When I wrote the OP, I KNEW someone would chime in and try to pin this (very local) problem on Americans!!!
I walked the streets of Amsterdam last night for several hours. The trash was mostly cigarette butts, Heineken bottles and cans, Heineken coasters, newspapers, broken glass, empty cigarette packs, etc....none of which are sold by "american burger bars".
The filthy habits of the worlds (and Amsterdams) peoples who trash Amsterdam are not the byproduct of "american burger bars and tourists". It is, rather, a combination of:
- Drunks (mostly Europeans, from what I can observe by the languages they are speaking).
- Lack of local leadership to provide adequate facilities (although there are quite a few trash bins); there was a mound of KFC empty boxes and chicken bones all over the seating/leaning area at the Tram stop, right in front of the KFC at the Dam tram stop....no trash can nearby (but that still doesn't excuse the mess or the lack of cleanup)
- Lack of local leadership and ownership of the residents (where's the outrage?)
- Complete lack of local leadership in getting the daily mess cleaned up.
I point to Barcelona, which is one of the cleanest (sparkling!) places I've visited. There is an army of people with brooms/dustpans, and an armada of street and sidewalk cleaning equipment out every night. The broom/dustpan people are our 24/7. In force.
Party all you want to, Amsterdam, but for heavens sake, clean up your act....every day. (Former mayor) Guiliani proved that there is no mess too big or too nasty to keep clean. He also proved the link between BS small crime and ineptitude with larger crime issues. Stop the window washers, littering and graffitti and the larger crime problems will diminish.
The answer that I suspect....some brilliant social scientists (policitians) diverted the money for the street sweepers and cleaning efforts to something else, but what? Drug clinics? Welfare/entitlement programs for the addicts?
I have to tell you that I was expecting a "typical" European city in terms of cleanliness, certainly not Calcutta/Athens/etc....