SMALLER SIGNS IN HOUSTON’S FUTURE Approved by City Council yesterday: Big changes to the city’s sign ordinance. “The ordinance, which applies only to signs on the premises of area businesses that go up after Sept. 1, diminishes the maximum allowable height and square footage of signs by nearly half in certain cases, eliminates roof signs and regulates electronic displays, among other more specific rules that will apply to shopping centers or other multi-tenant locations.” [Houston Chronicle]
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this is good news.
What I can’t figure out is why these giant billboards exist in city parks? Hogg Park in the corner of Houston Ave and White Oak in the Heights has a big ole massive sign sprouting up in the middle of it. One would think this would be a priority for the city to address.
Why is this particular ordinance a good thing?
This is absolutely horrible! A small group of people who think pretty everything commercially oriented in Houston is ugly makes an arbitrary decision to stop sign.
So they are guilty of killing new or expanding small business and promoting people immediately outside of the city limits (which most people think is still Houston) to put up large signs. Billboard space on inbound roads just outside the city limits will become a premium.
I would support any business that decides to extend the middle finger to the city council by putting up signs that violate the ordinance!
It’s great to know our City Council is taking on the big, important, complicated issues facing our city.
A good start. Travel to pretty much any American city and then return here and you’ll realize just how friggin ugly most of Houston has become. A sign ordinance with teeth won’t keep things from looking run-down within 10 years of being built, but it’s a good start.
I wonder if this ordinance would’ve affected the 18-story neon crucifex just erected next to Pierce Elevated downtown on the side of the St. Joseph Professional building.
I got it, all businesses should put their advertising with some kind of religious flair so it can’t be regulated!
Brilliant.
I ask all of you dupes who feel that City Hall just made your life better by passing this ordinance: Is your life any better? Are those billboards still up? They aren’t going anywhere and actually the ordinance will make the owners make more since there will be limited advertising space. Business owners will have to advertise on existing billboards versus erecting their own signs.
Houston ugly? Hell no. Houston is real. Houston has the testicular fortitude to manufacturer good and chemicals that everybody wants but no one wants made near them. Same with Beaumont, Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge…..I’ll take Houston gladly over cities that are completely obsessed with looking good. Don’t we teach our children that it’s what is inside that counts. Or is vanity something that we should be deeply engrossed in?
“From Postmaster:
I wonder if this ordinance would’ve affected the 18-story neon crucifex just erected next to Pierce Elevated downtown on [two sides] of the St. Joseph Professional building.”
I WISH.
At the very least, they could have made the proportions a little more Golden-Section-friendly. :P
This is so classically like the clueless lefty social engineers the uniformed sheeple keep electing to city council. Never mind important issues, let’s spend our time on some fru fru crap intead. I am by no means a fan of billboards, but this is a waste of time. But, the people on city council have absolutely no idea of what is important anyway.
A step in the right direction but clearly this place has a long way to go. They should have applied this rule retroactively and tackled some of the other blight that plagues this city.
As far as the loud, seemingly small group of “traditionalists” that think that big obnoxious signs, huge billboards and tacky inflatable weightlifters are not ugly but “real” (whatever that means) well…I am sure that a sewage treatment plant or a trash strewn lawn could be termed “real” as well, but I don’t want to live by it. By their taste (or lack there of) one must assume that they are only a generation or two out of the trailer park.
CK,
I think I made this point somewhere before. The sad part is that the people that actually have time to pester the city councilmen and their workers are the ones you mention in your comment. The people opposed to this silly rules are actually working and don’t have time to constantly read city council agendas.
My experience in this is know the people active in my civic club and nearby clubs. They are filled with people that are retired or work for themselves in small home businesses so they have lots of free time. Or it’s people that when they don’t work only focus on community events because they don’t have kids keeping them busy. All this is from personal experience. I’ve infiltrated these groups and I’m just appalled sometimes at how these people think. They absolutely think they know how everybody else should live an how EVERYTHING should be done. God forbid if you breathe some reality into there conversation. They won’t have anything to do with it.
They don’t understand that a business might need a nice large sign to bring customers in. One constant sign is cheaper than constant print and tv advertising. Goodbye new small businesses.
“As far as the loud, seemingly small group of “traditionalists—
Starving Marvin, it’s actually the other way around. The people that care enough to complain about this are an extremely small group. The majority of Houstonians don’t care about this issue at all. They would rather city council focus on some real issues like police, fire, drainage.
Ordinances like these shut up the small vocal group that wants it. The majority doesn’t even know the ordinance exists now. The businesses that count on the advertising (even if it’s silly) gets steam rolled. I’m glad Houston is behind on these Draconian measurements. It seems that it’s been good for us to not have this and other “non-important” quality of life rule since our local economy is still humming along nicely. It’s must be pretty damn good here or people wouldn’t live here.
“It’s must be pretty damn good here or people wouldn’t live here.”
People live here because they have jobs here. When the jobs disappear, or people retire, most people typically don’t stick around here for long.
So I’d suggest that, when all that keeps people here is a job, then it really isn’t all that great here.
The vote wasn’t close. The ordinance was the product of extensive input from all stakeholders. I can assure the bitter few that councilmembers are voting to reflect the input received from constituents. The general public has slowly evolved since the days of E. Tinsley (1970s) and pollsters have repeatedly shown this. Thankfully,
the tide has turned; this ordinance is only the latest victory over the odd combo of faux-libertarians and trust fund babies living off grandpa’s ugly poles in the ground. The majority is speaking, and I wait eagerly for further successful battles against blight (as defined BY the majority).
devans,
The people that attend these stakeholder meetings are an extremely small slice of the voters. They are also generally politically left leaning pro-central planning types. Trust me, I’ve attended these meetings and these people have no clue of reality. They only know that they want something pretty in the end. Be damned with anybody’s business or job it may affect just as long as it’s pretty.
People’s choice to live here may definitely be because it’s there job, but if they were truly miserable, shouldn’t they find work somewhere else. Are you saying people are trapped here? I moved here because of work. I was initially attracted to Dallas, but after living here I like it much better. I love the fact that the city didn’t seem pretentious. I guess the people in Dallas I didn’t like are here in Houston and are getting there foot in the door to make our city a pretentious place also.
I’m calling Bravo Sierra on this putting small businesses under. If they’re so small that their only hope of getting business is erecting the largest sign that they can in front of their business and hoping that somebody drives by and decides to stop in, then they’re so poorly capitalized that they’re going to fail anyway.
@Random Poster – that’s my situation. I live here because that’s where the job is. There isn’t much incentive to stay in this town for me if that situation changes. On the one hand, the land is cheap. On the other hand, the town is ugly, the schools are terrible, and the traffic blows.
So we could create jobs by installing even larger signs than we have today ?
I don’t need a giant sign to draw me into any of the places I shop. And I’m not buying a new mattress just because there is a monkey on the roof of the mattress store.
Many of you joking about a large sign to draw customers are really self centered in how you are looking at this. Proof that you don’t grasp reality outside of your own little world.
What about the machine shop on Hempstead Hwy? It doesn’t serve typical shoppers, but serves other businesses. Large sign advertising for small machine shops are critical for example. What about mass production print shops? What about office supply warehouses? Office furniture warehouses? Typical residents never go to these kinds of places, but a business owner or an office manager may see a large sign for a company they haven’t work with. That sign may get them to look that company up. That opens up the potential for sale.
Get off the idea of a sign to attract you personally. There are many other people in many other roles in this metro of 5+ million people. I agree, a large sign doesn’t get me to go after personal purchase. When traveling around town for work, it does open my eyes to other businesses that I may want to work with an never considered. After seeing the sign, I’ll commit to looking them up later for consideration. If these businesses only make a couple of sales a month from this, it’s more than worth it to them. It give them that edge to help them be successful.
Many of you have bought into the flawed reasoning that pushed this through city council. I guess like the stupid smoking ban, there will be plenty of ways around this ordinance and it will do nothing in the end to stop a sign from being put up.
BenC, are you sure it wasn’t the monkey? How do you know that monkey didn’t speak to you subconsciously? Monkeys are sneaky.
So my issue with this is ordinance is that it just completely misses the point. Signs by themselves don’t make many parts of Houston ugly. Endless miles of strip centers and parking lots make those parts of the city ugly. How about an ordinance requiring better looking buildings? [Don’t worry, I know that’s neither feasible nor realistic.] Reducing the size of new signs isn’t going to do squat to beautify the city.
I wouldn’t patronize a store just because it has a large sign either, but I have to admit that having seen a large sign might bring to mind a particular type of store and/or a particular location. Jessica1’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on me, but I think that these signs just might hang out in a remote corner of my mind for later recall.
Devans – Could you come off any more elitist? KJB’s hittin the nail on the head in what he’s stated. One of the things wrong with Houston is how lock in step city council is with our hell-bent-on-higher-statewide-office mayor. If any of them had common sense, or a backbone, they would still be hesitant to buck the limousine liberal mayor for fear of political retribution. This whole concept of dictating to the constituencies how they should be living is just BS. The people in charge of running this city have far more pressing issues that need attention than the likes of this idiotic measure.
A few of you have gone on about how you just don’t like Houston and only live here for the work. Well folks, don’t let the door hit you on your way outta Dodge. There are plenty more of us around here that like Houston just fine. Too much social engineering by looney liberals creates a nightmarish economy devoid of employment laden industry. Look at California. Look at Michigan. I could go on and on.
KJB’s also right on the social misfits that tend to populate inner city civic clubs. There’s a good reason I don’t have much to do with the inner city civic club where I live. They have no concept of reality. I am the president of a subdivision’s POA up where my lakehouse is. I know what it takes to run a non-profit real estate management organization. The typical inner city social engineer wannabees serving on these powerless civic club boards make me laugh at how infantile and juvenile there lack of common sense is. These are the same types who constantly barrage council, etc. with their useless fluff oriented yearnings. And this week, the major’s lapchildren have enacted another pointless municipal waste of taxpayer money. Way to go.
This is certainly not a silver bullet but it is a step in the right direction. For far too long this city has essentially been the wild west of development where quality of life for residents has taken a backseat to the laissez-faire, anything goes attitude of developers and industry.
And kjb, how do you know that the people attending these meetings are not reflective of the community at large? Do you have some sixth sense to discern the true feelings of the common citizen in this city? Have you somehow conducted your own poll of the citizens to come to the conclusion that they think giant signs, billboards and inflatable animals/weightlifters are aesthetically pleasing?
I suspect the answer is “no” so, barring convincing evidence to the contrary, I will take the majority vote of the elected City Council and the voice of stakeholders as representative of the will of the majority.
Starvin Marvin,
I have attended these meetings. That’s why I know. I’m on two local boards that gets invited to all these stakeholder meetings.
These people are in no way a cross section of the citizens of the city.
How many people do you know in the city that will gladly go to the GRB or other large hall on a Saturday morning and listen to people lecture about development from both angles (but mostly the left angle). Then the attendees break out into little groups and thrust their wildest (non-common sense grounded) imaginations of how to make the city “pretty” for “quality of life” reasons. No concern of unintended consequences is voice. And if you are like me and decide to challenge their thought by asking some simple questions, they chide you and call you names. They can’t respond because they don’t have a valid response based in reality. Only good intentions (which never solves a perceived problem). That’s what goes on in these kinds of meetings.
Most citizens that have children or decide to actually enjoy their Saturday mornings off would never show up to these meetings. They are happy and find this city is perfectly good to them. Yet the city council members will listen to these bunch of knuckleheads in the stakeholder meetings because it provides cover. They can “say” that the community wanted this when it is actually a very small group of people.
Within the two civic groups I work with, I’m challenging them to truly begin to think about things and hopefully I can influence their thought to look at everything versus narrowly focused perceived problem. I use my background in engineering and the inner workings of the city, county, and TxDOT have them better understand their problems and how to properly address them.
Cool ordinance. All this talk about businesses needing billboards and big signs is so 1940s. This just in folks: the Internet exists! If any business is serious about attracting customers it will do its homework in establishing itself online, starting with an informative well designed website. The days when someone chugged by a billboard and thought to themselves “Must stop in there sometime” are rapidly on the way out, if not already gone. And for the record, I am young, fully employed and can’t wait til every billboard is wiped from the face of this city.
sidegate,
How are you going to advertise the website?
Most business (even in these modern times) get customers (non-retail) through billboards, signs, radio, and of all places yellow pages. Sales because of internet advertising and TV fall at the bottom for many businesses.
Welcome to the world of business and advertising. Your assumption that the internet exists so other forms should go away is the kind of thinking that makes these crappy ordinances.
The internet is quite useful, many businesses advertise or direct consumers through SIGNS and BILLBOARDS to their websites!
>…..How are you going to advertise the website?
You are kidding aren’t you? Or do you just enjoy arguing with random people on the web?
Okay, I’ll proceed on the assumption that was genuine question. Let me assist you. You may be aware of a California based startup that goes under the amusing name of Google. But don’t let that put you off. They are actually a serious company. Check them out sometime.
Signs and billboards work as long as they are in eyesight. With the Internet the only limits are your imagination, although apparently not everyone is blessed with one of those.
I’m with kjb34. I look at signs to find out what is going on in all of the neighborhoods I visit. And I’m always looking for vendors to feed my business. I take random drives to and from lunch to see what is in the neighborhood or area I’m in. In the past 3 months I’ve found two machine shops, two fabricators and a galvanizer. I sent inquiries to all of them. One came in reasonable enough to get my business.
And that internet startup Google? Good luck if you are in manufacturing. Knowing what I am trying to find, working every keyword trick in the book, it still takes quite an effort to get to what I need. I’ve googled major manufacturers names and received 2 pages of ebay links, false fronts and obvious position purchasers. Good for them. But I’m an OEM and I buy direct.
MC
Gosh I just don’t know how all these businesses in other cities that have sign regulations can make it! I cannot tell you
how many times I have driven up I-45 or on 290 or I-10 and not just felt the urge to stop the car right then and there and call to inquire about a vasectomy reversal. I also can’t tell you how many machine shops have gotten my business or how many adult book stores I have almost crashed the car trying to get to because of that darn appealing sign. Houston is butt ugly chiefly because of the proliferation of billboards, freestanding signs, telephone lines and roadside instructional signs. And for those of you who think the Council has its priories backwards, there are more than three issues this city has –and, newsflash, it is always a vocal minority that affects change–whether clamoring for a convention center hotel, a sports venue,
red light cameras, a swingset in a neighborhood park or humane conditions in an animal shelter.
Sidegate,
MC makes my point. Most Billboards today don’t advertise for you to just pull off the road and stop somewhere. They advertise by planting a slogan, and idea, something to where you can go back and find out more information. It’s form of networking and work extremely well for businesses.
JT,
if Houston’s ugliness is so horrendous to you, why do you stay. And don’t say it’s because of your job. That’s a stupid excuse. If it was so horrible to look at this city wouldn’t that just depress you to the point of not wanting to live here. Then at that point to you can take your sadden self to another city that believes in regulating ever minute detail of you life because you just can’t contain yourself when you see a metal post with some words and lights on it.
kjb434-
Your pro-blight stance is sad (as are your suggestions that people move if they don’t agree with YOU – not the consensus). I find your anecdotal “evidence” that stakeholder “input” is dominated by “lefties” remarkably naive and self-serving. And what hubris! Quote: “I’m challenging them to truly begin to think about things….”…”they don’t have a valid response based in reality”. These are, of course the people who don’t agree with you- The Oracle. How insulting to them.
I, too, have over 20 years dealing with TXDOT, Metro, Harris County, City of Houston and the often incestuous relationship among them and “pet” engineering firms, contractors, etc. so I KNOW you don’t have all the answers, and clearly your bias blinds you to reality, which is:
YOU (and yours) LOST. People who hate blight are turning the tide. If you think JUST LIBERALS could do that in this community, you are nuts. Your effort to tie this massive shift in sentiment city-wide to some piss-ant civic groups is frankly disingenuous and irrelevant. The fact that you may leave the GRB meetings disgusted says more about you losing (and your bias) than the stupidity of the other attendees.
Keep insulting the majority who deplore your pro-blight stance – its the last refuge of the losing party.
It may stun you, but there are thoughtful people on both sides of the aisle who understand blight implications far better than a biased engineer who has likely fed at the public trough.
“pro-blight” How do you get that?
That’s like someone who doesn’t believe man causes global warming is “pro-pollution”.
It’s a straw man accusation.
Please don’t use that word consensus. It’s been abused enough in the news and politics already.
I’m not pro blight. How is a billboard or sign blight? Blight refers to deteriorated condition of buildings and properties. If the billboard or sign were very much damaged, then they could be considered blight. And prior to this ordinance, the old billboard ordinance already took care of this situation.
Also, this sign ordinance does not affect billboards. That’s a separate issue. which within the city limits new ones can’t be installed along major corridors. Existing ones that are badly damaged can’t be replaced.
kjb: Your sweeping generalizations about inner city civic clubs are quite insulting. Perhaps the reason they are not based in reality is that you have not “saved” them yet with your perfect understanding. Talk about ignorance! How self-important can you be????
Really?
I have help these civic clubs push better arguments for their positions. When going up against agencies such as TxDOT, HCTRA, Harris County, HCFCD, COH; how the argument is approach will greatly affect outcome.
The groups hearts are in the right place, but I have assisted in giving them some tools to better make their argument. I have thank you letters from them I can forward you if you like of them appreciating my help. I still see myself in a small role. They have the heart, time, and drive to make their neighborhood what they want.
If anybody is doing saving, it’s the active citizens themselves. I can’t take credit for that.
Straw man, my …sss.
Minimizing giant signs, eliminating signs on houses, etc. and importantly, regulating potentially dangerous, distracting hi-res electronic signage is an important part of fighting blight. Again, that is the majority viewpoint, and represents CONSENSUS.
Read the article, please. This was compromise at work, incorporating a committee with ACTUAL stakeholders including some of your ilk; the difference is they realize that the community has spoken and their preferred “leave us alone” position has been obliterated by PUBLIC PRESSURE. Knowing they had lost, they logically compromised. Sadly, IMO,they “won” the right to grandfather existing blight so we have to watch it continue to deteriorate, but the pressure will continue. Your extreme minority position has no further traction. Where are your legions of outraged cohorts, storming city offices and/or filing suit? You got nothing. Also, I’ll use the word CONSENSUS when it applies. I don’t care if you think you hear it too much. Brother.
Your definition of blight is only YOUR OPINION. It is a subjective term, but Webster’s (after the plant blight references) calls it “something that frustrates plans or hopes” and “something that impairs or destroys”. The majority has decided that your pet signage is blight.
Your self-styled, specific “definition” is bogus and self-serving – and not in the dictionary. We will continue to whip you because we (many of us) believe that this junk frustrates our plans and hopes for our city and region. The consensus emerged that your pet signage, etc. impairs and/or destroys these aims.
But why quibble over dictionaries. YOU LOST – you’re losing here, too. Yes, IMO, you are definitely pro-blight, sir…but it doesn’t really matter. You simply represent the losers. Get used to it unless your opinions evolve.
KJB34
I haved called Houston home for 21 years now and did I say anywhere in my post that I don’t like Houston? Let’s face it, other than pine forests and the live oak canopies in the Rice U/Museum district, Houston has no natural beauty. That is a simple fact. Whatever beauty as a city Houston has is man made. Just because a man has a dog others consider ugly, he can still love it anyway.
Since you slammed me, I’ll slam you back in saying that because you are from Louisiana, you have no concept of what an attractive landscape should be. Other than parts of Texas, Louisiana is the most visually blighted place outside of Detroit. It’s no wonder you think Cottage Grove is nice.
I hardly object to a sign affixed to building–shocking but I even find the supergraphics on the side of a building interesting. But those soaring pole signs
and temporary rent by the day numbers are an eyesore. I-45 North is a perfect example of the excess and coupled with the fact of our exceedingly flat topography, it is just a lose/lose situation.
Since when is it liberal to want to live in a pleasant environment? Maybe it is just taking H-town a little longer to catch on to what most of the country figured out 25 years ago. As much as it kills this native Texan to admit it, we owe the progress this city has achieved in becoming more liveable to the outsiders that have brought other ideas to the table.
It’s so telling to read/hear/watch the unhinged left always stoop to insults and ranting in their always irrational attempts at rationalization.
Talk about CK,
Belittling an entire neighboring state to try to make a point. It does show me he hasn’t really seen Louisiana which is an absolutely beautiful state.
Maybe I should take them out in the swamps near where I grew up show them beautiful some of the wild life is. The aligators, fish, snakes, frogs, black bears, and small dear could give them a piece of their mind.
Funny how the right has nothing but ad-hominem attacks.
The right backs up opinion with facts instead of feelings…..
The facts are:
Houston has an overabundance of sign pollution.
Other cities regulate signs and business still seems to go on.
Taking a small effort to address the problem is at least another step.
And kjb34 needs to re-read his posts that are so clinically balanced and lacking in emotion and then explain again how the right uses facts.
If you disagree with CK you are a leftist.
Interesting. Utterly stupid, too.
Also, look at kjb434. Having been slaughtered in a real debate (by non-leftists), he quickly jumps on an irrelevant
tangent – Louisiana.
I’ll assume you at least know when you’ve been pummelled by facts. Good. Now, go eat your nutria-it’s getting cold.
The rest of us (large majority) will enjoy another small victory against the bitter, pro-blight, AM radio robots – and Houston is the better for it.
——-Posted by a non-leftist——–
Devans,
My reference of Louisiana is in response to JT’s assumption that me being from Louisiana means I don’t know what beautiful it. It was a slam against me and my home state.
JT-
****BINGO****!!!!
Your last paragraph (#42) is perfect.
Well done.
——Posted by a non-leftist——–
Kjb- Yeah I’m well aware of the debate; no need to enlighten. You’re the one who left the tracks, and I don’t blame you, since
YOU LOSE.
It’s your job to cogently defend your often ridiculous assertions, labelling, and insulting invective. You moved on to irrelevant swamp-talk, instead.
Maybe your Cadillac’s got a wheel in the ditch. Your nutria’s getting cold.
Devans and JT – let the name calling and immaturity begin.
I’m glad I don’t live in your world. I’m much happier realizing that when I see a billboard I don’t become depressed or sad. I’m glad I have real concerns in my life.
Is anyone willing to second my motion that we declare this topic even more polarizing than the Ashby Highrise?
Personally, I don’t see this ordinance having either a positive or a negative impact. In fact, in and of its self, it seems to be one of the least impactful things to happen in this city in a while.
Ok, so signs have to be a little smaller. No offense, but that giant sign two miles off the freeway? I can’t read it driving 60mph anyhow. So, if a competitor comes by and has to put up a sign next door that’s 5′ smaller? Zero impact.
And, let’s be honest here – signs inform you of the location of a business these days, not so much that such a business even exists.
What small business owner drives around town looking for a prospective competitor to one of their vendors? Whosoever does that will soon be unemployed. This isn’t the dark ages (the 1970s? =) any more. We have powerful tools for research.
And, no offense, that little machine shop is out in the boonies, and I don’t know ’em from Adam. The only way I’m going to give two hoots about them is if someone I trust tells me they had great service from them. Or, I start searching the *gasp* internet for competitors because I feel I’m getting a bad deal.
(Yes, I’ve dealt with a few machine shops, and every one of them came to me through personal referrals. I don’t know anyone who uses machine shops that just drives around looking for new ones to call.)
I can tell a Kroger sign from and HEB sign even if it’s only 2′ long, and making that sign just a little smaller isn’t going to do squat to clean up the landscape. Heck, even taking down all of the billboards within the city limit will do very little to clean up the landscape. Maybe if we followed the sign pole to the ground, we’d see where the real problems start.
Perhaps everyone just likes arguing?
Skrep-
I think the reason is because many people in this city are finally fed up with what the libertarian ideologues and other radicals have done to the aesthetics of this city and the quality of life here and are finally starting to push back. Perhaps “trailer park sheik” is par for the course in Louisiana or Oklahoma, but I certainly don’t want to live around such tacky visual blight.
Again, this regulation doesn’t go nearly far enough but it is a good start. I am glad the majority here has finally begun to exert some pressure to make some much needed changes to Houston. And yes, I will continue to term this as the will of the majority of people here in Houston despite the claims of a group of small, irrational ideologues.
If the city council is voted out of office because of this move to clean up the city and make it a nicer place to live, then perhaps the “pro blight” people may have a point but until that happens, I think it is safe to say that they are (thankfully) in the minority.
I’m for the ordinance. I would like a more beautiful city and I couldn’t care less about any workaday loser at a small business who loses his job because of his employer’s lost revenue. As an added bonus, after they become unemployed, maybe those disgusting people will finally GTFO, as I’m told most people are here for jobs anyway.
Kevin = Elitist
You really are ok with people losing their jobs because you want a prettier city. How much of disgusting human being can you be?
How is it ok for some guy to lose his job because it happens not to be what a group of people think is visually good to look at.
I’ll take a gainfully employed citizenry over beautification any day.
a more attractive city will encourage out-of-state businesses to come here. a better quality of life for all- there’s no way that can’t be good for both business and the genera public. i can’t understand how someone can be deemed a snob because they just want a nicer place to live. then again, i guess some folks like wearing dirty underware too. go figure?
I’ll take a gainfully employed citizenry over beautification any day.
Look, I read above that people hate it here and would leave if they had no job. So if these commoners are fired, they’ll take off, leaving the remaining citizenry no less gainfully employed than they were before.
But the city will be more beautiful. Not just free of unsightly advertisements, but if any of these blue collar businesses do go under, we will no longer have to live with their bland commercial architecture or have to be subjected to the hideous sight of their workers’ cars. This is like manna from heaven. What’s your problem?
well right now there’s really no other place to go to if you’re out of a job. it’s dead all over the country. we’re going to see a collapse of our infrastructure even more before it gets better because, frankly real estate vaules are dropping all over the city-even west U. so, the city is collecting less revenues from taxes. this means less operating budget for internal improvemnts, etc. i drive around the city-montrose, the heights, most places are seeing a lot of problems. we need to see our streets redone and bury those damned ugly power lines that makes the city look like one in a 4th world country.
I think it’s humorous that kjblank keeps implying that somehow all of these business are going to go under because of signs having to be just a bit smaller.
It sound like a line right out of the GOP talking points about how to handle anything you don’t like — claim it will cause small businesses to go under!
Sorry dude, no one’s buying it. If your business can’t succeed because your sign has to be a few feet smaller than someone else’s, you have far more serious business problems. Like the lack of any ability to run one.