Nick Hancock, a new resident of Somerville, initiated the Davis Square Litter Crew after seeing a viral Reddit post highlighting the area’s litter problem. With the city's public works department lacking sufficient staffing, local maintenance has suffered. The group meets weekly to clean up litter, focusing on larger objects, and has garnered community support. Each meeting sees enthusiastic participation, with volunteers collecting bags of trash, reflecting a commitment to beautifying Davis Square and fostering community involvement.
Davis Square looks like a dumpster," an anonymous Reddit user said in a viral post last month, with photos showing the shining brick plaza covered in wet trash after a rainstorm.
With the city's public works department understaffed, litter clean-up and other maintenance appear to have fallen by the wayside at the iconic square, home to Somerville Theatre and The Burren.
It's just a great time just getting people to put in as much as they'd like, and a lot of the times that's like a whole hour," Hancock said. "We get a whole bunch cleaned up and made looking pretty.
A group of seven picked up three bags of trash during their most recent Sunday meeting, Hancock said, including a lot of small alcohol bottles.
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