# Street Cleaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838 "2011-09-10T17:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/1 "2011-09-10T17:28:09Z")
Do the street cleaners actually do anything or is it just a way for the city to write lots of tickets! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/2 "2011-09-10T17:44:44Z")
[The Master speaks](http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100923.php) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/3 "2011-09-10T18:53:32Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > [The Master speaks](http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100923.php) Interesting, but that doesn’t really address whether the streets are actually any cleaner as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/4 "2011-09-11T21:17:29Z")
Thanks but doesn’t really say if it works or not. Also why do threads in the Chicago section keep vanishing on here? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/5 "2011-09-12T14:54:53Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Do the street cleaners actually do anything or is it just a way for the city to write lots of tickets! I can’t speak for Chicago, but I used to live in Saskatoon, Canada and they used sand on the road during the winter. Once the snow melted, it would get incredibly dusty and you would definitely notice it when the street cleaners came by. [Looking at their web site, they also claim that diverting material from the storm sewer system is one of the goals of street cleaning](http://www.saskatoon.ca/DEPARTMENTS/Infrastructure%20Services/Public%20Works/Roadways/Street%20Cleaning/Pages/default.aspx) (not just cosmetics). Having said that, having street cleaning every week sounds a little excessive to me. But maybe they really do have a lot of dust and trash that needs to be diverted from the storm sewers. ---
**Author:** ![Disgscen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@Disgscen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgscen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-cleaning/595838/6 "2011-09-12T20:52:06Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Do the street cleaners actually do anything Yes. Before the sweeper comes past, in most neighborhoods, people can be seen sweeping their sidewalks into the street, and cleaning the litter off of their lawns. Barring some other explanation for the disappearance of that trash, along with the TONS of dirt that builds up at the curbs in our fair city, I’m going to credit the cleaners. Most streets aren’t cleaned anything like once a week. On the days they are scheduled to be cleaned, the sweepers come past several times.