Temple University adds new program to clear cluttered streets
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This time last year there were mounds of garbage on the sidewalk in North Philadelphia near Temple University.
Earlier Monday CBS News Philadelphia once again saw these familiar piles of trash. But they have since been cleared.
In fact CBS News Philadelphia were the only ones there along 17th and Bouvier Streets in North Philly where crews hauled away couches, desks and more.
"It makes the neighborhood look a mess and it stinks!" Janice King said.
Long-term neighbors like Janice King deal with large pieces of furniture and bags of trash left abandoned on sidewalks by Temple students as their off-campus apartment leases end every summer.
"It's frustrating! It's just sad because our block is almost all Temple students. There's a few homeowners on the block but this is all Temple," King said.
Even Temple students admit the piles of garbage left behind is a big issue.
"It's all messy and it's just stuff flowing everywhere," Temple student Sean Walsh said.
But this summer, Temple is launching a new, free off-campus trash collection program called TUMove designed to prevent the trash from accumulating.
"It was pretty bad. We would get phone calls from neighbors angry about the trash being left on the street," the Senior Director of Finance and Administration, Farrah Al-Mansoor, said.
Temple's Farrah Al-Mansoor said the program allows students to schedule a time with the university to have their trash removed. The university then notifies and pays for a private company to clear the trash.
"I mean ultimately we're a part of the neighborhood, and we recognize it's a problem so we want to step up and deal with it the best we can," Mansoor said.
Now, with TU Move, neighbors like King are feeling grateful and taking notice.
"Thank you so much for cleaning behind your students. I appreciate it very very much," King said.
In addition to TUMove, Temple also contracts the community-based organization One Day At a Time to pick up trash off of city streets and sidewalks in North Philly.