»In which we refuse

One of the aspects of Manhattan that I have always enjoyed are the ubiquitous curbside rubbish bins. Sometimes lined with black plastic, usually a wire mesh receptacle: nothing fancy, but something functional. Baghdad by the Bay has a dearth of these receptacles, and now San Francisco has even fewer trash cans.

Why? According to a 2002 study for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, " ... San Francisco has at least twice the number of trash receptacles as New York, four times more than Los Angeles and five times more than Portland ... ". I wonder, then, why I so often find myself staring at piles of trash on a street-corner, needing to call 28-CLEAN, or tucking waste into my pocket for lack of a convenient receptacle. Outside of the downtown (and who goes downtown in San Francisco?), rare are the streetside bins. The heavy, cast concrete bins (with the ludicrous pyramid-of-recyclables atop) make only cameo appearances in the areas around the Civic Center. San Francisco's Mayor has some ludicrous ideas about how this move will encourage
business owners to arrange for waste-hauling contracts (did you know that any business that sells a food or beverage must have a waste receptacle outside? I didn't.). Mitchell Brothers have put out a cardboard box. That's classy.
The SFist has some words on ditto.