The City of Philadelphia will soon make a decision on a contract for street furniture that will affect the visual character of Center City Philadelphia and our neighborhoods for the next 20 years.
NOW IS THE TIME for the public to encourage decision makers to improve public transit amenities while keeping public safety and aesthetics as a strong priority over the use of advertisements in the public right of ways.
Read Today's City Paper Opinion
Improving transit shelters is long overdue and we accept the use of advertising signs to offset the cost but we do not support the idea of constructing additional advertising kiosks on sidewalks.
Kiosks are advertising structures constructed on sidewalks. Regardless of the design, excessive advertising signage will block pedestrian traffic, destroy visual character of our city, distract drivers and obstruct views.
Write Your Opinion on Question 16 at the end of the survey "How much advertising on streets is acceptable?"
This is the only opportunity most citizens will have to weigh in.
To View Town Meeting Presentations
To Read City Paper's Article on Street Furniture
Visual character vs. Advertising Clutter?
Public Visibility and Accessibility Sold Off to Advertisers in Madrid, Spain.
The Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities has issued the web-based survey to gather public opinion for the upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) on street furniture and advertising.
The survey states:
"By the end of the year, the City of Philadelphia will issue a request for proposals (RFP) from companies to provide and maintain bus shelters and street furniture. The firms will make the shelters and furniture available for advertising opportunities, with revenue going to the City."
The survey put out by the City focuses on what type of outdoor advertising you want with your street furniture. It does not go into the issues of whether stand-alone advertising kiosks are appropriate or whether off-premise outdoor advertising should be a part of our sidewalks. Nor does it go into where outdoor advertising should be restricted or prohibited.
If you would like to learn more about Street Furniture, you can see the presentation sponsored by the Mayor's Office at the October 24 Town Square meeting at the Academy of Natural Sciences, you can view it on the Academy's website. SCRUB 's Executive director Mary Tracy's presentation is about ¼ of the way through.