Hipster coffee shops and cool fusion restaurants haven’t deterred graffiti vandals in Ottawa’s Somerset district. The ward had the highest number of graffiti complaints per capita last year, according to an analysis of the city’s 311 service requests database. The trend has continued into the new year, with twelve graffiti complaints from the area recorded in January, and six in February. Although the ward was second in total number of complaints – Rideau-Vanier had the most –having the highest per capita means the complaints are occurring at a faster rate than in other wards.
Top 5 wards with the most graffiti complaints per capita

In an e-mail statement, Roger Chapman, chief of Ottawa bylaw services, says the most common type of graffiti complaints in Somerset are those related to ‘tagging’. The city’s website defines ‘tagging’ as: “the writing, painting or ‘bombing’ of an identifiable symbolic character or ‘tag’ that may or may not contain letters.” The site indicated that gang related graffiti is rare in Ottawa, even though ‘tags’ can sometimes be associated with gangs or certain groups. The city categorizes five other types of graffiti: “personalized, political, offensive and hate-related.”

Chapman also says he doesn’t think Somerset is facing a “specific issue” with graffiti, because other wards, like Rideau-Vanier, also experience a high number of complaints. But volume of complaints alone isn’t necessarily indicative of the depth of the issue. Rideau-Vanier has about 7,500 more people than Somerset and around 11,600 more people than Capital ward – yet it lags behind both of those wards in complaints per capita. This suggests Somerset may have certain factors that contribute to the high rate.

The ward encompasses much of downtown, LeBreton flats, and most of Centretown West – all home to some of the city’s busiest bars, restaurants and shopping centres. The Ottawa Real Estate Board notes that these neighbourhoods have become more popular in recent years, and are becoming gentrified by a younger demographic who are driving up home prices. Last month, the Board said the price of a single family home in Hintonburg/West Centretown, for example, has risen 27 per cent in the last five years – nearly double that of the city as a whole.

But this peak in interest hasn’t made the area immune to crime or vandalism. Take the disturbing instances of hate graffiti this past fall as an example. In mid-November, the Ottawa Muslim Association and Parkdale United Church, both situated within the ward, were vandalized with racially-driven hate graffiti.

In response to how  complaints in Somerset are dealt with, a communications representative for the city says it employs a “4E model”, meaning: education, empowerment, eradication, and enforcement. They also say the city works with the Ottawa Police to help employ the model.

Graffiti has always been a fixture of urban life – but it can have real consequences.

In 2015, the city published a study that evaluated the effectiveness of the graffiti prevention program. The report concluded with: “The volume of Service Requests received indicates that residents are reporting graffiti which is then being quickly removed… Due to the commitment of the community, a marked decrease in the level of graffiti has been noted. Unfortunately, the costs incurred to remove graffiti continue to soar.”

The study was conducted as part of the “Ottawa 2017” campaign – a celebration of the capital’s 150-year anniversary. The report mentions numerous times that this occasion calls for a more concerted effort to control graffiti incidents, in order to “preserve Ottawa’s reputation as a ‘Clean, Green, Graffiti and Litter Free City’.”

The Somerset ward encompasses many areas that tourists are likely to be drawn to. And if the graffiti trend there continues, the city may have its hands full trying to maintain a clean image.