Beauty and the Beast in Prague

The last time I saw Prague (to paraphrase a classic song) it's heart was great -- and glorious. The old part of Prague is a storybook city -- dating back to at least the 12th century. Its buildings are so incredibly beautiful it is as if you had stepped into the pages of a fairytale -- complete with the fanciful illustrations common in the 18th and 19th centuries.

My husband and I have been spending time in Prague since just after the 1989 Velvet Revolution peacefully ended the Czechs' long Communist nightmare. As in many post-Communist cities -- with fear of Big Brother gone -- graffiti soon marred many buildings; democracy -- as we have heard many times - is messy.

But that was nearly two decades ago; The Czech Republic is now a member of the European Union and its economy is arguably the most successful of the newer entrants. So why, suddenly, has the graffiti on buildings and walls gotten worse? Early on, it was understandable. People who had just freed themselves from a restrictive government and ideology were eager to explore that freedom in any and all ways. And most buildings looked so bad anyhow -- a little scribbling didn't make much difference.

But today - greater Prague has turned from a mostly crumbling brown and white concrete city into a sparkling, multi-colored, cared-for place. Buildings have been painted in bright colors. The infamous Communist "panelak" buildings (with pre-fabricated concrete panel exteriors) have been refurbished. And there are almost as many flower boxes on window sills as you see in Germany. Apartment building lawns are actually being mowed. For the first time in the Hostivar neighborhood where my husband and I now own an apartment, I actually saw someone clipping the hedges!!! and parks are now just beautiful. (They were scraggly and overgrown for years after Communism because people felt no personal responsibility for them and because no one seemed to understand who SHOULD be responsible for them.)

But marring it all is this awful graffiti! We've complained to lots of different Prague residents about it; no one seemed to care. Not even to agree that, yes, it's awful but what can we do? (A frequent answer when I complain about something obvious). In fact one friend who lives in the upscale Vinohrady section of Prague told us that school children are taken to a nearby park by their teacher and actually encouraged to draw on the park walls -- as a lesson in creativity!!!

I got so upset by all this that I actually wrote a letter to the Mayor of Prague - Pavel Bern. How foolish of me to expect an answer: Communism may be long gone -- but bureaucrats and politicians still don't respond to much except a mass protest. And, apparently, certainly not to a mere American.

So why does a city with a very good sense of itself as a flourishing economic center and hot tourist destination see nothing wrong with graffiti?? WHY don't building owners, local police/officials, apartment owners clean it up and try to stop it? WHY isn't there a city-wide crackdown? And most of all -- WHY do the people of Prague -- who have now traveled abroad and seen how lovely other "world" cities are -- continue to shrug their shoulders????

Back in the '90's when Rudy Giuliani (he of the failed Republican Presidential campaign) was Mayor of New York City -- he cracked down on major crime by focusing first on what he called "quality of life" crimes -- public urination, homeless people sleeping on doorsteps, even j-walking. And yes -- there was a major effort to wipe out graffiti. Anyone who was caught was required to clean off his graffiti and/or repaint the area (which worked because graffiti "artists" like to see their work and show it to others.) And spray paint can sales were restricted to people over 18. (As is still the case today in NYC). The campaign didn't totally wipe out graffiti. But it got rid of most of it.

So - Mr. Mayor of Prague -- why don't you start something like that? You've scaled Mt. Everest and lived to tell the tale; you should be able to take on a few undisciplined youths who just need to have their heads cracked together.