Next time you walk down the street, take a look down. See the spots? That’s gum, pressed into the pavement by thousands of footsteps. I normally don’t pay them much notice but, now that I think of it, they’re a good indication of how busy a particular stretch a sidewalk is. The more pedestrians that use it, the more discarded rubbish and, consequently, the more black spots.
“Hardened gum underfoot is undeniably an urban hallmark,” wrote Deborah Stead in a 2003 article that appeared in the New York Times. (What paper other than the Times would devote space to a 2,250-word article on sidewalk spots?) “The bigger and denser the city, the more the gum, which may make New York the gum splotch capital of the world.” Here in Montreal, the area with the most gum spots is undoubtedly Ste. Catherine St., especially around the big shopping malls between University and Peel, where people linger on the sidewalk.
But what about other areas? I can’t recall if there are a lot of spots on other busy streets like, say, Côte des Neiges Road, or Mount Royal Avenue. Does Montreal have a spot-cleaning program? The impetus for the Times article was a new service, Gumbusters, hired by the City of New York to “vaporize” gum spots off the sidewalk. With Montreal’s born-again dedication to cleanliness, though, who knows.
3 comments
Funny you should mention this problem, as scientists may have discovered a solution: water-soluble gum.
So that’s what all those spots are on Bloor esp. between Spadina & Bathurst in Toronto. (I thought it was some kind of oil.) Greetings! I live here in Mtl., but was born & grew up in T.O. They might also be a measure of the numbers of young people frequenting the sidewalk, since I’d wager young people chew & spit out more gum than older people…
gum removal is not worth the effort.
They have to spend much time, using chemicals, and energy-consuming pressure devices. And they never achieve a perfect result. What harm is the gum spots? Sure they are aesthetically unpleasant, but until gum is outlawed, we will have this problem. Besides, the gum collects detritus, and acts a waterproofing membrane, prolonging the life of the sidewalk.