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Cleanup day just in time for Chinatown's plans

In Chinatown, Melody Wong says, trash is complicated. A lot of residents are used to the once-a-day pickup they knew in cities in China. Keeping trash in the house all week seems unsanitary.

Block captain and community activist Tracey Gordon stands on the banks of Cobbs Creek and talks about the trash problem there. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)
Block captain and community activist Tracey Gordon stands on the banks of Cobbs Creek and talks about the trash problem there. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)Read more

In Chinatown, Melody Wong says, trash is complicated.

A lot of residents are used to the once-a-day pickup they knew in cities in China. Keeping trash in the house all week seems unsanitary.

So people put full bags outside by their front steps, or stuff them into city trash cans on the sidewalk.

Which in at least one case resulted in a nearby restaurant's being cited. And the restaurant's owner demanding that the trash can be taken away. Which meant that visitors to Chinatown had nowhere to dispose of empty coffee cups, wrappers, or bags.

Like she said, it's complicated.

Which helps explain why Wong will join more than 100 people in Chinatown on Saturday for the fourth Philly Spring Cleanup - an event that neighborhood supporters hope to use as a springboard.

"It goes with the vision of cleaning Chinatown as a major strategy," said Wong, who runs the Main Street program at Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. (PCDC).

It comes as the neighborhood gathers new momentum, with projects long in the works coming to fruition.

In fall, scores cheered as officials unveiled a state historical marker at 913 Race St., the spot where the neighborhood began with a hand laundry in 1870. In January, PCDC completed an almost magical transformation, turning a short stretch of concrete at 10th Street and the Vine Street Expressway into a brightly lit plaza guarded by two majestic foo dogs.

Under way is a 10th Street improvement project that will mark sidewalks with rabbits, tigers, and pigs of the Chinese zodiac, and line blocks with Chinese elms. Some businesses are talking with PCDC about starting a Chinatown cleaning-and-community service similar to the one run by the Center City District.

"We hope people can respect Chinatown, and make Chinatown clean," said Wei Chen, a student at Community College of Philadelphia who is helping organize the cleanup. "We can also show the older generation that we can do some good things for the community."

A Facebook page touts the 2011 Chinatown Spring Cleanup, alerting people to gather at 9 a.m. at 10th and Vine.

"The more people we have the better!" posted Amy Lee, who was coordinating volunteers from Central High School.

Other calls for helpers have gone to the Chinatown Teen Club, Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church and School, and several Chinese benevolent associations.

The wall outside Holy Redeemer will be a target of workers, as it tends to catch debris and dirt kicked up by cars rushing past on Vine. A nearby parking lot needs work. A little farther south, in Chinatown proper, organizers are encouraging property owners to sweep sidewalks and steps.

PCDC workers will be handing out fliers, in English and Chinese, that urge people to keep the neighborhood clean.

"It's the household trash that is the problem, people dumping household trash," Wong said. "Does Chinatown need cleaning? I think it could do with some education. We're hoping the spring cleanup day could start that."