Are bins on pavement a total red flag?

[FelixDaHouskat]

Hi, we are moving for work from pretty suburb to larger city. The houses we can afford are definitely 'up and coming' - for instance, large houses in edgy/creative place, but with no front garden, steps up to front door type of thing.

Are bins on the pavement a red flag in cities? Am I being a smalltown person to worry about them?

The street seems ok and neighbours artists/artisans/multicultural (like us), but am concerned that with small back gardens and non-existent front garden the bins on the pavement may consist of a safety hazard. Please enlighten me.

So bins out on pavements because there is nowhere else to store them?

yes

I used to live in central London and bins were kept in the very small space in front of the terraced housing - not gardens but a metre or so where they could be placed next to the path, or in a bin store.

Where you're looking do the front doors literally open onto the pavement? If there's steps up surely there's room enough for bins not to be stored on the pavement. I wouldn't want to live somewhere where bins were out permanently personally. But maybe was it bin day when you were viewing?

What sort of safety hazard do you imagine they would constitute?

I can see it might be awkward if you have a buggy, or a mobility problem and probably into dangerous if you use a wheelchair unless the pavements are wide. But without any of those things I'm not sure what sort of hazard they would cause any more than trees or whatever?

It’s a red flag for an annoying rubbish situation, not sure what else you mean?

If you’re in a terrace with no front garden where I live then you have to keep the rubbish in the back garden (if you have one) and drag it through the house on bin day. You aren’t actually allowed to put the bins out early as they get in the way.

What sort of safety hazard are you talking about?

Gladioli23 - was thinking rats to be completely honest

There are just a couple of steps to the front door, literally no space.

It's not the bins on the pavement that would bother me in this situation, it's people walking straight past the window of the lounge, etc. A front garden of some sort is definitely preferable, if this is an option.

Rats are everywhere but as long as rubbish is being cleared regularly they aren’t a problem.

You'll always find rats in a city.

Red flag for not being what? Posh enough

Honestly no front garden and tiny back garden, what do you expect?

Eh? Surely it’s no different from a pest perspective than if the houses had front gardens. It’s not like a bit of railing or a hedge puts off rodents if they’re around.

resuwen, that's not an issue as the lower part of the windows are frosted and the windows are really tall and beautiful so there is quite a lot of space for light (think edwardian bow window) - street is also v. quiet (for large city) so not a lot of footfall. It's the bloody bins that are an eyesore.

What do you think residents should do with their bins if there is nowhere else to store them? Have them in the house?

ok, point taken, I am a small-town numpty and this is a non-issue, thank you for reassuring me :)

@RandomQuest

Eh? Surely it’s no different from a pest perspective than if the houses had front gardens. It’s not like a bit of railing or a hedge puts off rodents if they’re around.

Hahaha I love this - YES I did not think about it that way, I am officially an idiot

We used to leave black binbags out, we never had bins in our London borough. The council may know the safety implications if they are an obstruction. Where else can they be stored, are there any alleyways.

The houses like this in my town don't have bins, except for the small food bin, they are supplied with bags for recycling and waste instead to put out on the day, so I suppose you would just have a small bin in the back to keep the waste bags in

I'd be more concerned of the bins would smell in the summer. No matter how much you clean your bins and seal waste food, there is still a smell. Also maggots in the hot weather.

Mine are stored in my front but in a bin store at the front of my garden.

@orangeisthenewpuce

What do you think residents should do with their bins if there is nowhere else to store them? Have them in the house?

Lol, of course not. But there must be a solution that it's not having literally 4 bins per house outside the front door

@User7493268965

The houses like this in my town don't have bins, except for the small food bin, they are supplied with bags for recycling and waste instead to put out on the day, so I suppose you would just have a small bin in the back to keep the waste bags in

Sadly this is not the case, and especially if these large houses have been divided into flat there are 7 bins in front of the house :(

@sophienelisse

I'd be more concerned of the bins would smell in the summer. No matter how much you clean your bins and seal waste food, there is still a smell. Also maggots in the hot weather.

Mine are stored in my front but in a bin store at the front of my garden.

Fortunately people do not seem to store the food caddy outside, only the paper/plastic/glass/general refuses wheelies there

Better to have bins (I assume you mean wheely bins) than just bags of rubbish out the front!

Is there a separate access to the back gardens (back lane, shared alleyway between houses), or would you have to take your bin bags through the house? I live in a terraced house where the front door opens directly onto the pavement, but there are alleyways between the houses leading to the back yards, so you don’t have to take rubbish through the house and bins don’t have to live out the front.

It does look a bit unsightly, but I wouldn’t call it a safety issue.

@FelixDaHouskat

Gladioli23 - was thinking rats to be completely honest

You are never more than 10 feet from a rat whether there are bins out or not.