#HTE

Urban Design Observations, San Francisco Edition: Bizarre Public Trash Can

I’m from New York, so everything in San Francisco looks bizarre to me: The hills, the architecture, the parking meters, the street furniture. A good case in point is this public trash can, spotted on Cortland Street in the Bernal Heights area:

I can’t make heads nor tails of this thing. According to the perforated letters and the arrows “LITTER” is supposed to go in the bottom, which is obvious enough, but what is one meant to “RECYCLE” up top, and why the heck is that top unit shaped like that? What’s with the grate? It looks like something one is meant to grind a cigarette out on, but who wants embers falling onto potentially flammable litter below?