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Here is the dirtiest district in Paris!

undefined undefined 15 avril 2024 undefined 15h15

undefined undefined 23 avril 2024 undefined 19h40

The Editor

© Ekaterina Pokrovsky / Shutterstock

In 2023, more than 9000 fines were handed out in the capital for uncivil behavior, with almost 4500 just for littering, dirtying, urinating at the wrong time and throwing cigarette butts... Yes, Paris is a dirty city. Very dirty. And with the Olympics coming up, this is really bad news. But not all districts are dealing with it the same way, and some unfortunately look more like a dump than a neighborhood in the city of love.

We all remember the 2023 garbage collectors' strike, which saw more than 5000 tons of waste accumulate in the streets of Paris. And while for many, it was a rare (and smelly) episode, for some lucky Parisians, it's almost a daily reality, as certain districts of the capital are dirty. And among the 20, the prize for the dirtiest and least maintained streets is awarded to... the 19th! The northeast of Paris takes the lead Indeed, the 19th arrondissement of the City of Light (but does it still deserve this name?) looks more like a public dump than anything else. In 2023, there were 119 fines for waste dumping and littering, 72 for urination in public, and 39 for all those who apparently can't make the effort to walk 3 meters to throw away their garbage. As a result, a nice average of 372 cleanliness-related infractions out of the 714 for incivilities in the district.

Right behind him are his close neighbors, the 20th and the 18th, each totaling 348 and 326 infractions, clearly marking the northeast of the capital as the dirtiest place of all. And having seen it with our own eyes, we find that these numbers are still very representative of reality. We also note a nice peak from the 13th in 3rd place, which accumulates the most penalties for animal-related offenses (including not using a pretty poop bag) and for throwing cigarette butts (71 out of the 746 recorded in Paris), with a total of 341 fines.


Is central Paris an oasis of cleanliness?

Similarly, we observe that the cleanest districts in the city are also next to each other, as they are the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and .

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The 2nd arrondissement, for example, is where people use the street the least like a bathroom, and the 4th stands out for the lack of cigarette butts thrown around. The 1st, living up to its number, is the one with the lowest number of infractions, only a tiny 97. So, overall, the cleanest neighborhoods are also the most touristy. A bit too easy, as they are better maintained, cleaned, and have a slightly higher number of trash cans on average.


Some dirt, some dirt, and more dirt

Anyway, the moral of the story is clear, Paris is too dirty, and it's high time for the City Hall to invest more money in the maintenance of the various areas. That's it. And we leave you with the averages of verbalizations related to cleanliness in each district, which you can find on the city's website.

19th : 372
20th : 348
13th : 341
18th : 326
12th : 308
15th : 284
10th : 277
17th : 263
8th : 237
16th : 222
14th : 219
11th : 194
5th : 192
6th : 180
9th : 159
7th : 144
3rd : 144
4th : 111
2nd : 101
1st : 97