New Pole Wraps Successfully Reduce Streetscape Clutter

[Urban Shocker]

The connection between an individual and the architecture of the street seems to me to be more fundamental than the connection between an individual and the advertising signage, and postering, and graffiti, that too often comes between us and our city buildings. Dial it back a bit!

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The problem with posters on poles is that it isn't limited to them, they make their way to many construction hoardings, concrete light standards, parking pay boxes, Bell telephone and cable boxes, to windows and brick of disused or "for rent" buildings, shop entrances, telephone booth kiosks, bus shelters, intersection light control boxes, garbage receptacles/newspaper boxes and the list goes on.

 

[neubilder]

The connection between an individual and the architecture of the street seems to me to be more fundamental than the connection between an individual and the advertising signage, and postering, and graffiti, that too often comes between us and our city buildings. Dial it back a bit!

You dial it back a bit.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

The problem with posters on poles is that it isn't limited to them, they make their way to many construction hoardings, Bell telephone and cable boxes, to windows and brick of disused or "for rent" buildings, shop entrances, garbage receptacles/newspaper boxes and the list goes on.

It wouldn't be such a problem if those putting the posters up took them down once in a while. When looking a pole you should be seeing crisp, relatively clean posters for upcoming events, not the tattered remains of ads for events or concerts held ages ago. Or maybe that's just in Windsor.

 

[picard102]

You dial it back a bit.

Oh SNAP!!! I'm going to call this debate over and won by neubilder.

 

[Lenser]

Postering types see poles in the core as prized real estate and some of them can be aggressively competitive for that coveted ad space. Which means, often enough, stuff gets ripped off and stapled over by someone else - and then they in turn get burned by the next wave, and so on, ad nauseum. Expecting that this behaviour will change is even less realistic than the attempt to outlaw postering, or even to confine it to sequestered, state-approved zones. If it's ever going to go away it will be due to an evolutionary cultural shift, not because of a series of fussy bylaws... unless, of course, those laws grow some serious teeth.

 

[neubilder]

Oh SNAP!!! I'm going to call this debate over and won by neubilder.

Apparently you missed my mocking tone.

I find it bizarre that Torontonians are so concerned about things like the postering of poles but nobody blinks when the scant few remaining historic buildings and districts are demolished or severely compromised, or when garbage architecture gets foisted on the city repeatedly. The architectural culture of this city is almost non-existent, but people sure do take a stand when it comes to postering.

The connection between an individual and the architecture of the street seems to me to be more fundamental than the connection between an individual and the advertising signage, and postering, and graffiti, that too often comes between us and our city buildings. Dial it back a bit!

Gets between us and our city buildings!? Let's be honest, there are not very many good buildings, let alone stretches of good buildings - to get between. Again, those that do exist are being eyed for redevelopment, but nobody gives a damn about that!

 

[RC8]

Again, I'm in favour of retaining the grit (plastered wooden hydro poles, graffiti etc) in a few areas like Queen East/West and Leslieville etc., not everywhere. - got it folks?

Good spotting with the photo.

The point is that you can remove the grit and create something great and lively, still. I hate posterers because they don't give a fuck about the city and would willingly destroy the work of someone who does give a damn. The same is true for most (though obviously not all) graffiti.

I think it's important to build environments where at the core of most prominent features lie good intentions. Destructive greed, be it in the form of posters, billboards, or demolition of heritage, should be kept to a minimum. Note how overhead wires don't piss me off much for that reason.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Apparently you missed my mocking tone.
I find it bizarre that Torontonians are so concerned about things like the postering of poles but nobody blinks when the scant few remaining historic buildings and districts are demolished or severely compromised, or when garbage architecture gets foisted on the city repeatedly. The architectural culture of this city is almost non-existent, but people sure do take a stand when it comes to postering.

We do but you are in the wrong forum for that, we are talking about those pesky poster people in this thread.

 

[hawc]

Messy overhead wires remind me of developing nations.

 

[Lenser]

Yeah, it's just like that all over the city.

 

[neubilder]

The point is that you can remove the grit and create something great and lively, still. I hate posterers because they don't give a fuck about the city and would willingly destroy the work of someone who does give a damn. The same is true for most (though obviously not all) graffiti.

I think it's important to build environments where at the core of most prominent features lie good intentions. Destructive greed, be it in the form of posters, billboards, or demolition of heritage, should be kept to a minimum. Note how overhead wires don't piss me off much for that reason.

/\ This is the zeal that I'm talking about.

Posterers are people living life in the city, mostly young bands or artists trying to get exposure or promote events for which they get paid peanuts. Sometimes corporate promoters hire 'professional' posterers, who cover a lot more ground because they have gear, vehicles, crews, etc. - it would be nice to shut those guys down, but the others don't bother me at all.

WRT graffiti, often (but unfortunately not always), historic buildings are left untouched as an unwritten rule and the ugly buildings gets sprayed (but again there are too many punks who don't get it).

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

"WRT graffiti, often (but unfortunately not always), historic buildings are left untouched as an unwritten rule and the ugly buildings gets sprayed (but again there are too many punks who don't get it)."


Have you seen the roof lines, doorways, walls, and other parts of most of the historic commercial building stock along Spadina, Queen, Bloor, Yonge, College, etc. recently? Pretty much every one of them is covered in tags to the point where I'm not sure many of those buildings are salvageable given their age and fragility. It's illegal vandalism that is slowly destroying a lot of the historic commercial building stock in this city, and I find it's the newer buildings that are maintained more vigilantly against this kind of thing. It's not that they don't "get it", it's that they're assholes who don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves. *They're* the enemy of heritage preservation to say nothing of the public realm as a whole, so tolerating it is not - architecturally speaking - shooting yourself in the foot, it's shooting yourself in the mouth.

As for postering, the vast, *vast* majority of postering is of the large-scale, Guvernment nightclub and Booty Camp variety, and *not* the mythical struggling young band variety. And it is for this reason why, thankfully, it is finally beginning to be addressed.

I really don't know where your perceptions arise from as they have no relation to reality whatsoever.

 

[Lenser]

A profusion of billboards in weedy clusters bug me far more than poles covered in band or moving posters. But yeah, I hate ugly graffiti tags that have no artistic merit... especially in the case of beautiful old historic edifices defaced by hit and run taggers.

Different standards as to what constitutes messy or unsightly.

 

[RC8]

/\ This is the zeal that I'm talking about.

Posterers are people living life in the city, mostly young bands or artists trying to get exposure or promote events for which they get paid peanuts. Sometimes corporate promoters hire 'professional' posterers, who cover a lot more ground because they have gear, vehicles, crews, etc. - it would be nice to shut those guys down, but the others don't bother me at all.

WRT graffiti, often (but unfortunately not always), historic buildings are left untouched as an unwritten rule and the ugly buildings gets sprayed (but again there are too many punks who don't get it).

Those are what, 20% of all posters? Probably less. As fiendishlibrarian points out the vast majority of posters are the corporate type.

Once again the vast majority of graffiti is actually in delicate brick buildings. I love things like this:

But really, the absolute majority of those who vandalise our public spaces are just morons on an ego trip. No different than a 905er throwing up on an entertainment district sidewalk.