When I was younger, I would say like around 13 or 14, I would get on the train and as I would look out the window, I would see a bunch of graffiti, mainly tags.

It kind of intrigued me later on, like as I got older.

I wanted to do it too.

I go by Repos, and I'm a Philadelphia graffiti artist.

Repos grew up in West Philadelphia.

In high school, he began immersing himself in the city's graffiti culture, learning everything he could.

He watched other artists as they painted.

I was just soaking it all in because they were focused on their piece.

I would just watch their arm movements, the way that they would use their body to, like, make certain lines, different techniques and stuff like that.

That's kind of how I picked it up.

But as Repos would learn,

not everybody sees the poetry and graffiti.

Where one person sees a liberating form of public art,

another sees a nuisance,

one that costs cities millions of dollars a year.

Beauty's in the eye, the beholder.

And my thing is, that's great, but you can't do it on someone else's property.

For the Freakonomics Radio Network, this is the Economics of Everyday Things.

I'm Zachary Crackett.

Today, graffiti.

Most graffiti artists have an origin story for their name, and repose

is no exception. When I was younger, I used to do mischief stuff, like going into abandoned buildings.

...