Those who saw the movie "Brazil" were shown the ultimate application of billboards: on the highways in the movie, the billboards were placed end to end along the very edge of the pavement, so that you couldn't see anything but billboards and couldn't leave the road without driving through them. Perhaps unrealistic -- but perhaps not. Anyone who's driven to DisneyWorld knows you won't see too much of the countryside for most of Florida.
I think we should recognize the fact that billboards are an eyesore, and begin to encourage advertisers to seek more esthetic and beneficial forms of advertising. We shouldn't outlaw them, mind you; we should tax them! I would suggest a tax per square foot of billboard, set high enough to encourage advertisers to start taking the billboards down on smaller roads. And then, the tax should increase a little every year by more than the cost of living, so that advertisers are discouraged from erecting new and replacement billboards and start putting their advertising dollars into other venues.
Note that it should be stipulated that the tax applies to all billboards, regardless of whether there actually is an ad on it. Unused billboards should not be abandoned, they should be completely removed.
Of course, billboards do serve a purpose; how else would we know which exit has the cheapest gas? But these issues have been addressed in places such as Vermont, and can be similarly addressed elsewhere.
If this idea actually becomes a public issue, the businesses that deal in billboard advertising will scream that they are being singled out for abuse. Here's hoping there's a politician somewhere with the stones to say "Yes! That's exactly what we're doing!"
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Of course, if you have questions or comments, you are welcome to send e-mail to me at palmk@nettally.com.