October 2006 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Thanks this month to John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism for this specimen of streetside dreck:

"Detroit elementary school sign. In a city and school district strapped for cash they invest $$ in suburban signage. These signs are all over and spreading. I suppose the signs are intended to overcome the doubts parents have about schools. Remember how banners were intended to add character to struggling main streets? The banner sales force hit every old burg with an inferiority complex and made a bundle. Now the back-lit sign salesmen have hit up every school district in America; probably even your town."