NewsNet5.com - News - Councilman Working To Change 'Ugly' Traffic Cameras

Good to see aesthetics entering the dialogues around here. NewsNet5.com - News - Councilman Working To Change 'Ugly' Traffic Cameras

While we're talking about it, let's revisit the issue of those ubiquitous advertising kiosks we've had defiling the streetscape since late in the White administration. With them, we can talk about aesthetics, content, and revenue. Once the city entered the advertising business, how did they do, and if there was revenue, how much was it, and where did it go? Have we as a public experienced any benefit at all? How do we know? Do we take this as a matter of blind faith in The Partnership? How do these add to the visual clutter we already have of Muny Light and CEI/First Energy poles, above-ground cable, and phone wires? Has anyone else found the content sort of dumb, or offensive, or offensive because it's so dumb? Am I the only one that finds these kiosks an unwelcome intrusion, or an impediment to progress?

Should we also be talking about adopting utility trenches? I don't think an area seeking to curry favor with new, high-tech businesses can have its wires so obviously all-above-ground. What are the 9-11 type concerns? What are the interruption-of-service issues, when the wind blows or the ice forms all over? And, finally, what are the aesthetics?