in town i noticed some shale [and mixed ,and fairly dirty]walls with plants growing on them,many colours but mostly mot bright. they looked perhaps untidy,but with a certain charm... there were also smoother walls,some with white paint. the graphittiseemed to be on smoother walls. in a graphitible area [to have less canvas] how about more randomly textured walls? some graphitti may look good/well drawn, but how about the rustic /dry stone /covered in vines look?
-- technobadger, Jul 24 2001

Vines as graffiti deterrent http://www.anaheim....ing/st_college.html
You're echoing pretty much the thoughts that already go into such choices. [jutta, Jul 24 2001]

Long Beach graffiti prevention landscape program http://www.ci.long-...revention Landscape
Up to $1000 for plants and concrete removal. [jutta, Jul 24 2001]

Graffiti Deterrent Found By Horticulturist http://www.hort.vt.edu/human/cnhrt294.htm
(Down a page or two.) "The two-day study examined 31 sites distributd evenly throughout Riverside, California. Approximately 90 percent of landscaped areas were graffiti free. The same proportion of non-landscaped areas had graffiti." [jutta, Jul 24 2001]

Yes! Sterile, flat, monochrome surfaces invite taggers. Ivy, fieldstone, etc are much harder to paint on.
-- Dog Ed, Jul 24 2001


Scattered throughout Los Angeles are a few places where vines have been painted on walls. It is simply an effective psychological deterrent. There are also numerous 'Virgin de Guadalupe' murals put up which serve the same purpose. There is also less chance for graffiti to desecrate the surface of childrens projects walls as well.
In my former neighborhood I was the lucky guy who got to cover graffiti time and time again. I finally got 2 guys from each side ('Armenian Power' and 'White Fence' to meet with me by the same wall. I explained to them that the numerous eyes looking out the windows at that moment were all witnesses to their actions and were also more than willing to paint the wall in my absence - and that their was no need to waste money on or risk being caught stealing paint, let alone being caught in the act of painting said walls by law enforcement. I also explained that the wall in question was the back of a Post Office - Federal Property. And it was a Federal Crime punishable by a far heavier hand by the very act of painting that particular wall.
2 nights later, one guy who wasn't present at the 'meeting' decided to try his luck - as I saw while I was returning from store - I walked to paint closet, got materials, knocked on a few apartment buddies doors, and while he was painting another section, I walked back across street and began rolling the new paint on, . He was pissed "Do you have a problem?" he yelled. 3 neighbors approached and said "No, not anymore" Needless to say, the walls didn't get tagged for the next year that I lived there.
-- thumbwax, Jul 25 2001


why would you want to deter graffiti?
-- benfrost, Jul 28 2001


the talentless need somewhere to practice so as they can get better at it - this is why we always find the crappy tags on the front of our suburban houses/inappropriate places. All the good/appropriate surfaces are taken up by 'good' graffiti - suburbia is like a pastel notepad to the dark grey urban canvas.
-- benfrost, Jul 31 2001



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