Before getting into the issues in my community, I’ll introduce you to it’s history.  My community is known as Wilmington a part of Los Angeles. Now as far as I can remember my neighborhood has always been known as having a bad reputation. As growing up in Wilmington I can also support the idea that it isn’t an ideal place to grow up in, but even though Wilmington is known for being a bad place, I’ve never actually had any bad experiences in it. As a child I would always enjoy going to park to play or even playing in my own front yard. I made many friends as a child for it was easy to get to know each other in the neighborhood. So what were the issues, you may ask? Well, from a child’s perspective it was hard to tell what was wrong with the community, but as I grew older I began to see the real problems. I began to see why people kept calling it a waste land. I began to see why people would call it a big canvas.I began to see why I wasn’t allowed to stay out late into the night. In my eyes the only real issues that could be improved on are littering, graffiti, and gangs. Even though most children aren’t aware of what’s happening in their community, we are. We, the people in this community, are able to make a difference for a better future.  If we are able to resolve these issues we could  make our community a safer and better place for the children to grow up in. It could turn to place where people could proudly call it their home. As mayor of my town I would try my best to get rid of littering, graffiti, and gangs.

One of the problems that we could fix in my community is littering. Almost my whole block is littered with garbage such as plastic cups, bags of chips and other disposables.  The problem is especially a big deal for me because I live in a house on the corner of a block. Not only is the garbage throw in front of the house but also on the side. We have a fence that surrounds our house and they still manage to put garbage in our fence. Keep in mind that this is only the littering that happens at my house; now imagine the neighborhood being like this. Having garbage on the streets all the time is just a personal reflection on what type of people we are. No doubt that it makes our community look bad as a whole. What are some resolutions, you may ask? I know organizations such as “ I Heart Wilmington”  are already on it. They do street clean ups every week to help maintain a better image of our community. We could help volunteer and join them, but even that isn’t enough. Some other solutions that we can do is, according to guruhabits “ Contact local government authorities,  local representatives, property & business owners,  and local television news stations.”  These are all possible ways to solve littering. The people at “ I heart Wilmington”  can only do so much, so I think it’s time for us all to start realizing that, this isn’t a waste land, this is our home. As the  mayor, I want to make sure we all take part of doing everything possible to make sure our streets are clean.

As mayor I would make sure there is less graffiti in my neighborhood. Graffiti is pretty much everywhere in Wilmington. Most graffiti in the community are gangs or gang related words that can cause problems within. Not only does this cause trouble for people removing it but also gives a bad image. Now I believe that not all graffiti is bad, or makes us have a poor reflection on ourselves. There are many graffiti murals in Wilmington that I wouldn’t consider “graffiti”, but more so art. I know that there is a huge moral at “Will Hall Park” in Wilmington that can now be seen as symbolic graffiti. The mural shows that situations shouldn’t be resolved with violence, because at the end we’re a big family. This is one of the reasons why I believe that not all graffiti should be covered up, but only the gang affiliated graffiti. As the mayor I would make sure that  most areas with vandalism of graffiti are washed off.

Gangs are a major problem in Wilmington that need to be fixed. Gangs not only make us look unfavorable but also make it dangerous for people to be around. As a kid, I didn’t know much on gangs, but I just knew that it was dangerous to stay out at night because of them. Gangs often hang out in public areas such as parks, where kids also go and play. Having kids around gangs could be a harmful environment, where they can also pick up bad habits from them. The more we ignore the situation with gangs the more likely the gangs will increase. This means the crime rate for WIlmington would increase more than it is. I believe that anyone should be able to walk around their neighborhood and not feel threatened or afraid. According to areavibes.com “In Wilmington you have a 1 in 24 chance of becoming a victim of any crime” and “The overall crime rate in Wilmington is 48% higher than the national average.” The least we can do to prevent gangs from causing mischief is have more police patrolling the streets. We can make sure students don’t drop out to prevent them from being involved with gangs. If were mayor I would make sure anyone would feel safe and comfortable in my community.

If I were mayor, I would make sure that everyone got involved in making our home a better place for many generations to come. Getting rid of littering will help bring out the true richness of the community and help represent it in a positive way. Getting rid of vandalism of graffiti will help bring us a better image. Getting rid  of gangs will help create a safer environment for everyone and make people feel at ease. If these changes were applied to every community the world itself would truly be a better place.