Imagine autumn in New England. On a quiet fall day, one sits and watches the red and gold leaves swirl down to a softly gurgling brook. Cool, clean breezes refresh the soul.
Now, shift to Atlanta. As the first leaves of autumn fall from the oaks, panic grips the residents of apartment and condo complexes. There will be leaves in the parking lot. Leaves will clutter the space between our parked cars on the street. Even before the leaves fall, three, four, five workers rev up their blowers to max speed: 200 mph. Their instructions? leave not one leaf on the grounds, the walks or the street. Get rid of them! Of course there's no need to worry about where you blow them. If there get to be too many, we'll scoop them up in a tarp. But meanwhile, we'll just blow them until they aren't visible any more, or cleverly concealed in the groundcover.
Consider the results: at 200mph, the hot winds from the blowers lift not only the leaves, but enormous quantities of dirt. The dust and dirt rise as high as the rooftops of three story buildings and coat everything as they begin a slow descent. The hot wind destroys whatever grass there is and, week by week, kills the shrubs. Landscapes that are blown weekly, especially in times of drought or hot weather are bare, whatever fertile soil there was-- gone with the wind. All one needs to do is walk around the neighborhood of a complex that is blown to see the damage. In contrast to the healthy shrubs, green lawns, and blooming groundcover of all the neighborhood properties, the blown landscapes are dead. The difference is startling.
Consider this as well: those workers who spend their days blowing dirt and dust, including the lead filled dust of the street, the anti-freeze, the organic and inorganic compounds of car drippings, animal feces, mold, and allergens are very likely to suffer respiratory illness.
Autumn is an interesting time in Atlanta. Though we are all aware of the city's infamous air pollution, many of us do little to prevent it. We drive SUVs and we blow our lawns dry with gasoline fumes that add significantly to the pollution. The price we are paying for anal retentive tidiness may be an insidious filth that coats our houses inside and out, and settles in our lungs and sinuses.
On the other hand, looking at the ordinances of over 350 progressive communities around the country that limit the use and kinds of blowers used, might eventually bring us back to the good old days of quiet contemplation of the beauty of autumn leaves, the refreshing breezes of cooler weather, and the peace of mind of a quiet fall day.
About 350 cities and towns have banned or controlled blowers nationwide
Towns that banned blowers (partial list) Most recent:
Greenberg, NY 2007 (read)
Mamaroneck, NY 2007 (read)
Palo Alto, CA starting Jan 1-06 (read)
Pelham Manor, NY starting Jan 06
Aspen, CO July 18-05 (read) and (pdf)
Houston, Texas July 18-05 (read)
Evanston, IL 2005 (read)
Vancouver, BC Feb 04 (read)
In process:
Greenwich, CT, June 06 - considering citizen request for a ban (read)
Cambridge, MA - March 20, 2006 and November 2006 (read) - City Manager ordered by Council to report on an amendment to the Municipal Code to ban leaf blowers
Also:
Berkeley, CA (read)
Belvedere, CA
Beverly Hills, CA (banned in 1978 read)
Carmel, CA (banned in 1975)
Claremont, CA (read)
Del Mar, CA (read)
Hermosa Beach, CA
Laguna Beach, CA (read)
Lawndale, CA
Los Altos, CA (read)
Malibu, CA
Menlo Park, CA (read)
Mill Valley, CA
New Rochelle, NY (read)
Pelham, NY (read)
Princeton, NJ (1998)
Rye, NY
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Scarsdale, NY
Seattle, WA
West Hollywood, CA
White Plains, NY
Towns with blower use & noise ordinances (parial list)
Most recent:
Toronto, CND starting Feb-06 (read)
Also:
Boulder, CO
Foster City, CA (read)
Indian Wells, CA (read)
Los Angeles, CA (read)
Montclair, NJ (pending read)
Oyster Bay, NY
Portsmouth, NH (read)
Sacramento, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
Winnetka, IL
States controlling leaf blowers:
California
Small Engine Pollution Rules - 2007 read
About 13% of Californians live in cities that ban the use of leaf blowers, and six of the ten largest California cities have ordinances that restrict or ban leaf blowers. All together, about one hundred California cities have ordinances that restrict either leaf blowers specifically or all gardening equipment generally, including the cities with bans on leaf blower use (IME 1999). In 2000. nationwide, two states, Arizona and New Jersey, have considered laws at the state level, and five other states have at least one city with a leaf blower ordinance (IME 1999).
Source: California 79-page Report of the State's Environmental Protection Agency (pdf)
Pending legislation - 2007 read
In addition to the concerns of air pollution and noise, there is the issue of the effectiveness of leaf blowers. Often yardmen tend to blow leaves from one side of the property to other, leaving pockets of debris scattered throughout the lawn. Leaves on the edges of employer’s property lines are often blown into the street or into a neighbor’s lawn, only to be blown back by the neighbor’s lawn crew several days later. Our suggested solution: vacuuming up the debris with electric leaf ‘blower’ units. Many manufacturers offer units that can be switched over to act as vacuums. Electric engines provide plenty of power, are 50 - 70% quieter than gas powered leaf blowers and emit no air pollution. If yardmen used electric leaf blowers to vacuum up and mulch yard debris, it would eliminate virtually all the air pollution problems and greatly reduce the issue of noise. Many of the new ‘blowers’ have mulch ratios of 10:1, and can reduce leaf and grass clippings to a tenth of their former size. Yard debris account for a full 20% of landfill waste! While we would recommend that this mulch be used to naturally nourish the flowers, trees and grass on one’s own property- should it be thrown away, it will take up a tenth of the space it would have, had it not been vacuumed and mulched. Many of those who have switched from blowing to vacuuming, report that it is faster and leaves the yard in a cleaner state. It seems rather inefficient use of time to blow huge piles of leaves around and then bag them afterwards when you could do it all in one step using a vacuum unit. 
While you might not think of using a mower as a tool to collect leaves and other yard debris, many mowers have the ability to not only cut grass, but also vacuum, mulch and store leaves, grass clippings and other yard debris. A new generation of electric and reel mowers have emerged, providing consumers with the opportunity to maintain their lawns without emitting pollution or making a lot of noise. They are available in both manual and battery powered versions at prices comparable to, and sometimes well below, gas-powered mowers. With fewer moving parts, reel mowers require substantially less maintenance and tend to have longer lives. Pollution-free electric mowers are a little louder, but they provide more power which allows for faster mowing. 
Silent and pollution-free, lawn sweepers quickly and easily pick up leaves, grass clippings, twigs and other yard debris without sending dust flying into the air. Some models are specifically for use on the hardscape (i.e sidewalk, walkway, street, etc), but others can handle your yard refuse on grass and concrete surfaces.