 Alston residents are living with nasty new neighbors as a serious rat infestation increases in the neighborhood named Rat City. When I'm walking home at night from class, I typically see a few. Yeah, it's a pretty big issue here, I would say. I think everyone's pretty aware of it though. District 9 City Councilor Liz Breeden said in an email that this increase in Alston's rat population is rooted in the COVID-19 pandemic, where residents produce more trash. Many Alston residents violate city ordinances with overflowing dumpsters and trash barrels and litter. They come out of nowhere. They're kind of disgusting. I don't have that many rats near my apartment or anything, but when I walk to class, I see rats all the time, especially on garbage day. Rats typically live within 150 feet of their food source and can find plenty of that food here in the streets of Alston. Some residents say the large percentage of college students living in the area contributes to the difficulty of containing trash. It's definitely all BU students that are contributing to the problem because they're the ones leaving the trash everywhere. Despite the rodents' effect on residential quality of life and public health, several of these buildings in Alston are surrounded by rat traps to help mitigate the problem. Councilor Breeden said that all residents can help the city by dialing 311 to report rat sightings and overflowing dumpsters. Reporting from an Alston alleyway, I'm Jenny Lambert for BU News.