I'm more inclined to think animal. It's very consistent with claws. Claws won't make the same depression and they're spaced quite evenly. Second possibility is someone wearing a toolbelt, a big purse or something could have fallen against it too. Or done it intentionally I suppose. Third is vandalism but I don't know when I've seen someone "key" a car vertically so many times. And eliminating keys doesn't stop "keying". There's still knives, bottle openers, purses. Don't see how a door ding could make marks like that. And a cart would be possible if it's loaded and coming down a hill or rammed intentionally, however a cripple cart would have to be rammed into it full bore to make marks like that. Every one I've used would back away before it'd make marks like that. Moot point since you'll never know unless someone admits, witnessed it or you get a video of it from security cameras.

You might consider a long tv console in the living room and a horizontal gallery wall (or triptych) connecting the living room and dining room. Two chairs or the sofa with a console table behind it could be placed in the living room facing the window to help delineate the two areas.

Since it's an apartment and you just moved in, I'm guessing that you don't have anywhere to move this stuff to get it out of the way. How about a sketch of the room with the location of windows and doors shown on it. Then let us know the size of the furniture that you want to keep in the room. Do you want both sofas in the room, and able to watch TV from both of them? Is the room open to the dining room where the white table is? We need to know where to leave a traffic path, and where the doors lead to. If the TV location can't be changed, I don't think you have much choice other than the way you have the 2 sofas now. (Or is it a sofa, chair and love seat? Hard to tell in the picture.) Anything else in the room needs to be on the other side away from the TV. Just not sure what all that is.

We have a 20k budget for landscape and curb appeal. @flopsycat1 you are right, that side asphalt is 10 feet wide and trash cans don't need that much. Would the slope with landscape look good? We walked around the neighborhood to look at similar houses and most of them have a retaining wall with stairs and have a two car asphalt parking spot - this is what my landscaper suggests too. We like to keep the slope not just for trash can, but for ADA wheelchairs as well, when our parents visit.