Street Furniture Hall of Shame

This isn't what we were promised.

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Wow. Just ... wow. Bloor street at north-east corner with Bedford road, opposite U of T's Varsity Stadium. April 19, 2014.

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Bedford Road: Where Toronto’s trash bins go to die. North of Bloor, in front of the entrance to St. George subway. April 19, 2014.

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Got to love Dutch design! They even know how to do trash/recycling bins. Can we get some of that here, or must we wait until Toronto's contract from hell expires in 2027?

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Welcome to the Street Furniture Hall of Shame

... where we bring you the best from Toronto's streets. Or not.

Submissions are always welcome, and will ensure everlasting fame and glory to you.

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Dear filthy, broken trash bin: How can we miss you if you never leave? Please, go back home to Astral. Sincerely, Toronto.

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Hey, Astral, when you dreamed up those “form frustrates function” bins, did you contemplate anything like THIS? Or would that be too simple, functional and aesthetically pleasing for Toronto?

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Imagine that: the Netherlands has trash bins that are FUNCTIONAL and stylish!  Why can't Toronto?

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THIS (top) is a trash bin: simple, fit for purpose. THAT (bottom) is a disaster: broken (foot pedal and front panel), filthy and near useless. Now, tell me again how this new "street furniture" is an improvement debacle.

(Woodbine north-east corner at Queen; High Park Avenue west side at Bloor)

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And the 2013 award for exceptional design and maintenance of street furniture goes to ....  NOT Astral Media. Thanks for another year of filthy, dilapidated, non-functioning trash bins in Toronto! What pleasures await in 2014?

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The new bins suck only marginally less than the old ones. This "new" bin -- with front "decorative" insert missing and front panel open - rang in the new year on Parliament st., south-east corner at Winchester, on January 6, 2014.

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The old bins still suck. This delightful sight greeted passersby on Bloor, north-west corner with Spadina on December 21 -- nothing like an overflowing, broken trash bin to get you in the holiday spirit!

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Folks, we have a winning entry to the Hall of Shame! Burned to a crisp...Keele Street, north of Dundas. Many thanks for this remarkable submission!

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Flasher alert!!! This guy's exposing his front and back end! On Lansdowne Ave,  E side,  N of Bloor St W. @ Lansdowne Subway Station - East Entrance.

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The Street Furniture Hall of Shame welcomes your submissions!

Send us your photos of disheveled, dysfunctional trash bins -- and other street furniture blight that mars Toronto.  Please include the location, date of photo, and a description of the problem.  We'll be happy to post, with all fame and glory to you! (Unless you wish to remain anonymous, that is...)

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On King St W,  S side,  E of The Queensway.

This newly installed waste bin has been completely spray painted/tagged! Pic taken at night, so it's not easy to see, but trust me it's an uuugly puke green graffiti job!  Was reported to City of Toronto - Public Realm Division.  I was advised removal of the spray paint has been scheduled.

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Six down ...

"The City entered into a 20 year Agreement with Astral Media Outdoor LP for the supply, manufacture, installation and maintenance of nearly 26,000 pieces, which took effect on September 1, 2007."

                                                     - City of Toronto website.

Only 14 more years of filthy, broken trash bins left to go, Toronto!

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The losing combination: bad quality and expensive! A Toronto streetscape diagram posted on the Jane Moses and Robert Jacobs blog includes this info: "Trash bin $2,717 each: With narrower aluminum pedals and thicker cables, these Astral bins are supposed to be harder to break than their notoriously fragile predecessors were."  Hello, Astral? Where can I get myself one of those two thousand seven hundred seventeen dollar trash bins?