Billboards
What is wrong with billboards?
It is not speculative to recognize that billboards by their very nature, wherever located and however constructed, can be perceived as an "esthetic harm." Most people agree, billboards are a stain on the scenic beauty of the environment. They contribute to clutter and create visual noise and confusion. We may rely on advertising to learn about new products but do we want advertising everywhere we look? Must we endure a commercial message every time gaze across a scenic river valley? Billboards have been called “Visual Pollution”, “Sky Trash”, “Litter on a stick”, and “The junk mail of the American highway”. In fact, virtually every credible poll that's been done reveals one fact: Americans do not like billboards.
The way a community looks affects how both residents and visitors feel about it. An attractive community has a better chance at industry, including tourism. Billboards divorce us from our natural and cultural heritage. Attractive communities and unspoiled scenic vistas are critical to our quality of life. Both encourage us to appreciate and maintain beauty and the natural environment.
Each new billboard that is constructed tarnishes our communities and despoils our countryside. Moreover, each new billboard reinforces the perception that ugliness is the price of progress and that our quality of life depends on destroying the very resources we most value. This false choice serves only those who benefit from blight, and it encourages us to accept the destruction of all scenic, environmental, and historic resources except those specifically set aside for protection. It encourages us to believe that only parks and protected districts, and not the places where we live and work and play, deserve our care.
Don’t we have regulations regarding billboards?
Zoning regulations do not address the new technologies that make billboards brighter and more intrusive than ever. New electronic billboards present new hazards as they distract drivers with multiple moving messages. Most billboards in Pittsburgh, built before zoning regulations were enacted, are not in compliance with current zoning requirements. Content control for billboards is limited so ads can contain sexually explicit content or vile and hateful messages.
Aren’t billboards good for the economy?
Billboard advertisements may be good for some of the advertisers and the billboard company, but as a rule, billboards are actually bad for the local economy. Billboards decrease property values wherever they are erected. Communities can thrive without billboards because most billboards are for national brands or out-of-state products and services and have no connection to the local economy. These billboards distract from the character of local business environment. Alcohol and tobacco products are the predominate advertisements on billboards in low income neighborhoods.
Billboards stand in the way of important infrastructure development because Pennsylvania law makes it very difficult to acquire the land the billboard sits on. The billboard industry creates very few jobs.
What can be done?
Perhaps the most effective way, is to ban the construction of new billboards, thus reducing the number of billboards as some are removed for development or other reasons. Scenic America estimates the nationwide total of cities and communities prohibiting or restricting the construction of new billboards to be at least 1500. Four states ban all billboards: Hawaii, Maine, Alaska, and Vermont. These states depend on tourism and have recognized that sign control helps attract tourists' dollars and benefits the local economy.
Tell your city councilman or councilwoman that billboard control is good for business. Urge your community and business leaders to develop and use official signage areas and logo signs for local business. Join with responsible businesses to avoid using billboard advertising. Develop positive working relationships with billboard companies to build and maintain billboards that are friendly to neighborhoods and contribute to the overall welfare of the community.
Why is this important for Pittsburgh?
Many cities and states rely on natural beauty and visual quality to attract businesses and tourists. Billboards intrude on the landscape of America and devalue our nation's greatest asset its natural beauty. Billboards contribute a minuscule amount to our economic well-being, but they impose a high cost. They detract from Pittsburgh's attractiveness to tourists and from the pleasant surroundings for our residents. The visual environment of Pittsburgh should be treated as a public resource, not just a blank canvas for commercial advertisers. Please help us protect it.