NO BILLBOARDS on DOWNTOWN SKYSCRAPERS

[JoB]

Diane…

so assuming you could see the signage from the street.. can you explain to me why any company would want the signage 65 ft up for pedestrians and drivers?

a sign 65 ft up is meant to be seen at a distance.. identifiable on the skyline…

which makes it essentially a billboard…

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[Diane]

If you take a trip downtown, you may be surprised; you can see 65 ft or higher from the street below, or from 1 block away, or 2 blocks away, etc, so makes it easier to find when walking or driving; the hotels have their signs on side of building, at or near top of their towers, so that tourists visiting our city can find their hotels; I want to be able to more easily find businesses in the tower office buildings; for me it’s about ‘wayfinding’; I want to find major businesses in our downtown core

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and there are many strict rules for these signs; it’s simply the company logo or name and must be architecturally in context with the building and must go through design review

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these are completely different from the free-for-all advertising crap that companies like Clear Channel post all over the city, actually all over the world; and the Seattle Ackerley family that has billboards plastered all over our city; I find much of that extremely unsightly and unpleasant; I do not like the fact that one family in Seattle owns most of the billboards, so has the right to force our eyes to see whatever they choose to plaster on nearly every wall and board in Seattle at street level

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the main difference in an example; Verizon has their sign, their name, on their retail stores, and at their corporate; no problem; but they also have zillions of advertisements plastered on billboards all over the place; I don’t like that; Verizon pays ad/billboard companies like Ackerley or Clear Channel to get their ad and message in our face wherever we go; so far I haven’t seen any ads for Russell Investments, or Perkins Coie (another large business in downtown tower); if you see any, please let me know

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[redblack]

i don’t know about you diane, but i know seattle’s skyline and bent street grid pretty well. i can identify most of the towers in the downtown core, and i know who most of their tennants are. i think “wayfinding” is an excuse.

it’s not like these will be retail outlet signs, either. we’re talking mostly about mega-banks, and what they do in those towers isn’t for consumers. they have retail branches if you want their services.

for another thing, i doubt that chase or bank of america would let anyone put their name on anything in plain white lettering that isn’t in the font and style of the company logo.

“simply the company logo or name” – even if it’s plain – still offends me as much as billboard advertising.

i’m glad it doesn’t offend you, but why is your opinion better than mine?

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[Diane]

wow; can you show me any evidence that I said my opinion was better than anyone? why even suggest such a thing? everyone has equal opportunity to contact city council with comments, or post here

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Perkins Coie is a law firm; 100’s of people go to their offices; do you know which tower they are in?

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I research local businesses pretty diligently, and still is challenging for me to find where many are located; if you somehow know where every business is located in every tower, you may be much smarter than me

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I also study architecture, urban design, local history; have read tons about history of buildings, land use, businesses, in downtown core since Seattle was first settled; our city has gone through many transformations; when I walk downtown and look at building landscape, my thoughts are often about what this looked like 100-150+ years ago, and what it will look like in the future, and the businesses of the past, now, and future; and I think/wonder about the people who lived downtown, had gardens, horses, and big wood houses all over the very hilly early downtown; who walked the streets, lived and worked in the buildings; I’ve learned a lot, but always so much more yet to learn

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[christopherboffoli]

Just as a matter of precedent, many world-class cities feature buildings with illuminated branding, including Hong Kong (pictured at the top of this thread), Shanghai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Cairo, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, etc. and I can’t think of anytime that I’ve heard that any are less beautiful or picturesque. I also have a hard time imagining the citizens of these places doing as much hand-wringing over a few colored lights. I mean, we’re not talking about turning Seattle into Ginza Crossing or Blade Runner here.

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[redblack]

i didn’t say i know who all of the tenants are. i said i know who most of the (major) tenants are.

they’re mostly mega-banks’ and investment firms’ corporate offices.

since firms like perkins coie probably can’t afford lit signs – or aren’t interested in displaying their name for whatever reason – most (but not all!) of the signage will be for mega-banks and investment firms.

no, thanks.

a little left of the topic, i also find the concept of “naming rights” for publicly-funded stadiums repugnant. i think chief sealth field has a nicer ring to it than qwest field.

christopher: it’s gotta start somewhere. i prefer the moratorium.

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[moxilot]

Wanna know how to find a business that’s downtown? It’s called an address. There are numbers on the buildings and floors/suites to refer to.

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[JoB]

google maps even has walking directions now if you find yourself on foot downtwon…

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[Diane]

Perkins Coie can very well afford a sign, and is on the list of interested businesses in displaying their sign

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thanks for the tips; yes, I do all that leg work now to find businesses with address searches, mapquest, searching business rosters, etc, which is exactly my point; takes a lot of time and effort, and printer ink; every time I go on an interview in one of the office towers, I am amazed at the list of businesses, big, medium, and small, that I was unaware were located in such and such building

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until I attain my dream job, I cannot afford one of those expensive fancy phones with all the great apps to do all quickly & easily while downtown; still have to do it old fashioned way, and very slowly with my dial up internet, and print out paper maps; it would be MUCH easier if I could just look up at the building when downtown to see which tower Perkins Coie is located in; I actually do know now, because I’ve done all this legwork

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also with current real estate market, businesses are moving moving moving, to get cheaper leases, because office vacancy rate is so high; property managers are reducing rates to fill empty spaces; so it’s hard to keep track; I go to the library weekly to read Puget Sound Business Journal and Daily Journal of Commerce, to learn about which businesses are doing well, who they are, what they do, where they’re located, who’s hiring; the DJC has sections on recent leases, listing locations where smaller businesses are going in; there are thriving high tech businesses and start-ups opening offices downtown all the time; do you know where the new Facebook office is located? I worked my best contacts to try and get Facebook to lease gorgeous historic building in Pioneer Square that my friend renovated last year, and won awards; it’s a beautiful spot for small business or satellite office of large business (like Facebook), but FB opted for an office downtown instead.

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I love that AllRecipes has their signage posted on their building downtown; that was a surprise and delight for me to see few months ago, because I hadn’t read they had moved downtown; I am searching for a job in downtown Seattle; would rather not commute over to eastside, so I especially value when I can see which growing companies are now working out of the downtown core, and hiring; as I’ve said several times, for me, this is #1 about bringing more good jobs to Seattle, and more healthy activity to downtown; it all begins and ends with healthy commerce

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[maplesyrup]

I’ve been thinking about the “free advertising” angle to this. First of all it’s not really free. The rent on that space isn’t cheap, nor were the relocation costs.

But beyond that, why is it such a bad thing for a local company to advertise? If advertising helps them get more customers, generate more jobs, and results in more spending downtown, that’s a good thing. I want them to succeed.

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[DP]

An amusing sign in the vicinity of 2nd and Seneca:

Oh, if only . . .

 

Diane: Here’s the little tyke with the Christmas ornament:

http://tinyurl.com/why-santy-claus

Si adorable, tout comme vous . . .

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