A solution to illegal advertising

I was recently looking over our Community Board's "Statement of Community District Needs" for 2010, a sort of governmental wish-list of things the board would like to happen. This bit caught my attention:

There appears to be an increase in the proliferation of illegal postings on light poles, street trees and traffic signals in the district. The [sanitation police] agency must be more aggressive in enforcing against this abuse that creates blight in our community.

If it were up to me, I'd get rid of all outdoor advertising and billboards, but commercial posters attached to street lights, sidewalks, and trees deserve their own place in hell. I don't know how many times I've walked by the giant water bottle hanging outside the Parkside Station and grumbled to myself about it. But instead of waiting for the Sanitation Dept. to do something, I found a better solution: a Swiss Army Knife. It's cheap, portable, and all you need to liberate a street light or tree from the chains of invasive advertising.

Comments

[diak]

Add to the blight list the posters — usually from the social clubs — pasted right over legit ads. And it would be fine with me if the graffiti vandals joined the ad abusers in that special place in hell.
I wonder... should that special place in hell should be covered entirely in ads? Or should it be a perfectly clean place that nothing ever sticks to?

One other thing: I think it's Sao Paulo, Brazil, that is experimenting with a complete ban on outdoor advertising and strict limits on store signage.

[carrie]

Closer to home, Vermont bans billboards. Hawaii too.

When it comes to graffiti, I really like this idea.

Because, y'know, if people are going to deface public property, they ought to at least make it INTERESTING.

[herb]

i once saw a PIT BULL energy drink poster wrapped around a lamppole, with its trademark growly dog. thanks for continuing the oh-theyre-so-dangerous myth. (i shoulda removed it)