So what happens…

You and me both. I have never noticed it as blatant as this year.

There is a drop-off site on the front lawn of the Darland Administration Building, 1049 University Drive.

So who's going to drop them off?

Well, those that are not claimed by people looking for new furniture, get picked up by the various trash companies in the area.

Most of it would go to the Materials Recovery Center up on Rice Lake road.

I hope the blue sectional sofa some asshole left out on the curb on 8th near 19th gets picked up soon. I am so close to contacting the owner of that house and letting him or her have it.

Claire, I think you should do just that.  They should have to pay for garbage pickup.  I can't imagine that Carla at Chester Creek Cafe is exactly happy to see the rotting, soon-to-be-animal-insect-infested sofa sitting there either.  Totally call the owner and let him or her have it!

How do you go about finding out who the owners of the houses are? We have a fraternity house on the corner that has 6 sofas on the corner that have been there for almost a week now.

I am very hard pressed to believe local trash companies are trolling around looking for furniture to pick up. 

WLSSD Materials Recovery Center:

Materials accepted and recycled free of charge
Household Recyclables - 3-sort system!
Scrap Metal
Food waste in compostable bags

Materials accepted for a fee
Household junk
Mattresses                   
Concrete
Drywall
Furniture
Lumber
Textiles
Appliances (1 microwave free per day)
Electronics
Tires (4 passenger/light truck tires free per day)
Brush
Small Engines (must have all fluids drained out)

I heard that UMD offers a furniture pick-up service, and many "street couches" will be picked up by them.

City of Duluth has the information on who owns property in the city. Follow the link and look to the left, you can do a property search by name or by address and find out lots of interesting information.

St. Louis county has a Google Earth plug in. You can fly over and zoom in to whatever property you are curious about.

When I was in college, you could call UMD and schedule a pick up for free.  However, if this stuff has been sitting outside for weeks/days, I'm sure someone must have set it and forget it.  When I was disposing of a couch through UMD, I had to use my truck to move it to the front yard.  Someone saw me unload the couch and assumed I was leaving it on a random lawn.  She took my license plate number and called the cops. Jerk.

UMD's various end-of-semester-junk policies.

And once again, may I remind folks, UMD is the biggest, but not the only institution of higher education in town.  :)

Well, June 1 is over and it's all still there. My particular problem is with a UMD fraternity house.

Plus Scholstica was over weeks ago. This exodus was completely timed with the end of UMD's year.

Actually, (believe it or not) the furniture thing used to be a lot worse.  Then UMD started offering furniture pick-up and it got better. Not a lot better, but better.  BUT for some people, unless you go to their house, hold their hand, and move the furniture for them..........ain't gonna happen.  I've noticed the lovely blue couch ensemble on east 8th and 19th also.  If you want to know who owns a property, look them up on the City of Duluth website under the city assessors office (you can look it up just by address).  That gives a listing of who owns the property but not a phone number. In the past when I've wanted a phone number for a landlord, I call housing inspection/rental licensing #730-5300, see if they can help.  Or if you want to vent to UMD, give their Facilities Dept. a call (they pick up the furniture.)  The DNT listed that number last week as 726-8262 but it said the deadline was June 1st for pick-up.  I would say your best bet is with the landlord of the property.

I got this message from campus neighbors this morning:



The last day for the UMD furniture pick-up was June 1.  Some garbage haulers may be picking up extra items this week if it was pre-arranged. Furniture and debris still on the curbs can be reported to 730-5151. You MUST leave a message at this number with the exact address of the property.

-- 
Campus Neighbors Advisory Group
Duluth, MN

What these aren't public art displays? Damn I thought they were hip "installations."
[img]http://www.perfectduluthday.com/wp-content/uploads/comments/550801_3070818099785_1543590398_31991442_1110393359_n.jpg[/img]

Baci, I wouldn't sit on any of those free couches... I'd be afraid of bedbugs.

Bedbugs ... or crabs.

Not trying to get into an argument, emilymoesewco, cause I'm totally on your side in this one, but the end of the semester has nothing to do with it.  Leases run June 1-May 31, regardless of what school the students attend or when it gets done.

That said, as someone above pointed out, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.  The junk in the yards becomes a landlord issue, but the trickle-down will come from the students' security deposits.  Report 'em.

You're right. Though it sounded like I made assumptions, I actually didn't. I know for a fact that my particular neighborhood problem is UMD-based.

And oh how I have reported them. Oh how the hammer falls.