to provide the following services in reasonable accommodation:
Fresh and reliable drinking water
Sanitary sewer system with treated outflow
Solid waste removal and disposal
Storm sewer drainage system
Maintain public roadways and flow controls
Authority to regulate electricity and gas providers
Impose minimal building codes for safety
Basic fire, police, and EMS or the coordination thereof
Collection of taxes to fund those responsibilities
Anything else can be provided by the residents, or those responsibilities may be ceded to the city if the citizens deem it appropriate.
A city that can not or will not provide those basic functions needs to have its leadership and management removed, by force if necessary.
3
I’m so proud of Athens Greece. It’s beautiful here. All you tourist out there, come to Athens this coming summer!
5
@Larry Miner
Only masochists go to Greece, Spain, Italy in the summer. But if it deters tourists from coming to
CA then yes by all means, go to Athens in the summer!
I had a history professor who used to mention what he called one of the great historical mysteries:
"How the Romans turned into the Italians?"
21
I was in Rome 3 times this year and your article is spot on. I feel that the Romans have become too apathetic. Lots of complaining but little action. I still love Rome it is my favorite city in all the world but it does need some love from its citizens.
15
This just makes so sad. I spent six days gorging on Michelangelo to Bernini, every church ( I am an atheist!) from St. Peter’s to Santa Maria Della Vitoria, the Pieta to the Ecstasy of St. Theresa...I just couldn’t cover it all. Rome is the only city I would want to visit again and again.
I always urge my friends to go to Rome because,” There is a millennium of art, culture and history in every street of the city. Unguarded, unprotected, for us to touch, feel and experience”. Roman history feels so alive that one might stroll down any avenue and expect Julius Caesar to glide by in his chariot.
It seems there is only garbage in every street now.
5
@Shreekant I love Italy too. There are so many cities and towns that have beautiful churches, plazas, etc. that are less crowded, I want to keep returning to see more and more. I have no wish to return to Rome, though.
Having just returned from two weeks in Italy I can confirm Mr. Horowitz's descriptions of Rome - and, by way of partial explanation, of Romans' apparent apathy. I'd add only one observation that might help to clarify their attitude. In between two four-day stints in Rome I spent five days in Naples; in writing to friends I described Rome as the southernmost city in "Europe", and Naples as the westernmost city in the Middle East. The lack of civic pride was epitomized, for me, by shopkeepers and householders sweeping their refuse into the way of passing pedestrians, completely careless of public areas and other people. And much sadder than potholes and dumpsters were the hundreds of shuttered churches, once-grand facades in ruins, and the like. An anti-litter campaign won't revive these once magnificent cities.
11
I was in Rome five years ago and was shocked at how filthy it was. Not only trash, but the buildings themselves appear as if they've never been washed or painted in decades. I'll never go back.
11
I first visited Europe in 1983 and have made 5 subsequent trips over the years. What really appals me each trip is the increasing amount of graffiti, America's cultural gift to the world. It started in New York in the 70s and is now America's most successful export.
8
@Mark Bau, In Reykjavik, Iceland they think graffiti is so cool and wonderful. Makes it look so trashy. I met a couple downtown from NJ and we laughed about how weird it was to import such urban blight but were also dismayed by the mess.
4
@Mark Bau Graffiti "started in New York in the 70s..." Have you never seen the ancient graffiti in Pompeii?
6
@BloUrHausDwn
Yes I have but I must have missed the oceans of mindless tags.
1
What is happening in Rome is what is happening in all major cities.
Forty years ago Coke started using plastic bottles and thirty six years ago plastic bags came into use.
Today we are a society of convenience. We carry our coffee and water bottles where ever we go. We drive up to the window of McDonald's to order our diner, ect., ect., ect.
Of course the garbage piles up BUT we have so many people to take care of our mess. So what to do...change the attitude, out law plastic,and CONSUME LESS ...
I was in Athens this summer and the Metro was so clean. Why? You can't drink, smoke or eat ..it's against the law.
29
No surprise here. But it's not only Rome. The whole country is slowly becoming a garbage dump. I used to travel to Italy frequently.
Fifteen years ago the government began a program of sandblasting a number of edifices in "tourist" Rome, but that came to a halt. Now they're all covered in bird droppings and exhaust emissions.
The problem is that the government needs to be sandblasted.
8
It’s not just Rome. Yosemite Valley has become a dump. The difference between 2010 and 2016 was astounding. In 2010 I picked up all litter I saw in a few minutes and would end up with a handful in my pocket at the end of the day.
In 2016, it would have been a multi hour task. I gave up.
15
Drive any freeway or state highway in Southern California and the amount of rubbish / debris on the road side is astounding.
I’ve personally seen on many occasions small bags of trash thrown out windows (mostly fast food bags) and rarely do smokers keep their stubs in the car since cars no longer have ash trays.
The culprits seem to be the young, mostly, as well as those who arrive here from various countries without a litter-free culture.
We need another “Don’t Be A Litter Bug” campaign.
30
@EGD, Teach the school kids who then teach their parents. I agree, I see the same thing here in NY.
Littering and trash in Mexico is astounding. To them it is not such a big deal. Just chuck it out of the car window.
9
@EGD
The "don't be a litter bug" campaign is...rubbish.
It makes people feel good about their over use and eventual discard of single-use plastics, to purport to be against littering. You want to make a real dent in this problem? Stop using plastic straws, plastic bags. Bring your own coffee mug to the coffee shop, substitute plastic/Styrofoam with resusable products for take-away food, use metal/bamboo straws or none at all.
I wondered when in Rome why the Tiber seems so neglected and bare. It could be so lovely.
2
It's everywhere, especially the ubiquitous plastics, bags especially. The tourist luring photos used in the travel brochures know how to use photo shop and make it all seem much lovelier than it is. One of the most awful things is swimming with the 'Pamper' fish floating about in the waters of seaside resorts and beaches worldwide. They also get entangled in gear, small boat props, etc. Absolutely disgusting.
The planet is turning more into a dystopian sci-fi novel faster than we know of. Too many people. There is a river in Dhaka, Bangladesh called the Buriganga which is so toxic all of the fish have died and the increasing filth and human waste have turned it into a 'black gel'. Welcome to the future.
18
The worst part is I can’t imagine the town is poor. The tourism industry must bring quite a bit of taxable income. If it’s not pure italian corruption and nepotism that is at the root of the problem, what is?
Having lived for a while in Italy, a gorgeous country with charming people, I can’t say I find that surprising. My experience with italian public service was straight out of a Mounty Python movie.
6
@Nicoco corruption and incompetence have brought the city to its knees more than once in recent history
1
I know than not all southern Europe cities are the same but I'll say this...I was in Barcelona for the first time in late 2017 and to this non-expert observer it was beautiful and well maintained. I saw actual families living there and what I'd say was an unusually high percentage of people under the age of 16 alone or in groups heading one place or another on public transportation and on foot. I was ready to move there. It was very life affirming.
There must be real human skill and institutional depth in their public administration infrastructure.
89
@Woodson Dart
Barcelona is also a hot spot for pickpockets and street crime. Every American friend who has been there recently has had some bad experience to report upon their return.
Personally, I much prefer the atmosphere in Seville (just not in August when it hit 112 degrees this year).
5
@Woodson Dart I hate to rain on your parade but Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe with 15%. Youth unemployment is 34% and i say this with no cynicism but this is an actual improvement from 2014, where it was 57.9%.
6
Reminds me of New York in the early 80's. There is something bohemian, creative and open about urban cores in disrepair. I know it's a romanticized vision, but there is no room for much of anything in sanitized and gentrified cities.
Also please try Fellini's Roma: same as it ever was.
37
Maybe robotic sanitation machines can be developed and deployed sooner rather than later to help the mega cities of the world clean up.
15
@Jeff - I hope that you are right, but all the robots and technology in the world won't replace people that care, and take responsibility for where they live and work.
7
This is exactly where all cities are headed, not just in “Third World” cities. Visitors who return after a long absence to my city, San Francisco, comment about how much the city has lost its sheen. When I visited London over the summer I was struck by the dingy streetscapes (Regent’s Park was the only respite). Even in west German cities there is rampant graffiti. And even after coming back from bankruptcy in the 1970s, New York City is a tough way to live, except for the limousine crowd.
Yet taxes continue to be cut, private wealth continues to grow. What’s the end game game here? Visit Bombay, Shanghai or Rio to see what awaits western cities: hyper inequality.
153
@R.B.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think graffiti can be stunning. Also I just came back from San Francisco and found the place in general sanitized to suit the tech money residents. As for where I live, nyc, inch by inch we’re becoming a glass and steel wasteland.
2
@R.B.
You are absolutely right. Parts of S.F. look - and feel - so much worse than they did 15 or even 10 years ago that it can be astonishing. The worst of it is that such down trends get started easily but are very difficult to reverse.
11
@R.B. Struck by the dingy streetscapes of London were you? Because everyone knows what a complete dump London is lol... it's the wealthiest and arguably the nicest large city in the world.
That said, I do agree with your last paragraph, completely. The race to the bottom is heating up.
6
Perhaps I'm one of those "furious Rome romantics" the author described, for I don't think the greatness of Rome has dimmed too much. If you're like me, a bit of a history and art anorak, you'll never cease to be amazed by Rome. I could spend all week listing the places you could go to in Rome to fulfill such interests. I lived in the city for four months last year and only barely made a dent in my list. Rome has fallen on hard times, but don't give up on it.
38
My husband and I were just talking about Rome (and other Italian cities, in particular, Florence) just the other night at a Christmas party. I have been to Rome at least 7 times since 1995 and have noticed it getting dirtier and more graffiti-riddled each time. I have never understood how the Italian government could allow such beautiful landmarks to be covered in graffiti and not remove them right away. My husband and I remarked on our recent trip to Florence how the same graffiti we’d seen leading up to the Ponte Vecchio had been there two years before when we had last visited.
Italy (including Sicily, which is in many ways is more breathtaking than the mainland) as a whole is such a beautiful country! It’s a crying shame that cultural attitudes are such that only a minority says “Basta!” and does something about preserving its beauty.
48
Cleanup is costly.
Visited Rome for the first time last March. It is still a profoundly impressive city, but the general state of disrepair and the refuse tarnish the allure for sure.
27
My wife and I love Rome. We have returned many times to Italy and Rome in particular. Our normal itinerary might include a monthlong stay in Rome. Our most recent rental was in the Trastevere district with a wonderful terrace that framed St. Peters at sunset. Trastevere has the flavor of New York’s Greenwich Village with the exuberance of its youth our daily entertainment. Our strolls along the Tiber were enhanced by Kentridge’s clever artwork on the walls. We made a walk in Villa Borghese Gardens our daily destination where we could enjoy a Spritz in its secluded tavern. Still, we have always seen Rome through the eyes of the tourist although we have noticed the blemishes noted in this column - particularly as we strived to adhere to the recycling rules. Rome’s museums, the Orto Botanico and the never ending search for Carravagio paintings in its glorious churches keep us inspired. Shopping in the local markets is very different than the New York megastores. (Campo di Fiori is a “charming tourist destination” but requires an annual visit to pay homage to the Giordano Bruno statue.) As life long New York City residents we can identify many of our own flaws noted in the article - familiarity breeds “contempt” the saying goes.
33
My wife and I were in Rome this past June. We did not observe any extraordinary deposits of trash; though our stay was short and our exploration was within the boundaries between the Vatican and Termini station.
However we did catch a concert at Stadio Olimpico and I did notice the complex was really run down.
We're from the NYC metro area so it's entirely possible that the random garbage just didn't register, but I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to avoid Rome because of it.
9
Friends who visited Rome last summer described the filth as so bad that even the friendliness of the local residents and the good food couldn’t make up for it. They won’t return. And I’m not planning on going at all. I can see garbage without the expense of a plane trip.
59
It’s not just Rome. Litter has become acceptable by the younger generation, who were taught to litter by their parents. It is so habitual and automatic today no one notices, neither the perpetrator nor the observer. It is a statement on our betrayal of Mother Earth, who will soon expel us from the globe like a spirochete coughed out. It will be the best thing to ever happen to the planet.
113
@Martin X Very well said!
1
@Martin X
Maybe we’re too busy enjoying life to be caught up in your death spiral of litter lament.
Engage the joy, Martin.
But does your enjoyment of life include trashing the streets? For too many, it must. Otherwise, they wouldn't.
8
Regarding antiquities and art Rome has more to offer than any other city on earth. Is it too hard to get sanitation to pick up the garbage. Or maybe it is too hard to get Romans to stop littering just as in New York. Both cities have areas that stink. NYC has the filthiest subways I have encountered anywhere. The homeless live on the E train. Some stations are open toilets. I haven't seen more than a few rats in Rome, but they are all over NYC, and they are too big for cats to kill. Some of my friends say NYC is unlivable, and some of the Romans I've met say the same about Rome. Yet both cities still have their attractions, and the quality of life in both could be improved.
85
@an observer
Singapore is litter-free. It helps that there is a S$1000 fine on the spot if you are caught, and that short, sharp, shock punishment is possible. Remember the horror when an American was caned?
2
Walking through a Roman park I noticed the rubbish everywhere. At dinner that evening, I asked a Roman why there aren't neighborhood groups who volunteer to clean up their local parks and public spaces. He looked at me like I had two heads and said "why should people do that?" The basic attitude of Europeans is that the "state" is responsible for such services, and citizens should not have to make an effort or take such matters into their own hands.
163
@Kevin Walking down the via Dandolo last week I passed a number of African men with brooms. They clean up the sidewalks and leave a pan for donations. And they're always very pleasant to talk to.
As for the wild boars... The pasta al sugo di cinghiale is delicious as always. Maybe that's why I didn't see any on the streets.
9
and there is your example of how socialism fails the people. yet here in the US, we are becoming more socialistic every day. even an unabashed socialist was a legitimate presidential candidate until his opponent and the dnc colluded to get him out of the race. but the question we should be asking ourselves is, "do we really want to become like europe?"
5
@bored critic I disagree. My point is that there has always been, and I hope always will be, a strong spirit of philanthropy, volunteerism, and "giving back" in the United States. It's unique in the world, and we should keep it up.
16
..."and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."... from The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson was a wise man. He knew that things must got to hell in a bucket before individuals are willing to stand up and make things better.
His words do not call for others to make the change, pass the law or do the work. His words call upon the individual, as part of a larger group, to make the situation right.
44
I just spent a week in Rome...
crisscrossed the city everyday
averaging 6 miles a day with
over 100 photos. I guess I was
so dazzled by the sights of ruins
from antiquity, gorgeous piazzas
filled with magnificent sculptures,
beautiful Italian faces smiling that
I didn’t even notice the garbage.
Not one of my photos has garbage.
I love Rome so much that I saw the beauty.
64
I was in Rome late August and had the same experience you did. The area around Termini is a bit gritty but so was the Lower East Side in New York a few years ago before it got gentrified.
31
@Karen Me too at Christmas 2017. I am completely baffled by this article.
3
@Karen like he author said...tourists don't see the garbage since they're focused on the beauty, looking up not down, tending to stay on the tourist path...also, the author has plenty of homegrown witnesses to the problem in the article
9
I don't doubt there are serious economic and political reasons for this troubling situation. However, we went to Sicily several years ago, and were horrified by the shin high trash littering the beautiful landscape, ancient architecture, and cities. Friends who spend several months a year in Italy explained that Italians have a strong sense of the "private" vs the "public" environment, and that we would have to look past/ignore the degraded public environment. At the time, they also remarked that Sicily was quite different from Italy. Whether this is also a cultural issue, I leave it up to others to discuss.
19
@Mary I was in Sicily 2 years ago and didn't see trash (only in Palermo for 1 day but travelled around the rest of the island.)
Is it a tragedy of the commons?
Is Rome too shared to be owned by a community?
I have noticed many tourist cities seem like nice places to visit but not so nice to live in. Perhaps a lack of community stewardship is the common theme?
Does the stereotype of Italians not following rules / paying taxes ring true here?
Is the large influx of immigrants affecting this situation as well?
If I ever get a chance to visit I hope it is better.
20
@Jim cibulka
If Romans won’t or can’t get it together to save their city, what makes you think that an international entity could motivate them? It would be just another bloated entity that has expensive meetings and a concerned but inactive board.
No, I think that when there is enough of a mass of Roman rage, then something might be done. Tax revolt—why pay people who aren’t doing their jobs? An emboldened and well-paid police force that might make some headway against the thugs?
Setting the limits and enforcing the consequences is always helpful.
1
@Jim cibulka
Good points. I live ion the west coast near a state park that has beautiful wild beaches. Every day hundreds of people walk on these beaches and almost everyone keeps an eye out for human detritus and PICKS IT UP--food wrappers, bits of plastic, soggy tissues, cigarette butts, plastic bottle caps etc. Thus the beaches stay wild and beautiful to the benefit of the tiny organisms and small animals that use them as habitat and the delight of human visitors.
16
It has nothing to do with immigrants, nothing at all.
4
Ah, yes. Massimiliano Tonelli. A man whose fulminations against anything done or thought by the present City Administration (which happens to be Five-Star) have reached beyond the grotesque to the defamatory.
This is the same Tonelli who recently compared the new director of Macro Museum to Mussolini haranguing the crowds and a tool of George Soros. Simultaneously, yet.
Come on, Jason.
13
horrible
1
Leaving today for Rome! As a former resident (88-05), I am saddened to hear that the lovely parks of Rome have been abandoned by the city. Unforgivable. So many picnics, run, thoughts, romantic dates in Villa Pamphili. However, as for vagrants sleeping in parks, my home town of Santa Cruz, California, is also full to brimming. There is an international crisis of housing, for native homeless here and immigrant homeless elsewhere. Housing is a basic human need and should be provided or we all suffer.
81
We'll all read this article and lament the sad state of affairs in Rome. We'll wonder why the locals don't step up and pitch in to remedy the problems. Unfortunately, many of us will either fail to recognize similar ills in our own communities - trash, neglect, apathy, etc.. - or fail to do anything ourselves to help. Very few of us will actually do anything today, tomorrow, whenever to make anything better. Why not? Let's put down the lattes and go out and pick up some trash.
40
@JB
Spot on. "Slacktivism" is replacing personal responsibility. Homer Simpson's platform when running for Sanitation Commissioner: "Can't someone else do it?"
3
@JB I volunteer, picking up trash in Palm Beach County natural areas several times a month, and pick up trash when I walk my dogs. But, there aren't nearly enough of us who care. And, we have to stop making so much PLASTIC. It degrades into small pieces over time, and ends up in ponds, rivers, and oceans.
2
Yes, Roma can and must change for the better, however long it takes. Just know that Rome is one of many with similar 'features'. And we haven't even mentioned ancient cities we went on destroying...just because we could, war or not.
5
Sounds like NYC. Filthy and broken.
30
Ah ha ,but alas amazon has arrived. With 500 million tons of plastic items made in China that get trashed after a few weeks ,filling every space get ready.
6
A wonderful article about a horrendous, tragic problem. I visited Rome years ago and prefer to remember it as the magical city it was before devolving into this mess. The issues appear to be complex and difficult but I hope the tide has turned. Good luck to all the civic minded people who are taking matters into their own hands. Hopefully the government and other factions will stop the finger pointing and work together to clean up the city.
12
I visited Rome five years ago and was stunned even then by the 'thousand yard stare' in the eyes of Romans everywhere I went. For me, the most illuminating moment was on a public bus. Every time the door opened, half the people waiting for it walked in through the back door and didn't pay. No one was surprised, no one cared, including the driver. That moment encapsulated the rage, surrender and cynicism that blankets Rome and I suspect, much of Italy.
134
@ijarvisMaybe the people you think didn't pay their fare have bus passes. In Italy you don't have to enter the front door of a bus as there are 2 or 3 ticket validation machines along the aisle and you buy the ticket before you board. Fare beaters in abundance ride the nyc subways.
8
@ijarvis
Re. the bus. Once one has purchased a travel pass (day/ week/ longer), it's perfectly acceptable/ legal/ correct/ law-abiding to enter through the rear door. The poster has misunderstood the way the travel-pass system works in Rome. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
13
All local public transport is integrated in Rome. You have to purchase your tickets before you board any public transport in Rome. Most people will have a pass of one kind or another. Romans are wonderful, kind and law abiding, don’t be an ignorant tourist.
14
In a democracy people get the government they deserve.
19
. . .and why should Roma be different than any other city in Italy?
For decades, there has been only growing disregard for the public environment. The further south one travels, the dirtier all becomes.
16
@Jim mostly I agree, but right now Rome is in a far worse state than say Salerno or even Naples... both of which are Southern cities. Naples in particular has improved, and Salerno has been branded “little Zurich” for its previous administration.
I am looking at the photos and reading the descriptions of disrepair and thinking the whole time that NYC is much much worse than this.
21
@Ben try San Francisco; I always feel like NYC is sparklingly clean in comparison
3
What part of New York City are you talking about? I go all over the city and while there are definitely improvements needed, it is a functioning City. Shopkeepers do cleanup in front of their businesses and are fined if they don't. People put out their garbage properly and hard-working sanitation workers pick it up regularly. I am not wealthy, but there is virtually no litter on my street. I see transit workers cleaning stations and subway cars regularly at all hours. While it is in no way perfect, New Yorkers do try to keep the city as nice as possible. You will see homeowners out at 6 a.m. cleaning in front of their homes and working in their gardens. In a city so huge, it is amazing that New York is as good as it is. I have not been to Rome, so I cannot comment on Rome. But I am a lifelong New Yorker and if this is how you see our city, maybe you just don't like New York. Or maybe you are just a glass-half-empty kind of person.
9
This reminds me of New York City in the bad old days.
8
@Smotri: You are right. It does sound like New York City in the 1980's. The solution for New York City was law enforcement. Law breakers receive tickets. If they are stopped again and it is found they have not paid the earlier ticket, they spend a night in jail.
4
@Smotri I will never forget one summer morning in 1975 when my Brooklyn-native grandfather slammed a copy of the NY Daily News down on the counter of his store on Avenue M, showing an apartment building in flames behind a ten-foot wall of black trash bags on the sidewalk -- the fire department and the sanitation workers were simultaneously on strike. His face red, he shouted:
"YOU WANNA SEE NOO YOIK BOINING IN DA MIDST OF GAWBAGE? "
Oh, he was mad about what his city was turning into. I'll never forget it.
2
Maybe I'm mistaken, but there doesn't seem to be household garbage pickup in Rome (or for that matter in Venice either). During recent stays in AirBNB apartments in both cities, I had to carry my trash to bins some distance from the apartments. In Venice I couldn't even find the bins, and finally (illegally) stuffed everything into a public trash can. It was either that or bring it back to Germany in my suitcase.
55
@Ernest There is daily pick up of household trash in Venice every morning between 6:30 and 8:30 AM, but you must bring it to the trash boat. The boats are located in canals reasonably distant apart from each other. This method of trash collection was instituted 3 years ago. Prior to this, people placed their trash on the ground early in the morning and it was picked up daily before 9AM. the system changed due to gulls tearing open the bags. Venice is very clean. The owner of your airbnb should have told you the rules, and collection days for recycling.
9
@Ernest Using Airbnb is part of the problem. Residents, who have pride in their communities and some influence over public service, are being crowded out by tourists who don't even know where the trash should go.
9
@Ernest
You are mistaken. In Rome as in Venice there are days to leave one's garbage (sorted by glass, paper, biodegradable) either in the bins outside the house or, in Venice, in front of your door.
4
There was a time when New York was in the same situation as Rome. Private citizens saved Central Park and neighborhood playgrounds. There were neighborhood watches and clean up committees. Even here is pristine Scottsdale we have clean up committees to keep the roads clean in our neighborhoods. It take more than the government to fix the problems.
122
Scottsdale is beyond clean. People from out of state cant understand how we have 0 homeless and trash.
Citizen are ENGAGED. They canned a high rise luxury apartment building because it would ruin the openness of Scottsdale. The building was around a mere 13 stories but citizens said no. People pick up after thenselves and take pride in the city. I have yet to visit a city >250k that comes close.
3
@Scott
Scottsdale is also devoid of any culture, so there's that.
5
Pride goes before a fall. In my experience, Italy fell some time ago. Its dysfunction is amusing in movies, but not in real life. There are many other places to visit and live on this planet.
9
It’s not just Rome. I recently visited Sicily and was shocked by the amount of garbage. In one town it was literally blowing down the street and the highways were littered with light blue garbage bags. Palermo is a gorgeous city in much need of renovation yet the Etna area, Siracusa and Ortigia were clean. So local governments can create change. But mostly when I visit Europe I notice how clean the cities are and reflect on how dirty New York is. Rome isn’t the only city that needs to clean up its act.
44
Merry Christmas to our American friends
15
@Stone Plinth Grazie mille e a voi! (Non siamo tutti brute.)
@Stone Plinth
E Buon Natale a voi!
2
having just returned from a roman holiday, my husband and i were struck not only by the grime and garbage in our beloved city, but by the anti semitic graffiti (symbols and words) covering public buildings and neighborhood walls. terribly disturbing.
74
I immediately thought of San Francisco as I read this. How many other great cities are not maintained?
79
@Californian agreed wholeheartedly!!! I’m embarrassed when people come to visit In SF
7
This is what happens when corruption flourishes unopposed for years and decades. Like gangrene, it rots the body politic.
Lucky for Italy, this plague seems limited to Rome.
10
@LarryAt27N corruption limited to Rome? I wouldn’t be so sure. Corruption and bloated bureaucracy are the plague of the entire country unfortunately
@Paula
The story indicates that Milan and Naples are doing nicely relative to Rome. My use of "limited" is based upon that.
1
I’m glad these issues are being made known to a wider/U.S. audience, but your use of terms like ‘vagrants’ is disturbing. Human beings don’t need to be cleansed from the urban cityscape, they need economic solutions that will enable them to live with dignity.
24
I'm just back from Rome. I travel their quite often for work. I speak fluent Italian. I couldn't agree more with this article. It really saddens me. I love Milan and Naples, and can't understand why Rome can't get it together. The graffiti is particularly disturbing. I love the San Lorenzo area, but it would be stunning without all the graffiti. I don't know the answer, without all Romans coming together to say enough is enough. Alas they're beaten down by a history of bad politics/politicians. I'm also now complacent when I travel there.
66
This article reflects my impression when I visited Rome on a recent vacation. I’ve been here a few times over the years and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The garbage, debris and general decay of once beautiful areas was evident. As I dined at an outdoor restaurant, I looked around at the surrounding area and commented to my fellow guest that Rome looks like a badly neglected city in distress. I have no desire of returning to this city until it gets its act together.
39
Sounds like nawleans.
9
I want to like Rome, and I want to desire to visit again. I was there as a college student in 1977, and had, for the most part, a horrific trip. The historical sites were simply amazing, almost beyond comprehension in their places in human history. However, for a young woman, even with a couple of friends, the men of the city proved to be a pest, even a danger, beyond compare anywhere else in Western Europe. Forward to 2018 and a discussion between my husband and me about visiting Italy this coming summer. Much appears to be dysfunctional, to the point that we've decided to make a road trip to Glacier National Park instead. This article rather nails our decision.
39
@Kimberly if you drive to Glacier, I HIGHLY recommend you make some time to drive north to Waterton Park in Alberta. Much smaller and quieter and lots of wildlife. And if you really want to get ambitious, drive up to Banff and Jasper. Hwy 93 is a jaw dropping drive - spectacular - IMHO than the Road to the Sun in Glacier. The latter was nice, but a bit of 'meh', compared to the former.
5
@Kimberly I lived in several different Italian cities as a student in 1983 and '87, and yes the men could be pestilential trying to pick up young women. I wonder if they have reformed, or am I too old, as I am never bothered during the 3 trips a year to the country of warm people who respond to others in even the smallest interaction with recognition of the other's humanity. As Renoir said, Italy is a country of outstanding natural and painted beauty. There is still more for me to discover, as I have not yet visited the Alto-Adige region.
2
@an observer
At that time, Italian men, and other European men, considered American women to be lose and somewhat available.
And in that sense very different from how they viewed Italian women.
Probably a bit true to this day.
2