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Gainesville’s Graffiti Abatement Programs Appear To Be Working
By Natalie Cabral
February 23, 2021
After a graffiti surge in 2012, the city of Gainesville launched graffiti abatement programs that, nearly a decade later, appear to have succeeded, even as the line between graffiti and art begins to blur.
Keep Alachua County Beautiful’s graffiti abatement program receives about 130 incidents a month. These incidents are generally reported by the community through services provided by the City of Gainesville and Keep Alachua County Beautiful.
The purpose of the graffiti abatement program is to remove graffiti as quickly as possible. Gina Hawkins, executive director of Keep Alachua County Beautiful, said removing graffiti and blight quickly decreases the chance of similar crime spreading. It reduces the impact of other criminals seeing the graffiti and being motivated to do the sam