It boils down to incentives. Either social or regulatory. It’s that simple. I lived a few years in Singapore where littering carried heavy fines as well as serious social sanction. Littering was non existent even in the low end public housing complex I lived in. I don’t buy the excuse the the urban poor are to busy surviving to care about cleanliness. They clearly know the value of cleanliness but just don’t care enough. Cost nothing to pick up after yourself. It’s just another excuse to transfer personal responsibility to others.

I also lived for awhile in a medium sized city in the South. Lots of poor black folks where I lived and without exception they kept their yards spotless. Grass cut, fences mended, the whole 9 yards. No one wanted their neighbor to “talk” about them.

High density city living results in loose social structures so people are not policing each others behavior as much You would expect the city to step in and play that role by way of tighter enforcement of regulations. Alas, what can you expect from an administration that can’t pick up the garbage on time consistently. Hence you have the situation we have today.