At least three or four times a week, someone leaves a flyer (or a business card) on our front door.
(Pardon the hand-held fuzziness.) Over the years, there has been a lot of hue and cry about what essentially amounts to the organized distribution of litter in Pasadena. My guess is that this is not just a Northwest Pasadena issue, though I’m sure the flyer guys don’t tackle the hills of Linda Vista on a regular basis.
All the excess paper really bugs my neighbor Steve. If he’s outside when the flyer guys pass by, he shoos them away.
If the flyer distributor can’t get to the front door, there are alternatives available. Gates are handy.
Very handy indeed.
Lots of flyers just end up loose.
These are all Altadena Dental flyers. Proctor and Gamble gets in on the action in a more upscale less recyclable fashion: the plastic bag holder.
As I walked along, I found the guy doing the damage. Here, he’s putting a flyer directly into someone’s mail box. I believe this is illegal.
I hope he appreciates how I protected his identity by cropping his head off.
Sigh. Flyers are here to stay, I’m sure.
Is your doorstep routinely peppered with flyers? Is that Pizza Man pizza any good?
West Coast Grrlie Blather 
The amount of junk mail I used to get when I lived in Northeast Pasadena was insane. EVERYDAY it was another menu or another eye doctor. Sometimes they weren’t even in English.
Is it different in other places?
The Village Pizza (no flyer!) on the corner of Los Robles and Orange Grove is delicioso! They are on speed dial in this house.
I make a point of NOT giving my business to any company that litters, trashes the environment, has no conscience, operates illegally, interrupts me, noses into my private affairs, calls me on the telephone.
I also, make a point of not patronizing anyone that puts there ads on my porch or my car. And if one of the deliverers comes on the porch on a bad day, I loudly ask the dog if she feels like biting anyone that day. She’s a pretty good sized shepherd so that keeps them away for a few days.
The other horribly annoying thing is the number of telephone books that arrive on the porch. It is insane!
I feel sorry for the delivery guys. I think some of them might be illegals, just trying to make a buck. I’m not making a statement about immigration here, just about the plight of an individual who feels lucky to have a job–any kind of job.
But I don’t like their employers so much. I think it’s a good idea not to patronize advertisers who use this method. Creeps me out.
Yes. No.
Pizza Man pizza is absolutely disgusting.
The flyers bug me like crazy. I also make it a point not to give any business to places that arrange to have flyers left in front of my house (or on my door). Sometimes I joke about just putting a trashcan on the porch so that the people who leave the flyers can just put them there directly. But I also get that the people who do this for a living — distribute the flyers — are probably in pretty hard places and really need the money. Still, the companies that arrange for them to do it don’t get my business!
Oh dear, this is exactly how I got together with my mini mall dentist(s). The first was from Egypt who sold the practice to a fellow from Syria who sold it to the Korean whom I have an appointment with tomorrow! I couldn’t be happier. I agree with Mr Proctor, Pizza Man is gawd awful.
We get flyers no matter where we live – Old Town, South Lake, Altadena, and South Pasadena have been our addresses. I do not like them, Sam I Am.
Have never tried Pizza Man…
I echo what Petrea and Jill said.
I made a surprising discovery when perusing the Pasadena municipal code lately (yes, my life is enviably exciting). It appears that any resident or business that does *not* want to receive these flyers can contact the office of the city’s finance director, and ask to be included on the “unsolicited written material refusal register.” All those who distribute unsolicited flyers are required to carry the register, and *not* drop flyers at those homes/businesses on the list.
(They are also not allowed to leave a flyer when another one for the same company is already there, cannot post at a residence with a posted “No soliciting” sign, and they can only post on the doorknob or doorstep — nowhere else).
For those interested in the actual code that applies here, you can find it in Title 9:
text
According to the City of Pasadena website the finance director is Stephen C. Stark, and the phone number for the department is 744-4355.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m planning on it. I would love to know if anyone else has success with it.
Gads, such a noob. The link imaginatively titled “text” in my post should say “Pasadena Municipal Code.” :-0
Ooh, thank you msmaria. I’ll add that one to my list.
Update — I spoke too soon, unfortunately. I called the Finance office today and was told that although the municipal code has not been updated, there was a court challenge (brought by the publishers of these flyers, it sounds like) to the restrictions on flyer distribution, and the entire regulation was struck down. There has been some interest among city council members to see what else can be done within the law, but it seems like there hasn’t been any progress.
Perhaps if Pasadena residents who are fed up with these flyers (which sounds like all of them) put some pressure on their councilmember, it could be put on the front burner again.
Sorry for the false hope. Now off to write an email to Margaret McAustin…
You’ll love this one. Jill joked about putting a trash can on her porch for the flyers. I did just that! I put a small wastebasket on the porch with a sign on it that said, “Business cards and flyers” with an arrow pointing into the wastebasket.
I was standing on my porch one day, and a guy came by and saw the sign. He came up to me and said that he did gardening, but he didn’t have any business cards printed up yet to put in my basket, but was I interested in his services. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.
eye doctors are specially helpful whenever you have some eye problems -.*