By Russ Betts
Desert Hot Springs, California
Across America, cities fight graffiti, but many do not go about it correctly. Their “fix” still screams, Graffiti Was Here.
Painted patches crudely blobbed over graffiti is not doing the job properly. A gray wall suddenly has a tan rectangle. A beige wall has a darker gray blotch. The graffiti may technically be gone, but the ugly cover-up remains.
The “repair” ends up looking almost as bad as the vandalism itself.
A city handling graffiti this way sends a message that it is not truly solving the problem. The goal is not simply to cover it over. The goal is no visible trace that graffiti was ever there. A proper graffiti removal program should leave surfaces looking original, not patched, or marred by obvious paint-over jobs.
The Before and After of the Infamous “Graffiti Tower” in Downtown L.A.
The “Graffiti Towers” in downtown Los Angeles refer to Oceanwide Plaza, a massive, unfinished $1.2 billion luxury development located directly across the street from the Crypto.com Arena. The complex consists of three high-rise skyscrapers (the tallest reaching 49 stories) that have been mostly abandoned since 2018 due to developer bankruptcy.
How It’s Done Properly
Desert Hot Springs, California once faced widespread graffiti. The city painted over graffiti with mismatched paint, often covering only the outline of the graffiti. Graffiti had remained visible for a weeks or more. The city had no firm time standard for removal.
In 2009, that all changed with a goal that Desert Hot Springs would become a graffiti-free city. The city partnered with Graffiti Removal Company (GRC), which introduced a completely different philosophy.
Instead of crude paint-over patches, crews used precise color matching and professional blending techniques. Surfaces appeared completely original when finished. The objective was not merely to hide graffiti, but to eliminate any visible evidence that it had ever been there in the first place.
The difference was dramatic.
During the initial citywide cleanup, GRC deployed a fleet of specialized trucks and systematically removed visible graffiti throughout the city. Walls, utility boxes, fences, signs, and commercial properties were restored to their original appearance.
Not covered up.
Restored.
Now, the graffiti vandals did not give up. They still put up their graffiti between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., but the city crews were out at 5 in the morning. When the graffiti vandals woke up expecting to see their graffiti, it was already gone.
The war against the graffiti vandals was won through attrition; the vandals tired of putting graffiti up only to see it removed almost immediately.
Throughout those early battles, the city was graffiti free and has remained that way since 2009.
An important part of the program involved graffiti removal on private property.
There will be internal discussion among city staff that private property owners should be required to remove graffiti themselves and fined if they do not. The problem with that approach is that it violates rule number one: no graffiti remains visible longer than 24 hours.
Under the normal schedule for city code enforcement, including citations, response periods, follow-up notices, forced removal procedures, and possibly court action, graffiti was not being removed within 24 hours. In many cases, it remained visible for weeks or even months.
Rather than threatening business owners with citations or fines, the city removed graffiti from commercial and private properties at no charge. The city obtained authorization from businesses in advance allowing graffiti crews to remove graffiti whenever it appeared. Business owners were assured the city would properly color match surfaces after removal.
Business owners loved the program.
This approach eliminated delays and ensured the citywide 24-hour standard could actually be maintained.
The mission was not punishment.
The mission was elimination.
A street view of a big graffiti wall in the Bronx Park of New York. (Photo by u/mirxa on Reddit)
Specifically, The entrace to the wall was 180th street in West Farms.
A Message to City Leaders
Cities considering this program should understand something important: success requires every department and every employee to understand the mission and work toward the same goal.
Some aspects of a rapid graffiti removal program may not fit neatly within traditional processes or normal timelines. But if the objective is a truly graffiti-free city, the program has to operate under one overriding guiding principle:
No graffiti remains visible for more than 24 hours.
That requires coordination, flexibility, rapid response, and complete commitment to the standard.
Every department must understand the mission clearly and work together to support it.
The goal is simple:
Zero visible graffiti anywhere in the city, and no visible evidence it had ever been there.
A Model Other Cities Should Consider
Professional graffiti abatement works.
Exact color matching, seamless blending, rapid response, and citywide coordination produce dramatically better results than crude paint-over programs.
More importantly, they help restore civic pride and send a clear message that disorder will not be tolerated.
The end result is a city that becomes recognized as graffiti free.
In fact, after a while, residents may not even consciously notice the absence of graffiti anymore because clean streets, walls, signs, and businesses simply become normal.
But something else begins to happen.
When residents travel to other cities and suddenly see graffiti everywhere, it stands out immediately. They are no longer used to seeing it.
That is when they realize something important:
“We don’t have that in our city.”
And that generates a tremendous amount of goodwill from the public.