How about providing official grafitti spaces for public art. That's even cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a public works crew and some harsh chemicals. Grafitti artists do the public a service by creating free art and uncensored socio-political commentary. They serve the same important function as folk artists and jesters did in previous times. If they were given good legitimate spaces to do this, and were officially recognized for their creative efforts, then I think we'd all be better off.

Making it a crime to create public art and having a policy of removal only encourages grafitti artists to try and be quick when they create (so they don't get caught) and make more of it (so that at least some survives. This kind of policy encourages quantity rather than quality. On the other hand, offering a place to legally showcase grafitti would encourage quality instead and give these artists a sense of being valued, rather than feeling like outcasts.

Tagging is not art.
I do not care how fancy you make your name/initials look, it is just a "i was here".

Plenty of business all across the USofA offer a blank wall for artists to do their work. But that is not "street" enough, so many would rather deface others' property with worthless paint sprays.

'graffiti is a blight'... ?
I would not want to live somewhere where there was no street art. Graffiti is vital for the cultural life of a city - it allows anyone to comment without censorship or regulation, and it's been going on for as long as civilization itself. Granted, about 10% of graffiti is mindless territorial pissing, but the vast bulk of what I see is aesthetically aware and intelligent...sometimes even genius, and we would be poorer without it.
I don't think that totalitarian approaches 'total annihilation' will work. Repressed expression leads to behaviour that can be more dangerous to civilization than a tag on a bare concrete wall.
I concur with Turil, encourage quality and give the street artists a sense of being valued.

I personally think it depends a lot on what kind of grafitti you're talking about. Living out in Bushwick, Brooklyn (though I'm sure anyone with a grafitti problem can relate), there's the artistic type of grafitti, and then there's the asshole type of grafitti made by kids who aren't actually trying to say anything, they just find it fun to 'tag shit.'

Though having public spaces for grafitti art might help move the art of those who want to make socio-political statements to a place that's not on a public building, it won't stop people who're into grafitti for nothing more than having a blast breaking the law.

And it still doesn't address the problem of grafitti spray paint (not just clean-up chemicals) being environmentally damaging.

thank you turil and paolo, i agree. the nyc graffiti movement was the most amazing, beautiful phenomenon. a youth public-art movement. the trains used to be so beautiful. kids risking life, limb, and freedom to create art. the train cars that the mta spent so much time and energy "buffing" were masterpieces. check out the whole cars on seenworld. a panel from an old subway car would probably sell for an astronomical price at auction nowadays.

even tagging is an art form in itself. the lettering of master taggers will be studied in years to come. elaine, if you are walking around bushwick you may be privileged to catch a glimpse of a tag or throwup by the legendary oe3 tmd a true king from the train era who is still putting in work. take a photo of it! you will have captured the work of a graffiti legend, and you can show the picture to your grandchildren one day.

amazing all the money and effort spent in a war against public art. i think it illustrates the desire for goverment to have complete control, and the valuing of property over self expression.

the wall of the schoolyard where i went to elementary school was regularly painted by some of the top writers. it was magical to see the brand new pieces that had materialized over night. there were true masterpieces on that wall that were respected by writers, and lived for many years untouched, untill the late 90's when the school commissioned somebody to cover the whole wall with a stiff, sterile mural. the whole city is being sterilized.

graffiti can't be stopped though, it's world wide now. like the banning of weapons led to the develpment of deadly forms of martial arts in asia, graffiti artists will just adapt. the mta never stopped train graffiti, even though they would like you to think so. it evolved into scratchiti with sandpaper on the windows, and now acid etch. youth will express themselves.

I agree with Elaine. I oversee 6 clothing store in the LA area, and while we do have street art on some of our stores, random tagging on a sign or storefront is not okay. I'm glad to have found a product that my stores can use for removal, without using toxic paint or nasty chemicals.