billboards and bright lights
March 12, 2010 at 10:43 amDC, buildings, chinatown, lights, retail, signs
There have been several local news pieces lately about the prospect of two 40-foot electronic signs that are slated to go in at 7th and G St. in the heart of Chinatown. I’m certainly not the first to comment on this topic, but each time I read more about it, I just get more and more laughs. WTOP even asks, Is DC getting its own Times Square?” oh the horror ! Please, people. We’re talking about more signage in Chinatown, not Georgetown. It’s ridiculous for residents to complain about this… did they not have their eyes open when they moved in and signed their leases? We’re talking about the touristy entertainment district of The District. Anyone who was wanting less than LCD screens and neon lights galore should have opted to live in… well… ANY other neighborhood in DC. There is even a ridiculous Stop the Billboard campaign, which opens with these words: “…unless we stop them, these huge, moving-picture billboards will make cherished parts of our beautiful city look more like Times Square.” Chinatown is a “cherished” part of our city??? Did they forget what it was like there 15 years ago? The National Mall is cherished, Rock Creek Park is cherished, and there are 50 other areas I would call cherished before I would think of Chinatown… which, by the way, I think it could stand to be more like Times Square.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
woah woah woah grampa simpson…!!!! take a breath!
March 14th, 2010 at 6:29 am
Sorry, Matt, while I didn’t read everything on the “Stop the Billboard” site, they may be right about the precedent-setting threat of the proposed billboards in one part of the city. If the billboards are financially successful, you can look for them in more-cherished areas of DC. On the other hand, you don’t see them all over NYC, do you? Interesting question of who owns the visual space of a city. As I learned long ago, almost all arguments, personal or political, are about territory.
The landscape or citiscape is an important part of how an area feels – and how it is valued by the people who live there and by the people who visit. And no one really “owns” it but it affects us all.
March 15th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I agree that the “controversy” is way overblown. Chinatown is ALREADY a nightmare of sensory overstimulation; I avoid it as much as possible. If that sort of thing can be confined there, I’m all for it. And I don’t think anyone os going to be putting up billboards on the Mall anytime soon.