Your neighbors are fed up with trash on our streets

Okay so check it—I’m looking at the latest 311 service request data, right? And what’s really jumping out, like, really screaming at me, is just how much everyone is calling about trash. We’re talking over 9,000 requests for "Item Pickups" and another 7,394 for "Illegal Dumping Item Pickup." That’s almost 17,000 calls just for garbage that isn't where it's supposed to be. That number is wild, no mames. To put it in perspective, graffiti removal, which also feels like a constant thing, is less than half that, with around 5,000 combined requests.

It tells you where people’s heads are at, ya sabes? It’s not about fancy new condos on the Westside that nobody needs; it’s about the basic stuff. We want clean streets, safe neighborhoods. It’s the everyday quality of life issues that are hitting folks hardest, from Lincoln Heights all the way down to Watts. City Hall needs to really focus on getting these basic services right. We'll be watching to see if these numbers start to drop, because that's a real indicator of whether things are actually getting better for us, the people who actually live here.

That's the real LA, fam — east of the 110.

Catch more of this kind of real talk every morning with the MiTL crew. Tune in live at mornings.live.