answer:I hate seeing people throw cigarette butts and garbage on the street and train, too. Sometimes I’ll say something. Usually not. I think it’s density and transience. The one dirty neighborhood in my area has a lot of stores/bars/cafes. It shows up on most lists of “Most Hipster Places in the US”. So a lot of people on the street aren’t locals and treat the place as a playground. In comparison, I used to frequent the South Side in Chicago a lot, in a neighborhood where shootings are a weekly occurrence. I heard gunfire every night I was there. It was interesting that people kept their homes up. They had gardens and all the grass was tended. There was an big neighborhood hardware store with really helpful staff and it was always busy with people loading up their cars for repairs & home improvements. I assume it is because home ownership is high there, something like 80% own their little bungalows. Also, people have remarked that an advantage over New York (or maybe Manhattan) is that Chicago has alleys. The garbage isn’t out front.