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Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind
Freeman Life Editor Ivan Lajara and I both have used our blogs to express disgust over the proliferation of campaign signs on local lawns and along roadsides. Allow me to stick with the theme for just a little longer:
On Saturday, I drove from the Stewart’s Shop on Lucas Avenue in the town of Ulster to the Freeman office on Hurley Avenue in Kingston. This involved turning left out of the Stewart’s parking lot onto Catskill Avenue, then right onto Merilina Avenue, left onto Fairview Avenue, right onto Howland Avenue, left onto Quarry Street and right onto Hurley Avenue. The whole trip is no more than a mile. I counted 57 campaign sings on lawns along the way. Unbelievable.
Even worse was Sunday. When we’re lucky enough to get such a beautiful fall day on an October weekend, my wife and son and I like to take a drive through Ulster County and enjoy the colors, so that’s exactly what we did. We took Route 209 south from Kingston to Marbletown and stopped at the Davenport Farm stand to buy some pumpkins, apples and cider. We then continued on Route 209 into Stone Ridge, headed east on Route 213 through Marbletown and Olive, turned south on Route 28A, drove across the aqueduct at the Ashokan Reservoir and over to Route 28 at Winchell’s Corners in Shokan, and then took Route 28 all the way back to Kingston. It is not an exaggeration to say we passed more than 1,000 campaign signs along the way – every one of which marred the natural autumn beauty that makes this region so attractive to residents and visitors.
As both Ivan and I have pointed out in the past, these signs accomplish nothing. In most cases, you’re driving to fast to read them. And even if you can read them, they’re unlikely to influence your vote. Put simply, they serve no purpose – other than to pollute the landscape and make our otherwise beautiful corner of upstate New York thoroughly unattractive at what ordinarily is the most beautiful time of the year.
Maybe the candidates will realize this in time for the next round of local elections, in 2009, but I’m not holding out much hope.
On Saturday, I drove from the Stewart’s Shop on Lucas Avenue in the town of Ulster to the Freeman office on Hurley Avenue in Kingston. This involved turning left out of the Stewart’s parking lot onto Catskill Avenue, then right onto Merilina Avenue, left onto Fairview Avenue, right onto Howland Avenue, left onto Quarry Street and right onto Hurley Avenue. The whole trip is no more than a mile. I counted 57 campaign sings on lawns along the way. Unbelievable.
Even worse was Sunday. When we’re lucky enough to get such a beautiful fall day on an October weekend, my wife and son and I like to take a drive through Ulster County and enjoy the colors, so that’s exactly what we did. We took Route 209 south from Kingston to Marbletown and stopped at the Davenport Farm stand to buy some pumpkins, apples and cider. We then continued on Route 209 into Stone Ridge, headed east on Route 213 through Marbletown and Olive, turned south on Route 28A, drove across the aqueduct at the Ashokan Reservoir and over to Route 28 at Winchell’s Corners in Shokan, and then took Route 28 all the way back to Kingston. It is not an exaggeration to say we passed more than 1,000 campaign signs along the way – every one of which marred the natural autumn beauty that makes this region so attractive to residents and visitors.
As both Ivan and I have pointed out in the past, these signs accomplish nothing. In most cases, you’re driving to fast to read them. And even if you can read them, they’re unlikely to influence your vote. Put simply, they serve no purpose – other than to pollute the landscape and make our otherwise beautiful corner of upstate New York thoroughly unattractive at what ordinarily is the most beautiful time of the year.
Maybe the candidates will realize this in time for the next round of local elections, in 2009, but I’m not holding out much hope.
Labels: Sign sign everywhere a sign
posted by Jeremy Schiffres, City Editor at
10:38 AM
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