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Comment by tafda | Hacker News Reader

Santa Barbara County in California bans billboards, and Santa Barbara city has even stricter sign laws.

It’s a relief to be free from the visual pollution billboards create and there are no downsides unless you own a billboard.

In a more urban setting, I don’t hate billboards. The absence of billboards is a definite increase in quality of life.

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Around here, the Reservations are not covered by state billboard laws. There's one billboard on the Res that is adjacent to and faces I5 and is composed of light bulbs that are blinding to drivers.

I very, very rarely take conscious notice of billboards. If every one within a 100 miles of me were to disappear without a trace over night I'm honestly not sure I'd notice.

Do you ever do anything outside at night? The digital billboards are not something you'd miss. They're too bright and attention grabbing to be anything but obnoxious.

Admittedly I do not, I'm very much a homebody and tend to go to bed shortly after the sun sets. I bet those would be much more noticeable.

There’s also downsides if you own land that a billboard could be put on; your land will be less valuable.

Possibly balanced out by general property value increases due to there being no billboards, but I kind of doubt it.

By the same token, any zoning is a restraint against capturing the full value of land.

It is possible the stringent enforcement gets absurd ( see https://www.noozhawk.com/article/institution_ale_can_keep_it... ).

On balance I am in favor of banning most outdoor advertising.

That’s why I’m so much happier there!

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