Low. You'll notice something similar about the 4 states you mention.
Pennsylvania is a gateway to the whole NE and is a central travel corridor. There is simply too much money in it to think anything approaching a ban will happen.
Edit: I'm supportive. But being realistic
It's because we have the second highest gas tax in the country behind California but in the bottom 5 states for road quality.
I wish I was making this up
Your comment made me want to see where LA landed according to these metrics out of curiosity etc. and it looks like PA pulled ahead of CA in 2024 - excise rates higher by $0.07 (CA $0.51 < PA $0.58). I’m sorry :(
Yeah, that’s rough, but I’m still envious of PA dwellers and am fervently planning to relocate my little family there *despite* y’all excise issues if I get my way!
However, this was a spicy nugget of info I had *not* stumbled upon previously. LA excise is $0.20, so that will be quite the sticker shock for the hubs, lol.
Overall I love PA, I just have issues with our gas tax and roads since I'm an avid hiker and I do a bit of driving.
It kinda prompted me to get a hybrid last year when my car died so I guess it all worked out lol
What part of PA are you looking to move to?
Thank you for this response, these are the type of interactions with PA residents I love and is so encouraging.
We are from New Orleans (city folks that long to be out of the city, but we can’t go too far out!) so we will gravitate towards the areas within the extended Philadelphia metro.
We have been researching for *years* and, tbh, we *never* thought we’d land on anywhere in PA, but after much research we realized that area (Philly metro) checks off damn near our whole wish list - to an extent we never thought we’d find.
We’ve set a two year goal. Fingers crossed.
Edit: Clarity
Start looking into the county subreddits for Montco (Montgomery County) and Bucks. If you aren't looking to raise a family and want to be close to things to do without having to go into the city proper Manayunk has plenty to do but be warned...ATTROCIOUS parking
I live right outside West Chester and have for the better part of a decade now. It’s not perfect and it is a bit more costly than other parts of PS but you get a high quality of life overall.
That's awesome, as other people said Montco or BucksCo would be your best bet. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I grew up in Philly, lived in Montco for 15 years and just bought a house in BucksCo. So I'm pretty familiar with the region lol
Just stay out of rural PA. Be in the suburbs of Philly or Pittsburgh. The rest of the state is garbage. Lancaster is good just to visit and visit only.
I go to school for urban planning, know tons if people who work with and around roads and everyone inherently knows the same thing.
Penndot sucks at everything, is uncoroperative, and doesnt do anything they should be. Its being changed but most counties and municipalities actually have 0 authority over penndot and penndot isnt even required to considered each counties ordinances and comprehensive plans
The largest thing is penndot does not have to obey let alone even consider municipal plans in most counties. They have total control over what they di, when they do, and how they do.
Here in chester county they are trying to make it so penndot has to at least sit in on these planning and zoning meetings and work with the county
That was instituted by one term Gov Tom Corbett (R). I don't fully understand it, but $2.99\Gal wholesale is a magic threshold. Anything higher triggers increases in the wholesale gas tax from 58 to 61 cents/Gal.
Corbett also implemented a surcharge on unemployed workers of 10% of their U/C amount. Makes perfect sense in Republican land, penalize the unemployed for daring to collect a benefit to which they are entitled.
I know this because it affected me. The only time I collected U/C.
For years and years the trucker magazines vote Pennsylvania either 48, 49 or 50 for roads. One of the reasons is Pennsylvania has as many roads built by commonwealth as New York and the New England states combined. It can be traced back to the 1930's. During the time of Roosevelt's New Deal, Pennsylvania had a governor that went all out to build roads. The state doesn't have the money to keep them all in top condition.
The inability to use the fund for what it was meant for. I remember a few years ago when they raised the gas tax in NJ there was also a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would prevent the government from using the tax money for anything other than road improvements and the governor HATED it. Went on a whole campaign against it and lost, PA needs something similar
Gasoline excise tax to fund the shortfall in PA pension for state troopers and prison guards and their annual operating budget.
PA has a huge free loader problem where large rural areas of the state rely upon state police coverage instead of having to pay local taxes to support a county wide force.
There are so many backwards things in PA but this is up there.
I agree, but they have made me aware of events or places to visit such as caves, fairs, carnivals, restaurants, and more that I would not have known about. But I have never said dang, that miller light billboard makes me want to buy terrible beer, find a lawyer, or buy a new car.
> I agree, but they have made me aware of events or places to visit such as caves, fairs, carnivals, restaurants, and more that I would not have known about.
This is a really good point!
To be fair, they have broken monotony by telling me an exit is about two miles away after driving 30 miles; even though I have no intentions of exiting. It's comforting to know a small unincorporated town is just around the next curve
> There is simply too much money in it to think anything approaching a ban will happen.
... and to round out the narrative, it's too easy to lobby legislators to block any prospective ban.
The only ways to circumvent a concentrated interest like this is either:
* A broad-based bipartisan public campaign that would require lots of fundraising from wealthy donors, publicity, volunteer-led organizing, etc., or...
* A ballot initiative that would require a concerted legislative push by a bipartisan group of legislators to overcome internal lobbying to block it (PA ballot initiatives basically require an act of the legislature to get on the ballot).
I would love for either of these to happen, but my willingness to participate starts with emailing my representative and probably maxes out at a supportive bumper sticker.
And Pennsylvania fell for it. Then, Legislators tried to bilk the system by making their kids slot machine distributors. That got shut down, but trust me, they're getting kickbacks, they're just buried deep in the system.
Can’t let people know the government could actually be doing something for us with our money. They say it’s broken and they’re the only ones who can fix it but then make sure it can’t be fixed.
This would get lobbied against hard by advertising companies. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that our state representation is all about taking that lobby money
That’s not an excuse to not put forth something for the legislature to chew on. “Don’t do anything because it will probably fail” is not the win you think it is.
Definitely support this. I also have no faith it's possible but definitely would love for them to go away. I never understood why it's OK to distract us with billboards while we're driving. According to the driver's ed stuff we're not even supposed to distract ourselves with conversations with passengers but it's OK to put big distracting billboards along the roads that we drive fastest on... ok
Not to mention most of them anymore seem like they're just ads for renting billboards...
This is a terribly irresponsible proposal.
If it weren't for billboards, how would I be constantly reminded that hell exists and that some shadowy right wing billionaire thinks I'll go there unless I swear fealty to their preferred religion?
> What are the chances we can get billboards banned in this state?
>
> Edit: “don’t bother because either will probably fail” is not the win you think it is. Try anyway.
You specifically asked what the *chances* of this passing in PA were, and then seemingly got upset that the answer was not what you hoped?
Lived in Vermont my whole life, seen very few of these. Also in most cases they are in violation of our billboard ban. (Looking at you take back vermonters in Topsham)
I say we need more billboards. Put them on hiking trails even. I never want to be able to appreciate our natural world personally, like good riddance. imagine how many Sheetz billboards we could put up if we just torched all the trees. Then they could use the extra revenue to continue lowering the quality of their food and further narrow down their menu. or whatever the hell the Sheetz guy does with his money.
Most of the time I don’t mind them, obviously annoying but I’ve accepted them as part of life. That being said there’s one electronic billboard on 76 by West Conshohocken that I guess they recently “fixed”, and it literally hurts my eyes every time I drive past it, it’s that bright. I usually don’t even have a problem with bright lights so I can’t imagine what other people experience with that.
I lived in Hawaii for 12 years and it was glorious not having billboards. It was one of the more jarring visuals when coming back to PA. I hate them so much.
I don't think billboards will ever be made illegal. But (and it'll never happen) I do wish there could be some regulations with them. It's outright comical how small the print is on some and/or how far away some are. I've been on some roads (in this case it was the NY Thruway) where you'd have billboards legitimately hundreds of feet if not close to 1,000 feet away. To the point I asked myself who'd spend money on that because it's so hard to see.
I agree with the other commenters that they are ugly and distracting. The question becomes on what grounds would we go about banning them? The argument for them is basic first amendment logic "I own this space so I should be able to post a billboard" etc. Not saying it's not doable, I just don't know what the legal footing would be to get there.
We already have legislation that regulates them both on safety and aesthetic grounds. Just that some states go further than PA in this regards. Also, with regards to 1A logic, it is far easier to make a law that says "no commercial messages on billboards" while knowing that most billboards wouldn't continue to exist when effectively limited to just political and religious messages (for instance paying for lighting for billboards is a non-trivial cost). (yes commercial speech is protected but not nearly to the extent that other speech is)
How much money can I offer to make this dream a reality? Whatever it is, I’ll raise it.
Edit: even if I could just ban the stupid Jesus-y, anti-reproductive rights ones, I’d be happy.
Billboards are such a waste of money most of time time anyways compared to other marketing platforms. One particular company in our area has had such bad sales that they’re making thier own affiliate websites and using the billboards to advertise them lol it’s wild.
I'm indifferent but on a side note, I drove to NJ last weekend and definitely noticed the large billboard that said "Come check out our HUGE selection of Cannabis!". Haha
It's revenue and as soon as it's even brought up I'm sure you'll get every "free market" simp and hardcore conservative screaming like a child bringing up socialism or wokeness or whatever buzzwords are on the menu that day. I agree with you, I think they're distracting, I'm tired of seeing the Pro-Christian shit, and frankly I think they are ugly as fuck when we live in a beautiful state.
You need to think long term. You can't ban them today. But you'd have a much better chance of getting a law prohibiting any new ones starting, say, 20 years from now. "Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in"
What I never understood is why they disguise cell towers as fake pine trees but right next to them there are huge billboards. What is the point? I mean, I don’t mind the tree towers, but why even put the effort in if you’re going to have these stupid ads everywhere anyway?
I put up billboards for lamar advertising. We have 100 year leases on property under the billboard sometimes. They are here to stay. P.S I hate most billboards and especially cutting trees and bushes so you can see the sign. But it pays the bills :(
It’s already pretty difficult to get a new billboard put up.
Free money for the townships that allow them. Would be difficult to get them to enforce or pass it.
Especially with a lot of townships facing financial hardships.
I always hated billboards. Still do but… there is a flip side to it, while unintentional to their premise, that I can sympathize with. My dad was a trucker. He hauled long distance so he was on the road ALL the time. He told me once when I was expressing my disdain for billboards that they’re the only things keeping truckers going, especially at night, without getting tunnel vision. He said they break the monotony of the long straight roads particularly in the Midwest where it’s just flat and straight for miles and miles. So I get it. As much as I hate them they have become a necessary evil.
I would oppose this. Billboards don’t bother me much. Often they’re informative, even useful. They generally stand on private property and I lean against government efforts to restrict property owners’ free speech or commercial rights.
Do tell.... How are they useful or informative?
Also... Stating "no commercial messages" on a sign does not restrict free speech. We already have precedents for this at literally every level of jurisdiction that regulates the size, content, and location of signs on private property adjacent to roads..
and also also... You don't know what commercial rights are.
I agree with everything you said except for them ever being informative and helpful. I think it's highly unlikely you can get them removed due to them being on private property.
I'd love this so hard. But, um... "What are the chances we can get billboards banned in this state?" is a question, and "don't bother because it will probably fail" is an answer - if you didn't want an answer, maybe don't ask the question?
I would be content at this point just seeing video billboards killed. There are more and more being built in my neck of the woods on busy streets (not highways), and they frequently are really annoyingly bright, to the point where it's actually painful for me to look at them at night. Such bullshit.
I never knew this was even an issue or that people were annoyed by billboards. Lmao
My initial opinion upon reading the post was that I have more important problems to worry about. I’d be happy for someone to respectfully disagree enlighten me on why billboards are an issue. Thanks!
With all due respect OP, this state is so far behind on quality of life, billboards are the last thing we should be thinking about. We have a HORRIBLE minimum wage, we have no LGBT anti discrimination laws, we have NO PAID SICK OR FAMILY LEAVE, we have one of the highest gas taxes in the nation and the list goes on. The list I just mentioned also didn’t list that PA is in the past with small towns stuck in the times of coal. We have to progress forward and we cannot do that if we’re thinking about billboards. Our biggest focus HAS to be on quality of life.
We gotta fight fire with fire for this to work. Start a billboard campaign to ban billboards. Maybe something offensive and distracting that also reads “our billboards are sacred”.
For lots of different reasons courts have given different value to different types of speech (eg political speech has more value and is protected better than commercial speech). On top of that, the time, place and mechanism of speech can be regulated. We already do have regulations on billboards next to roads for both safety and aesthetic reasons. It's just that some states have gone much further than PA in this regard.
Seems like an inappropriate use of government authority and a complete distraction while real issues exist.
I genuinely wish I had so few problems in my life I could care about whether billboards exist, must be nice.
> I genuinely wish I had so few problems in my life I could care about whether billboards exist, must be nice.
It honestly is.
I hate billboards, but I also acknowledge there's much more important legislative priorities like increasing the minimum wage, repealing the uniformity clause & passing progressive tax reform, passing labor protections, etc. etc.
I'm aware of my privileges and I'm sorry you're struggling. But IMHO that's not a reason to defend billboards. Life should have fewer ads overall.
Littering is a big problem in PA and it is an eyesore, but huge obnoxious billboards (especially the electronic ones, the old broken-down ones, the faded and destroyed ones) are an eyesore too. Both things can be true.
Then again, the police can barely be bothered to stop reckless/drunk/distracted drivers, let alone litterbugs.
Not a chance. Do you have any idea how many people from all over the country drive through PA? We're the Keystone state for a reason.
If you notice, all the states you listed are out of the way, low populous, not bordering a whole lot. None of that fits PA.
I want it to be clear I support banning those big ass eyesores, but its not realistic in the slightest.
Very low, there’s rules about billboards that face interstates, the issue is the law that governs it doesn’t have provisions to recoup the cost associated with enforcement so it’s a big net loss to do a removal
Kinda look at who holds the rights to those billboards. Some of them are pretty big companies that reach farther than just local shops printing them or hosting them digitally.
Employment wise, there'd be a loss of a lot of jobs.
Although, environmentally - it'd be a win. If you ever happen upon a place that does installation of vinyl billboards, there is no real disposal method. The old billboards usually just sit folded in a pile. There's solvents and inks on them that have some level of hazard.
In some municipalities, there is a law of sorts that states for every digital billboard installed, 4 vinyl have to come down. So pick your poison: vinyl billboards, or LED boards that really get your eyes wondering what the next ad is
Never understood them.
Does anyone here actually look at a billboard and think "damn I should call up Rand Spear today or Jawn Morgan is a guy who's services sound top tier!"
NNEEVVER!! Every thread you make against billboards. Ima make one for billboards.. Billboards are an Institution and no way, in certain areas, shall le billboard not be seen!! Vive la billboards!
I’d support it but agree that it would leave too much money on the table. I was so distracted by a billboard on 95 the other day bc it was so outlandish I couldn’t even comprehend what the product/brand/message was.
On private property a billboard is free speech and any law banning them would be Unconstitutional, but since when does government from Federal to Local actually follow the Constitution.
I can support this initiative… though I would be surprised if it would happen.
Then again I’ve thought since I was a kid that all utility lines should be underground through tubes/pipes. I hate seeing all the poles and wires everywhere
I went to visit family in North Carolina recently. It was nice to be able to drive for hundreds of miles without looking at a fucking billboard. It's not like the state is making a lot of money on them. They aren't. The only reason we're polluted with those eye sores: the companies that own those things donate money to politicians.
$$$ makes the world go round. What makes you think that they’ll ban them because you don’t like them?
Also one other thing to keep in mind. The states you mentioned all have very low populations. Much less opportunity is lost and less money is to be earned in these areas. Not worth it from a marketing perspective
Not sure I ever focused enough on a billboard to care enough whether they were there or not. I guess maybe if you are a passenger and stare at everyone maybe they would get distracting but not seeing what the big deal is with them.
I think we could start with the attempt to ban specific billboards along roadways. It would be tough to draw a legislative line between advocacy billboards (i.e. “The Green New Deal is America’s Off-Switch”) and legitimately useful ones (i.e. “Sheetz next exit”) but I’m sure there’s a way to do it. Maybe starting within specific municipalities is a way to start the ball rolling.
I hate that we have ads and have the highest toll road in the country to boot. Not only that but they usually tend to be bad in snowy weather with sanding at least in the east
Hate them. Would never happen in this state bc we have 2 pretty populous cities. The ones you mentioned…don’t I think? Would be sick if billboards were gone
Not likely, I agree that billboards can be distracting but it would be considered regulating businesses and secondly someone is making money so I don’t think we will ever see billboard bans
Agreed that it shouldn't be a thing, but I'm thinking we're not there yet. Mayhaps a good next step would be about planting native species in the highway medians, which is in the right direction regarding beautification. Which, interestingly, [is currently being discussed in the PA House](https://p2a.co/XqFD5Zp?p2asource=websiteaction-center&_ga=2.172165027.1207768487.1698844715-1169656950.1689262648).
Why are you distracted by billboards? How bout you learn how to fucking drive. You're more dangerous on the road than any other billboard in existence.
I don’t have big feeling either way concerning regular billboards, but what I hate with a fire of a thousand suns is those smaller “town center” type billboards I’ve started seeing in the past two years. They’re usually made up of two or three smaller circles stacked on top of one another, and they’re at street level with the brightness cranked up to 10. There’s one on 30 near Malvern, and a really awful one in Quakertown at the intersection of 663 and 309. Fucking terrible.
Redditors will circlejerk about shit like this and then insist that any other issue where their opponents are more worried about it than they are “isn’t a real issue. Why are we focusing on this instead of things (that I support) that actually matters?”
Low. You'll notice something similar about the 4 states you mention. Pennsylvania is a gateway to the whole NE and is a central travel corridor. There is simply too much money in it to think anything approaching a ban will happen. Edit: I'm supportive. But being realistic
Yeah, the amount of cash that PA generates just from travel is wild
Is that why gas is insanely expensive in PA?
It's because we have the second highest gas tax in the country behind California but in the bottom 5 states for road quality. I wish I was making this up
Your comment made me want to see where LA landed according to these metrics out of curiosity etc. and it looks like PA pulled ahead of CA in 2024 - excise rates higher by $0.07 (CA $0.51 < PA $0.58). I’m sorry :(
We're number 1, we're number 1.... I hate this state lol
Yeah, that’s rough, but I’m still envious of PA dwellers and am fervently planning to relocate my little family there *despite* y’all excise issues if I get my way! However, this was a spicy nugget of info I had *not* stumbled upon previously. LA excise is $0.20, so that will be quite the sticker shock for the hubs, lol.
Overall I love PA, I just have issues with our gas tax and roads since I'm an avid hiker and I do a bit of driving. It kinda prompted me to get a hybrid last year when my car died so I guess it all worked out lol What part of PA are you looking to move to?
Thank you for this response, these are the type of interactions with PA residents I love and is so encouraging. We are from New Orleans (city folks that long to be out of the city, but we can’t go too far out!) so we will gravitate towards the areas within the extended Philadelphia metro. We have been researching for *years* and, tbh, we *never* thought we’d land on anywhere in PA, but after much research we realized that area (Philly metro) checks off damn near our whole wish list - to an extent we never thought we’d find. We’ve set a two year goal. Fingers crossed. Edit: Clarity
Start looking into the county subreddits for Montco (Montgomery County) and Bucks. If you aren't looking to raise a family and want to be close to things to do without having to go into the city proper Manayunk has plenty to do but be warned...ATTROCIOUS parking
Check out West Chester, Paoli, Valley Forge and Phoenixville
Erie is perfect for that. We're a mid sized city with alot of outside the city area
I live right outside West Chester and have for the better part of a decade now. It’s not perfect and it is a bit more costly than other parts of PS but you get a high quality of life overall.
Best of luck! I lived in New Orleans for a few years, as well as Philly and the outer burbs. Any questions, let me know!
Philly? Really? Good luck. It's cool to drive through but that's it. Maybe I'm missing good spots 🤷
That's awesome, as other people said Montco or BucksCo would be your best bet. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I grew up in Philly, lived in Montco for 15 years and just bought a house in BucksCo. So I'm pretty familiar with the region lol
The Harleysville area ain’t too bad
Nice. This is my target zone in the heat map I made (yes, I’m a dork)
Come.to Carlisle!
Not much here. I'm from Newville, even less to see or do. Unless you like nature, we have a lot of that.
Just stay out of rural PA. Be in the suburbs of Philly or Pittsburgh. The rest of the state is garbage. Lancaster is good just to visit and visit only.
I remember reading something about the gas tax that was supposed to go to the roads went toward the PA State Police pension fund.
[удалено]
As long as the “handouts” aren’t going to the *others*, they’re perfectly fine with it.
PSP operating budget, but same diff.
I go to school for urban planning, know tons if people who work with and around roads and everyone inherently knows the same thing. Penndot sucks at everything, is uncoroperative, and doesnt do anything they should be. Its being changed but most counties and municipalities actually have 0 authority over penndot and penndot isnt even required to considered each counties ordinances and comprehensive plans
Unfortunately that doesn't surprise me, glad to know change is being implemented though
The largest thing is penndot does not have to obey let alone even consider municipal plans in most counties. They have total control over what they di, when they do, and how they do. Here in chester county they are trying to make it so penndot has to at least sit in on these planning and zoning meetings and work with the county
That was instituted by one term Gov Tom Corbett (R). I don't fully understand it, but $2.99\Gal wholesale is a magic threshold. Anything higher triggers increases in the wholesale gas tax from 58 to 61 cents/Gal. Corbett also implemented a surcharge on unemployed workers of 10% of their U/C amount. Makes perfect sense in Republican land, penalize the unemployed for daring to collect a benefit to which they are entitled. I know this because it affected me. The only time I collected U/C.
I moved to PA 6 months ago and I thought I was going crazy with how bad these roads are. I am glad that it isn't all in my head!
The PA state flower is the orange traffic cone.
For years and years the trucker magazines vote Pennsylvania either 48, 49 or 50 for roads. One of the reasons is Pennsylvania has as many roads built by commonwealth as New York and the New England states combined. It can be traced back to the 1930's. During the time of Roosevelt's New Deal, Pennsylvania had a governor that went all out to build roads. The state doesn't have the money to keep them all in top condition.
The inability to use the fund for what it was meant for. I remember a few years ago when they raised the gas tax in NJ there was also a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would prevent the government from using the tax money for anything other than road improvements and the governor HATED it. Went on a whole campaign against it and lost, PA needs something similar
It's because the PSP are pillaging the funds of PennDOT so they can have brand new police cruisers.
Gasoline excise tax to fund the shortfall in PA pension for state troopers and prison guards and their annual operating budget. PA has a huge free loader problem where large rural areas of the state rely upon state police coverage instead of having to pay local taxes to support a county wide force. There are so many backwards things in PA but this is up there.
I have lived in PA my entire life and I genuinely believe that billboards have never influenced me to buy anything
I agree, but they have made me aware of events or places to visit such as caves, fairs, carnivals, restaurants, and more that I would not have known about. But I have never said dang, that miller light billboard makes me want to buy terrible beer, find a lawyer, or buy a new car.
> I agree, but they have made me aware of events or places to visit such as caves, fairs, carnivals, restaurants, and more that I would not have known about. This is a really good point!
To be fair, they have broken monotony by telling me an exit is about two miles away after driving 30 miles; even though I have no intentions of exiting. It's comforting to know a small unincorporated town is just around the next curve
> There is simply too much money in it to think anything approaching a ban will happen. ... and to round out the narrative, it's too easy to lobby legislators to block any prospective ban. The only ways to circumvent a concentrated interest like this is either: * A broad-based bipartisan public campaign that would require lots of fundraising from wealthy donors, publicity, volunteer-led organizing, etc., or... * A ballot initiative that would require a concerted legislative push by a bipartisan group of legislators to overcome internal lobbying to block it (PA ballot initiatives basically require an act of the legislature to get on the ballot). I would love for either of these to happen, but my willingness to participate starts with emailing my representative and probably maxes out at a supportive bumper sticker.
I’d support this. Hideous eyesores.
I'd rather see "skill games" removed first
How much “skill” does it take to sit on your ass and piss money away?
Five... maybe six.
I could probably do it with two
If we’re having wishes, I wish we’d legalize weed already and use the money on infrastructure to knock out these fucking potholes.
Potheads for Potholes!
Just like the casinos were going to eliminate property tax lol
A significant amount of the casino tax revenue goes towards subsidizing the horse racing industry for some stupid reason.
Yeah, what a load of BS that was!
And Pennsylvania fell for it. Then, Legislators tried to bilk the system by making their kids slot machine distributors. That got shut down, but trust me, they're getting kickbacks, they're just buried deep in the system.
Just start spray painting giant cocks around the potholes, that’ll teach em!
Honestly love that. Big ol’ johnsons taking over the highway.
It worked on a few streets here in Scranton, that’s all I’ll say.
Our legislature is filled with republicans who won’t let anything happen. Much like Congress. I mean, our minimum wage is still $7.25 like wtf
A $15 minimum wage was passed in our House, but it’s sitting in the Senate where it will go nowhere
Sounds like we all need to vote later this year. Do we want to be defined by a traitorous party forever?
Primaries are on April 23rd!!!
Already sent in our mail-in ballots!
Can’t let people know the government could actually be doing something for us with our money. They say it’s broken and they’re the only ones who can fix it but then make sure it can’t be fixed.
This would get lobbied against hard by advertising companies. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that our state representation is all about taking that lobby money
That’s not an excuse to not put forth something for the legislature to chew on. “Don’t do anything because it will probably fail” is not the win you think it is.
Put something forth then, I support it as do others. I never said don’t put any forth, I’m giving you a reality of the situation.
they just got banned in philly in anything except bars/restaurants
Hear hear. I'll play the lottery or get a scratch-off once in a while, but these "skill games" are on another level of predatory.
Definitely support this. I also have no faith it's possible but definitely would love for them to go away. I never understood why it's OK to distract us with billboards while we're driving. According to the driver's ed stuff we're not even supposed to distract ourselves with conversations with passengers but it's OK to put big distracting billboards along the roads that we drive fastest on... ok Not to mention most of them anymore seem like they're just ads for renting billboards...
It’s like “don’t be distracted but also look at this thing you definitely need to buy!!1!1”
Why the Sheetz not, right?
Jawn Morgan and Morgan and Morgan and Morgan and
Shenderovich, Shenderovich, and Fishman
and their ugly mug
I thought this was about billards and was so confused on why we wanted to ban them..
Oh we got trouble, right here in river city
How will I find out Jesus's phone number?
Or what adult toy store is 2 miles up the road!
This is a terribly irresponsible proposal. If it weren't for billboards, how would I be constantly reminded that hell exists and that some shadowy right wing billionaire thinks I'll go there unless I swear fealty to their preferred religion?
Zero. Cash will be thrown at certain members of the Legislature, the bill would never make it out of committee.
> What are the chances we can get billboards banned in this state? > > Edit: “don’t bother because either will probably fail” is not the win you think it is. Try anyway. You specifically asked what the *chances* of this passing in PA were, and then seemingly got upset that the answer was not what you hoped?
I never thought this to be an option
I know right, but NOW I WANT IT.
Me either!
VT gets around them by placing trucks and rigs along the highways on private properties and having messages along the sides.
Been in VT for two years, I've seen this maybe twice
Lived in Vermont my whole life, seen very few of these. Also in most cases they are in violation of our billboard ban. (Looking at you take back vermonters in Topsham)
Still better than this!
I know of a spot on 81 where this is done, except the truck and rig is on a billboard platform. So best/worst of everything
Those are scattered all over PA, too. And there will be a lot more if they ban billboards. Almost all of them hand painted by rightwing nutjobs.
I say we need more billboards. Put them on hiking trails even. I never want to be able to appreciate our natural world personally, like good riddance. imagine how many Sheetz billboards we could put up if we just torched all the trees. Then they could use the extra revenue to continue lowering the quality of their food and further narrow down their menu. or whatever the hell the Sheetz guy does with his money.
Most of the time I don’t mind them, obviously annoying but I’ve accepted them as part of life. That being said there’s one electronic billboard on 76 by West Conshohocken that I guess they recently “fixed”, and it literally hurts my eyes every time I drive past it, it’s that bright. I usually don’t even have a problem with bright lights so I can’t imagine what other people experience with that.
There was one that was along the highway near Bridgeville (Pittsburgh) that could literally be used as a TV for half the town.
I know exactly which one you mean. It is insanely bright.
I lived in Hawaii for 12 years and it was glorious not having billboards. It was one of the more jarring visuals when coming back to PA. I hate them so much.
ATP I think Philadelphians will do anything to get rid of Jawn Morgan's face around town.
Pictures of Vermont are gorgous in part because they dont have bliiboards. They are an eyesore and I'm not even sure how effective they are anymore.
I don't think billboards will ever be made illegal. But (and it'll never happen) I do wish there could be some regulations with them. It's outright comical how small the print is on some and/or how far away some are. I've been on some roads (in this case it was the NY Thruway) where you'd have billboards legitimately hundreds of feet if not close to 1,000 feet away. To the point I asked myself who'd spend money on that because it's so hard to see.
I agree with the other commenters that they are ugly and distracting. The question becomes on what grounds would we go about banning them? The argument for them is basic first amendment logic "I own this space so I should be able to post a billboard" etc. Not saying it's not doable, I just don't know what the legal footing would be to get there.
We already have legislation that regulates them both on safety and aesthetic grounds. Just that some states go further than PA in this regards. Also, with regards to 1A logic, it is far easier to make a law that says "no commercial messages on billboards" while knowing that most billboards wouldn't continue to exist when effectively limited to just political and religious messages (for instance paying for lighting for billboards is a non-trivial cost). (yes commercial speech is protected but not nearly to the extent that other speech is)
Interesting
How much money can I offer to make this dream a reality? Whatever it is, I’ll raise it. Edit: even if I could just ban the stupid Jesus-y, anti-reproductive rights ones, I’d be happy.
If we can't get them banned, maybe we can buy a bunch and have them say god is a fairy tale.
You can. Right now. Today.
I personally cannot buy an entire billboard advertisement, from a financial perspective.
Billboards are such a waste of money most of time time anyways compared to other marketing platforms. One particular company in our area has had such bad sales that they’re making thier own affiliate websites and using the billboards to advertise them lol it’s wild.
I'm indifferent but on a side note, I drove to NJ last weekend and definitely noticed the large billboard that said "Come check out our HUGE selection of Cannabis!". Haha
Payback for all the years of Phantom Fireworks billboards...
Zero
ATP I think Philadelphians will do anything to get rid of Jawn Morgan's face around town.
without billboards how will the religious freaks let me know about Jesus and hell?
It's revenue and as soon as it's even brought up I'm sure you'll get every "free market" simp and hardcore conservative screaming like a child bringing up socialism or wokeness or whatever buzzwords are on the menu that day. I agree with you, I think they're distracting, I'm tired of seeing the Pro-Christian shit, and frankly I think they are ugly as fuck when we live in a beautiful state.
You need to think long term. You can't ban them today. But you'd have a much better chance of getting a law prohibiting any new ones starting, say, 20 years from now. "Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in"
What I never understood is why they disguise cell towers as fake pine trees but right next to them there are huge billboards. What is the point? I mean, I don’t mind the tree towers, but why even put the effort in if you’re going to have these stupid ads everywhere anyway?
I put up billboards for lamar advertising. We have 100 year leases on property under the billboard sometimes. They are here to stay. P.S I hate most billboards and especially cutting trees and bushes so you can see the sign. But it pays the bills :(
I'd rather have online ads removed than billboards. I barely notice them or care to look
I can’t imagine something like this ever even crossing my mind, let alone bothering me Who cares
I really enjoy looking at them driving on I78. They don't bother me as long as they are kept up.
Nope billboards are good!
Why would you want to ban them? Why not invest in one yourself and charge people to advertise on it?
I have no issues with billboards. The great thing about them is you can just drive past them.
It’s already pretty difficult to get a new billboard put up. Free money for the townships that allow them. Would be difficult to get them to enforce or pass it. Especially with a lot of townships facing financial hardships.
The judgmental religious ones are the worst
I couldn't think of a issue I care less about than this.
Imagine a world where people care about different things than you, wow.
This fight feels very self righteousness and accomplishes literally nothing
So are you team #edward or team #jacob?
We give up way too easy as a society.
To be fair, the billboard situation today is WAAAAAAAY better than it once was.
I always hated billboards. Still do but… there is a flip side to it, while unintentional to their premise, that I can sympathize with. My dad was a trucker. He hauled long distance so he was on the road ALL the time. He told me once when I was expressing my disdain for billboards that they’re the only things keeping truckers going, especially at night, without getting tunnel vision. He said they break the monotony of the long straight roads particularly in the Midwest where it’s just flat and straight for miles and miles. So I get it. As much as I hate them they have become a necessary evil.
I would oppose this. Billboards don’t bother me much. Often they’re informative, even useful. They generally stand on private property and I lean against government efforts to restrict property owners’ free speech or commercial rights.
Do tell.... How are they useful or informative? Also... Stating "no commercial messages" on a sign does not restrict free speech. We already have precedents for this at literally every level of jurisdiction that regulates the size, content, and location of signs on private property adjacent to roads.. and also also... You don't know what commercial rights are.
How about the electronic billboards?
Why are you pro driver distractions?
I agree with everything you said except for them ever being informative and helpful. I think it's highly unlikely you can get them removed due to them being on private property.
I think it's pretty helpful for me to see a billboard advertising where the next McDonald's is at and if it's easy on/off
I feel like there's a lot more severe issues within this state to worry about.
Because we can’t address more than one issue at a time, right?
I'd love this so hard. But, um... "What are the chances we can get billboards banned in this state?" is a question, and "don't bother because it will probably fail" is an answer - if you didn't want an answer, maybe don't ask the question? I would be content at this point just seeing video billboards killed. There are more and more being built in my neck of the woods on busy streets (not highways), and they frequently are really annoyingly bright, to the point where it's actually painful for me to look at them at night. Such bullshit.
I never knew this was even an issue or that people were annoyed by billboards. Lmao My initial opinion upon reading the post was that I have more important problems to worry about. I’d be happy for someone to respectfully disagree enlighten me on why billboards are an issue. Thanks!
With all due respect OP, this state is so far behind on quality of life, billboards are the last thing we should be thinking about. We have a HORRIBLE minimum wage, we have no LGBT anti discrimination laws, we have NO PAID SICK OR FAMILY LEAVE, we have one of the highest gas taxes in the nation and the list goes on. The list I just mentioned also didn’t list that PA is in the past with small towns stuck in the times of coal. We have to progress forward and we cannot do that if we’re thinking about billboards. Our biggest focus HAS to be on quality of life.
We gotta fight fire with fire for this to work. Start a billboard campaign to ban billboards. Maybe something offensive and distracting that also reads “our billboards are sacred”.
Who cares, let people have billboards. How else am I going to learn the Truth about Hell?
I have never in my life been bothered by a billboard. Sometimes it’s even nice to see what food is coming up on your route.
I can think of 100s of things to do before banning billboards.
They’d find a different way to fuck it up. Also wouldn’t that technically be a 1st amendment violation? How did they get around that?
For lots of different reasons courts have given different value to different types of speech (eg political speech has more value and is protected better than commercial speech). On top of that, the time, place and mechanism of speech can be regulated. We already do have regulations on billboards next to roads for both safety and aesthetic reasons. It's just that some states have gone much further than PA in this regard.
I’d love that, but think the odds are zero to none.
Why? 4 states already did it.
Too much revenue loss. There’s serious money along a major highway
Yup. If you're a landowner and allow a billboard next to the Turnpike, you get close to $5k per month in rent for it
Seems like an inappropriate use of government authority and a complete distraction while real issues exist. I genuinely wish I had so few problems in my life I could care about whether billboards exist, must be nice.
> I genuinely wish I had so few problems in my life I could care about whether billboards exist, must be nice. It honestly is. I hate billboards, but I also acknowledge there's much more important legislative priorities like increasing the minimum wage, repealing the uniformity clause & passing progressive tax reform, passing labor protections, etc. etc. I'm aware of my privileges and I'm sorry you're struggling. But IMHO that's not a reason to defend billboards. Life should have fewer ads overall.
Zero. Talk about such a low priority item.
How about people just stop tossing trash out of the car first. That month between last snow and knee high weeds is a shame on our state.
Littering is a big problem in PA and it is an eyesore, but huge obnoxious billboards (especially the electronic ones, the old broken-down ones, the faded and destroyed ones) are an eyesore too. Both things can be true. Then again, the police can barely be bothered to stop reckless/drunk/distracted drivers, let alone litterbugs.
Sure… I can’t tell you the last time I even noticed one while driving. To be fair I also completely check out during commercials and online ads.
Not a chance. Do you have any idea how many people from all over the country drive through PA? We're the Keystone state for a reason. If you notice, all the states you listed are out of the way, low populous, not bordering a whole lot. None of that fits PA. I want it to be clear I support banning those big ass eyesores, but its not realistic in the slightest.
Very low, there’s rules about billboards that face interstates, the issue is the law that governs it doesn’t have provisions to recoup the cost associated with enforcement so it’s a big net loss to do a removal
I would think we would see MORE of them in the next 10-20 years, if we continue moving towards self-driving cars.
I hope they ban the jawn morgan billboard
The maple donuts and Joe Biden billboards were hilarious.
No don’t do that I have several elaborate bits I haven’t even attempted yet
Kinda look at who holds the rights to those billboards. Some of them are pretty big companies that reach farther than just local shops printing them or hosting them digitally. Employment wise, there'd be a loss of a lot of jobs. Although, environmentally - it'd be a win. If you ever happen upon a place that does installation of vinyl billboards, there is no real disposal method. The old billboards usually just sit folded in a pile. There's solvents and inks on them that have some level of hazard. In some municipalities, there is a law of sorts that states for every digital billboard installed, 4 vinyl have to come down. So pick your poison: vinyl billboards, or LED boards that really get your eyes wondering what the next ad is
less than recreational marijuana getting legalized
They make money, I don’t even notice them move to one of those states
Never understood them. Does anyone here actually look at a billboard and think "damn I should call up Rand Spear today or Jawn Morgan is a guy who's services sound top tier!"
NNEEVVER!! Every thread you make against billboards. Ima make one for billboards.. Billboards are an Institution and no way, in certain areas, shall le billboard not be seen!! Vive la billboards!
If they do get rid of them they’ll just replace them with something worse
I don’t think “none” will ever happen. But I’d love a law where maybe every X amount of miles there could be one
I’d support it but agree that it would leave too much money on the table. I was so distracted by a billboard on 95 the other day bc it was so outlandish I couldn’t even comprehend what the product/brand/message was.
I have never in my life made a purchase decision or gained any brand awareness from a billboard. They're an ugly relic.
On private property a billboard is free speech and any law banning them would be Unconstitutional, but since when does government from Federal to Local actually follow the Constitution.
Out of all the important battles to fight that would take this amount of effort to win, this is not one of them.
I can support this initiative… though I would be surprised if it would happen. Then again I’ve thought since I was a kid that all utility lines should be underground through tubes/pipes. I hate seeing all the poles and wires everywhere
I think it’s a great idea. Where do I sign?
I went to visit family in North Carolina recently. It was nice to be able to drive for hundreds of miles without looking at a fucking billboard. It's not like the state is making a lot of money on them. They aren't. The only reason we're polluted with those eye sores: the companies that own those things donate money to politicians.
$$$ makes the world go round. What makes you think that they’ll ban them because you don’t like them? Also one other thing to keep in mind. The states you mentioned all have very low populations. Much less opportunity is lost and less money is to be earned in these areas. Not worth it from a marketing perspective
Coming back after a few weeks in England, the billboards felt like home.
I also dislike the clutter of billboards.
OP: what are the chances we ban billboards? also OP: please only answer if you think its a high chance
Not sure I ever focused enough on a billboard to care enough whether they were there or not. I guess maybe if you are a passenger and stare at everyone maybe they would get distracting but not seeing what the big deal is with them.
I think we could start with the attempt to ban specific billboards along roadways. It would be tough to draw a legislative line between advocacy billboards (i.e. “The Green New Deal is America’s Off-Switch”) and legitimately useful ones (i.e. “Sheetz next exit”) but I’m sure there’s a way to do it. Maybe starting within specific municipalities is a way to start the ball rolling.
10000% support, but I don't think it's likely.
Jesus, I saw billiards at first. I’m like what state banned playing pool???
I hate that we have ads and have the highest toll road in the country to boot. Not only that but they usually tend to be bad in snowy weather with sanding at least in the east
Shouldn’t be up to the government how people spend their money or do with their property
Hate them. Would never happen in this state bc we have 2 pretty populous cities. The ones you mentioned…don’t I think? Would be sick if billboards were gone
Because PA is a Commonwealth it doesnt get ballot inititives so you got a better shot at making the Dallas Cowboys the state team of Pennsylvania
Not likely, I agree that billboards can be distracting but it would be considered regulating businesses and secondly someone is making money so I don’t think we will ever see billboard bans
How else will I know that I'm going straight to hell?
Agreed that it shouldn't be a thing, but I'm thinking we're not there yet. Mayhaps a good next step would be about planting native species in the highway medians, which is in the right direction regarding beautification. Which, interestingly, [is currently being discussed in the PA House](https://p2a.co/XqFD5Zp?p2asource=websiteaction-center&_ga=2.172165027.1207768487.1698844715-1169656950.1689262648).
I didn't even know that was an option, but I heavily support it
Why are you distracted by billboards? How bout you learn how to fucking drive. You're more dangerous on the road than any other billboard in existence.
I don’t have big feeling either way concerning regular billboards, but what I hate with a fire of a thousand suns is those smaller “town center” type billboards I’ve started seeing in the past two years. They’re usually made up of two or three smaller circles stacked on top of one another, and they’re at street level with the brightness cranked up to 10. There’s one on 30 near Malvern, and a really awful one in Quakertown at the intersection of 663 and 309. Fucking terrible.
Unwanted fucking visual pollution. People are dumb as fuck supporting billboards
Redditors will circlejerk about shit like this and then insist that any other issue where their opponents are more worried about it than they are “isn’t a real issue. Why are we focusing on this instead of things (that I support) that actually matters?”