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Boston's newfound world-class status demands electronic billboards downtown, billboard company says

By adamg on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 3:00pm

The Boston Guardian alerts us to a battle between downtown resident and business groups and a Winthrop company that wants to install a 25-foot-tall electronic billboard at Washington Street and Temple Place.

Downtown folks say Downtown Crossing isn't Times Square and doesn't need tarting up. Media Vision says its sign is hardly Times Square sized and besides, have you looked at the Paramount marquee recently? And adds: "Boston's a real city now," and that a video-like board would "bring vibrancy and light" to what is now a desolate looking area.

Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Topics: 
Business
Free tagging: 
Washington Street
Downtown Crossing
Temple Place
World Class City


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Comments

By perruptor on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 3:30pm.

"Boston's a real city now,"

When did THAT happen? Do all Boston neighborhoods *now* need to be lit up like the Ginza?

By Saddlebrook7 on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 3:31pm.

We didn't have to host the Olympics after all.

By anon on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 3:41pm.

How obnoxious. What was it before? A hologram?

By anon on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 5:52pm.

Times Square. Seediness included. FIX THE TRAINS.

By Suldog on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 6:24pm.

Fuck them. That statement, in itself, should be enough to disqualify any entity that utters it.

Suldog

By Marco on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 8:41pm.

Seriously hard NOPE to lighting up the place with video billboards. Thats what the seaport is for...

By anon on Mon, 07/29/2019 - 12:56pm.

Yeah, no thanks.. Seaport doesn't want that either

By Friartuck on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 7:05pm.

Thank you for that!

By erik g on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 8:11pm.

Downtown folks say Downtown Crossing isn't Times Square

Not with that attitude it's not!

Pointedly ignores mass of grifters in DTX

By thomas on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 8:31pm.

Let’s be like São Paulo https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secrets-sao-paulo-...

By Parkwayne on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 9:21pm.

https://images.app.goo.gl/poYknSEyGTbchNuC9

By Gary C on Fri, 07/26/2019 - 8:22am.

Thanks for the São Paulo link. Fascinating!

I'm generally pro-billboard. I was a marketing major and I appreciate the marketing and entertainment value of many large signs. Ever been traveling in an unfamiliar area and found a motel, restaurant or attraction that you ended up using because of a billboard? Are there places in Boston with too many signs? Sure. Is this video board downtown going to drag the area down? On the contrary, I would expect it to become a bit of a landmark ("Meet me at the video board.") Build it.

By anon on Fri, 07/26/2019 - 12:12pm.

I've traveled extensively and I can honestly answer your question, no. The billboards you see on the side of the highway in the country can be amusing and may have some potential draw, but the video billboards in many cities are just gaudy and never offer anything interesting to go see or do, in my opinion.

By Nowy Liberté on Fri, 07/26/2019 - 1:04pm.

Let's start with the age old tradition of the Town Crier -- clearly Boston

Then there were the posted broadsheets with illustrations to accompany handbills about things like the Boston Massacre - Paul Revere was the creator of one quite famous example

Along came Marquee signs with headlines such as War is Over or Armstrong walks on the moon -- most of the newspapers had something of that nature

Everyone is familiar with the Time and Temperature Signs on Banks

This is just the latest technology for conveying information in public:

  1. Woman steps on the Moon --- live video
  2. Martians found -- live news 3D Holo-conference
  3. .......

By perruptor on Sat, 07/27/2019 - 8:31am.

This is just the latest technology for conveying information in public

Have you heard about this Internet thing? Oh -- I see you have.

By Daan on Fri, 07/26/2019 - 9:27pm.

Billboards are just more visual pollution.

By Matthew Miller on Sat, 07/27/2019 - 1:20pm.

Ever been traveling in an unfamiliar area and found a motel, restaurant or attraction that you ended up using because of a billboard?

There is a very low correlation between "has a billboard" and "somewhere worth patronizing". Maybe even an inverse one.