Ugly is Bad for Business!

Things that uglify a place--such as billboards, litter, and graffiti--scare away customers. Uncontrolled billboards and unregulated on-premise signs overwhelm us with competing advertisements. Rather than being informative, "sign-clutter" distracts the consumer; and no message gets through clearly.

Across the country, municipal planners know that business districts thrive the most when steps are taken to preserve and enhance their character and appearance. And according to Edward T. McMahon, director of the American Greenways Program, "A good sign code is pro-business, since an attractive business district will attract more customers than an ugly one. Moreover, when signs are controlled, merchants do a better job of selling and at less cost."

Sign Controls
and the Local Economy

Businesses benefit when states and municipalities pass legislation to regulate or ban billboards. These measures control and protect the scenic environment, making America a more attractive place to live, work, and shop. Yet many people in the billboard industry claim that reducing or eliminating outdoor advertising would financially devastate businesses, such as gas stations and eating-and-drinking establishments.

Scenic America www.scenic.org counters that claim:

"In cities and towns such as Williamsburg, Va.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Houston, Tex.; the period following implementation of stricter billboard controls and/or bans on new billboard construction was marked by steady growth of sales in those industries. In Raleigh, sales for eating-and-drinking establishments rose from $243 million in 1989, before billboard control, to $307 million in 1992, after controls were introduced--a rise of about 20 percent.

"In Houston the total retail sales grew more than 100 percent, from $9 billion in 1981--the year after the Houston City Council prohibited new billboard construction--to about $19 billion by 1992. For eating-and-drinking establishments alone, the total rose from $908 million in 1981 to $2.1 billion in 1992. That year, the city council strongly approved a new ordinance with amortization provisions to further reduce the number of billboards."

Broken-Window Theory

In inner cities, some neighborhoods are beautiful and clean, while others have fallen into utter disarray. Why? Criminologist George Kelling and political scientist James Q. Wilson discovered a fascinating trigger mechanism, one that very quickly turns a clean, intact, inhabited neighborhood into one that is smashed, derelict, and abandoned.

A broken window.

One broken window, left unrepaired for any substantial length of time, instills in the inhabitants of the area a sense of abandonment--a sense that society does not care about this neighborhood. Then another window gets broken. People start littering. Graffiti appears. Serious structural damage begins. In a relatively short space of time, a building can become so damaged that the owner is unwilling to make any repairs. The sense of abandonment becomes reality.

Kelling and Wilson's broken-window theory explains how neighborhood decay--both physical and cultural--accelerates once residents stop caring about the appearance of their neighborhood. A community interested in preventing larger problems--such as crime, economic decline, and depreciation of property values--should start by taking care of the scenic environment.

Inspired by the broken-window theory, New York and other major cities have begun to crack down on the "small stuff" in order to keep out the "big stuff." It works. Staying on top of graffiti, litter, short dumping, and other seemingly small infractions of the law, has brought about a reduction in the number of more serious offenses. In a similar way, controlling outdoor advertising can prevent larger-scale erosion of the scenic environment and can empower citizens to keep their communities beautiful.

Appearances Count!

According to Susan Bixler in The New Professional Image (Adams Media Corporation), social psychologists studying the impact of "image" have determined that it takes less than 30 seconds for one person to form a first impression about another.

Quickly formed impressions can be long lasting. Psychologists call it the "halo effect." When your visual image is positive, the person you have just met will tend to assume that other things about you are equally positive.

Research and conventional wisdom tell us that books are judged by their covers, houses are appraised by their curb appeal, and people are initially evaluated by appearances. Simarlily, we can assume that judgments about communities are made based on the quality of their scenic environments.

For years, savvy store owners and sales people have understood the importance of making positive first impressions. Elaborate window displays and well-conceived store layouts are designed to attract customers and increase revenues. Following this lead, private citizens and public officials interested in bolstering their local economies should work to improve the scenic environment.

In Pennsylvania, city skylines, historic townscapes, scenic mountains, and riverfront vistas are marred by intrusive billboards. It's time to start taking better care of our state!