by TRC_Admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Controversial, Mural
Photo: Tom Benitez, Daily Commercial
“The clock continues to tick for a Mount Dora homeowner to paint over a massive mural adorning her house after the City Council declined Thursday night to suspend fines until a court sorts out the dispute.
Early this year, Nancy Nemhauser commissioned a stylized representation of Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ on a masonry wall outside her home. City code officers initially classified the work as graffiti and ordered it painted over, but the city’s Code Enforcement Department and staff recently reclassified it as an illegal sign. The decision was upheld on Sept. 29 by a city magistrate, who gave Nemhauser 30 days to paint over the mural or face fines.
Undeterred, Nemhauser’s artist, Richard Barrenchea, is extending the mural to cover the entire outside of the house.
On Thursday, Nemhauser’s attorney, James Homich, asked the council to suspend the magistrate’s order while he takes his case to Circuit Court.
He noted that the city did so for Main Street Leasing, which had five large signs on the side of its downtown building that officials deemed illegal.
Homich asked for the same consideration for Nemhauser. The council declined.
He accused the city of ‘selective enforcement…’
City Manager Robin Hayes told the council that she asked for a stay on the sign violations against Main Street Leasing and 13 other cited businesses to give staff and council time to review the ordinance.
But Hayes noted there are different sign regulations for businesses than for residences and reminded council that they will have a chance to review the business sign ordinance at a future workshop. She suggested a separate workshop to review the sign ordinance for residences and for murals… ”
–Roxanne Brown, Daily Commercial
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by TRC_Admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Bus Bench, Bus Shelter
Photo: C.M. Guerrero
“A cutting-edge network of interactive digital kiosks for Miami-Dade’s transit system may cost passengers an old-fashioned perk: shelter from the rain and the sun.
Outfront Media, the company that builds county bus shelters in exchange for selling ad space on the structures, recently warned it may have to abandon the venture if a rival company installs as many as 300 Wi-Fi-enabled kiosks at bus stops across the county. The kiosk company, Civiq, won a deal in January to spend about $20 million bringing the technology to Miami-Dade at no charge, partly in exchange for selling ads on the nearly 10-foot-tall pylons.
‘We understand that the objectives of the digital kiosk program are fantastic — to provide free Wi-Fi to transit riders,’ Outfront lobbyist Michael Llorente told county commissioners at a recent hearing. ‘But I can assure you that if that program is funded by essentially cannibalizing some of our top-producing bus shelters, a lot of those riders are going to be surfing the Internet under the sun and the rain. Because the money is simply not going to be there for the bus shelters.’
County vendors often warn of financial ruin if the government allows competition, and Outfront has millions invested in its near-monopoly on advertising throughout South Florida’s public-transportation system. It already wraps national brands around Miami-Dade Metromover cars, county buses and on placards at all Metrorail stations under an exclusive contract approved in 2015…”
–Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald
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by TRC_Admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Complete Streets
Photo: Cherie Diez,Tampa Bay Times
“Walking. It’s an incredibly easy way for most people to get around. It typically involves fresh air. You don’t need a seat belt. The fuel you use comes not from the ground via some harmful drilling practice, but literally from you. Yet despite all this and more, walking is incredibly underrated…
A group of environmental and consumer advocates wants to help change that, though.
On Sunday, as part of the Open Streets St. Pete event, representatives from Florida Consumer Action Network will create a pop-up Complete Streets scene, including a ‘parklet,’ or small park-like area along the sidewalk ideal for reading, sitting and observing nature or playing games. They’ll also install a temporary ‘bulb-out,’ which is a patch of sidewalk that extends out into the street as a means of slowing auto traffic and making more room for pedestrians and outside restaurant seating…
FCAN members also hope to educate the public on pedestrian safety, given the Tampa Bay area’s reputation for being grossly unsafe for pedestrians.
The overarching event, Open Streets St. Pete, aims to bring families (and pets) out to Central Avenue between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and 21st streets, a swath of Central Avenue they’ll be able to traverse freely without worrying about whether a car will blow a stop sign or fail to yield.
‘For one day, Central Avenue will be closed to cars and opened up for people to walk, bike, and have fun,’ said Lisa Frank, a campaign organizer with FCAN. ‘To make streets safe for people every day, we need to build Complete Streets improvements like bulb-outs, which extend the sidewalk and provide space for trees, restaurant seating and more while slowing down traffic.”
–Kate Bradshaw, Creative Loafing
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Additional article from Tampa Bay Times
by TRC_Admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Mobile Advertising, Technology
Video: KIRO7
“A start-up in Bellevue has taken the concept of billboards, made it digital, and a lot smaller. Nomad has launched the product on college campuses around the country — starting with the University of Washington.
On the way to class on Monday, Derek Ishii made $15 on the University of Washington campus.
You’ve probably seen a human sandwich board before — those people who wear advertisements like a poncho. Think of Ishii as the millennial version of that.
‘On my way to class, I just open up the app, click the start advertising button,’ Derek told us, showing us the iPad he straps to his backpack or the front of his chest.
He’s a ‘nomad’ — working for the Bellevue start-up with the same name.
Jonah Friedl, 23 — barely out of college himself — founded the company when a restaurant he worked for while attending Washington State University tasked him with developing a unique strategy to attract student customers.
‘If we want to put people on campus, put these representatives on campus — it’s really hard to do that — hard to track, hard to manage,’ Friedl said. ‘So we thought we could build some technology to help us out with that.’
Here’s how it works: A brand like KIRO 7 will advertise on the screen. The nomad then wears the screen around campus. Due to sensors in the screen, the company can tell which areas they go to and how many interactions they have.
Then, Friedl tracks it.
‘This shows density of exposure—where they’re getting the most impressions,” he told us, showing us a map of the University of Washington campus on his computer, with areas highlighted like weather radar.
Sometimes impressions mean handing out a coupon card with a code, seeing how many are redeemed — ‘and then correlate sales or app downloads and attribute that to Nomad,” Jonah said.
The nomads themselves — mostly college students — can lease an iPad from Nomad (the company) or use their own…”
–Joanna Small, KIRO7
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by TRC_Admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Bus Shelter
Video: City of St. Petersburg
“The spread of commercial culture into some of our most valued public spaces – from our public roadways to educational institutions and health care facilities is putting ‘in your face’ advertising in places that – unlike your television or radio – you can’t turn off.
Should we permit corporations to turn our every waking moment into one long advertisement? Scenic St. Petersburg thinks not.
In early 2017 a company approached the City for permission to install 23 new “advertising shelters” (this is PSTA’s term for these structures). This company has already installed sixty advertising shelters in other parts of the county. Currently, such roadside advertising is illegal in St. Petersburg.
In order to fund these shelters the city had proposed entering into an agreement which would allow advertising on bus shelters in the public right-of-way. Thanks to the feedback received from neighborhoods and individuals the city’s Public Safety and Infrastructure Committee decided on October 26th NOT to refer the proposal to the Legal department for development of an agreement, but instead directed the city’s Administration to find a way to fund not 23, but 36 or more bus shelters without advertising!
As importantly, these shelters will be located where the bus rider’s need is greatest, not just where the advertising space can be sold.
Kudo’s to Council member Darden Rice for finding a ‘win-win’ way to meet the needs of our community without spoiling the landscape that makes St. Petersburg so special. We also appreciate the comments of the candidates for Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg regarding selling advertising in public spaces.
In case you are wondering what these shelters would have been like, here’s some examples. Note the poor maintenance; apparently the PSTA’s existing contract with Signal Outdoor is not being enforced.”
— Scenic St. Petersburg
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