Scenic America recently presented its “Taking the Long View” award to two civil servants for their roles in helping to beautify a key gateway from the Pell Bridge into the city of Newport, Rhode Island. Scott Wheeler, the city’s Tree Warden, and Eric Offenberg, Director of Engineering at the Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority…

More than 100 supporters of scenic byways gathered at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington on December 6 to honor the 25th anniversary of the passage of transportation legislation that created the National Scenic Byway Program. Scenic America co-hosted the reception with the National Scenic Byway Foundation and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground (JTHG) Scenic…

Documents reveal that the Minnesota Department of Transportation agreed to spend over $4.3 million in public funds for the removal of a digital billboard as part of a bridge reconstruction project.  The billboard’s removal was necessitated by a project currently underway to replace the Lafayette Bridge, which carries state highway 52 over the Mississippi River…

Thanks to the effort of Scenic America members and the hard work of our affiliate Scenic Jacksonville, advertising signs that were defacing the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena have been removed. In response to public pressure the Jacksonville Office of General Counsel studied the law concerning this matter, and they concluded that the Arena signs were in…

A new report submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations General Assembly finds that human cultural identity and expression are being threatened around the world by increasingly omnipresent advertising and marketing practices, and in particular a growing commercialization of the public realm. To learn more about the effects of outdoor advertising around the world…

A digital billboard that kept neighbors awake and blighted a southern New Jersey seaside roadway has been taken down thanks to the determination of one local couple. As part of the settlement of the lengthy and expensive legal battle, the company that put up the Margate Causeway billboard has agreed to never operate a digital billboard along…

The latest edition of the Rutgers Law Review includes a note by law student Susan C. Sharpe — “Between Beauty and Beer Signs” — that argues that digital billboards violate the spirit and letter of the Highway Beautification Act (HBA) of 1965. After passage of the HBA each state was required to enter into a…

It has been over two years since the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) finished a study aimed at determining whether digital billboards are distracting to drivers.  And yet, the results of the study are still unknown, FHWA having said only that the results are still under internal review. A recent investigative report by Fair Warning may…

A major investigation into the systemic use of money and power by the billboard industry to subvert democracy is the cover story on the new issue of High Country News.  Senior Editor Ray Ring’s article looks at how billboard companies entrench themselves in city halls and state houses and endear themselves to some politicians with…

A new study shows that billboards negatively affect the values of neighboring properties.  It also found that cities with strict billboard controls are experiencing greater economic prosperity than those with controls that are less strict. The report, “Beyond Aesthetics: How Billboards Affect Economic Prosperity,” by urban planner Jonathan Snyder, is believed to be the first…