Neighborhood beautification? Or leave well enough alone?

My kids and I access a "secret staircase" on a regular basis.  It's close to our house and it allows us a short cut to get to school, to parks, shopping and in general, out of the neighborhood.   It starts at the bottom of a culdesac and ends at the street below, saving us a good 5 minutes walking anywhere.   The path is overgrown with blackberries, ivy, cactus, agave, weeds, acacia sprouts, oleander and it wouldn't be Oakland without a ton of trash.  My kids and I have talked about cleaning it up many times.  It's a perfect sized project to do with my kids, and what a great lesson for them about being prideful of where they live.  A neighborhood beautification project, I thought, could be a way to meet more neighbors and clean up a traveled path.   This is the entrance to the stairwell and path It's interesting because what I thought, and what is actually true are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  A couple of problems have come up; 1. the community at the top of the stairs, don't want people cleaning up their personal dump space and aren't interested in the path becoming more known,  and 2. the people at the bottom, don't like the fact that some of the dangerous shrubbery would be cleaned up thus not safe guarding their homes anymore.  I get it, kind of.   I'm hearing what both parties are saying.  I am also hearing the people who actually use the path, well, their opinions and safety don't matter.  If the city doesn't care, why should they.  The pokers from the bramble/cactus snag one of us, or one of the dogs every time we use the path.  The litter is hazardous waste; dirty diapers, condoms, liquor bottles, baggies...  you get the picture.  It's just one more place that my kids have to stick to the path,  no exploring!,  Do not pick up anything and absolutely don't eat the berries that sit too low on the vine.  Honestly, I barely want them looking down because it's just more examples of Oakland not having enough money, people not caring and urban decay.  As we approach the path I say something like, "Keep your eye out for people and pokers and lets just get through it". This is the view from the top of the path At the top of the path, there is a motion light and camera mounted on a pole.  This is helpful but only for the top of the path.  Once you walk about 15 feet below the camera, it's line of sight is hindered by one of the many Acacia trees.  The same holds true for the light.  Once you're 10-15 feet below the staircase, at night, it's pitch black.   The camera and light. When I decide to take the dogs for a walk after dark, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.   I've weighed my options though and find that the path is safer than venturing out to the main street, I think.  Regardless, I pull my pit bull close, hold my breath, put some pep in my step and run until I pop out on the street below.  Sure, my imagination is always active but you never know what could be laying in wait in the overgrowth for some dummy, like myself, walking after dark. This view is from the bottom of the stairs, below the camera, looking down the path.    I know the path is acceptable.  It provides us a nice thoroughfare, and from this angle, it looks innocuous, but it could be so much nicer.  You can see at the bottom where the path gets a bit tighter because of the bramble and cactus, plus all the encroaching acacia.   Maybe, I should just leave it alone, I certainly don't want to be labeled as a "problem" in my neighborhood.   At the same time, I wish people could see the bigger picture.  The part that pisses me off most is the "dumping people" have children too, and they still don't see how cleaning this up would be beneficial to them.  Perhaps the solution is to create a plan.  A plan that would be acceptable to the people concerned  about their security.  I'm not really worried about the dumping people, they can be responsible for their own trash, or not as the case may be.   That's my rant for the day.