Welcoming Signs and the like

[cnyOntario]

Are these high quality, impressive welcoming signs with accompanying landscaping common around the country?

Are constructing brick walls for the use of blocking eyesores common around the country?

None of this is found in the Syracuse area. Are we the exception or the rule.

Those pictures are all from the Kalamazoo area. That community really knows how to make good first impressions and make area residents proud. I wish Syracuse planners would take a few notes from them.

 

[SW MI Planner]

It's pretty common around here. I have seen worse, but our sign sure isn't impressive:

One of our upcoming projects would be new welcome signs into the City. The ones we have now are made of pressboard, are in drastic need of repainting, and are leaning and crooked. They don't reflect our community. Part of the problem is that the Tourism board put them up, and their logo is "The pulse of Michigan". OK, like every Michigander, put up your left hand facing out. Where is your pulse? Probably around Toledo. Enough said.

OK, sorry about the tangent. In Michigan, come to think about it, many of the communities have welcome signs. In a lot of the smaller communities (like around here), the welcome signs have signs from area service clubs.

 

[Cardinal]

I'm just finishing up a, entrance and wayfinding sign project in my community. Having paid a lot of attention to these signs over the past few months, I would say that it is common for communities to have some type of entrance feature. These range from the local chamber of commerce or church group signs, to very elaborate, sculptural signs. What you show is about a middle-of-the-road sign. If I get the chance, I'll post some of the ones I have snapped.

I had an observation from my most recent trip. There does seem to be a bit of geographic variation in the liklihood of encountering one of these signs. In Wisconsin, Kansas, Iowa, and northern Illinois, they seem to be common. I saw noticably fewer in central Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Colorado.

 

[Dan]

I'll take some pictures of the signs in the Cleveland area. Most seem to exude a small New England town flavor, with a design that exudes quaintness and charm.

In upstate New York, municipal boundary lines are usually erected by the municipal highway department. Most of the time, it's a standard metal DOT sign with the name of the town, and off-site/snow parking regulations. In rural areas, signs will also include a notice that the town is zoned, that building permits are required, and/or that firearms discharge is prohibited/permitted/permitted only in hunting season.

Florida - usually a metal DOT sign. When I worked there, I tried to talk officials into more extravagant gateway signs, but didn't get anywhere. Florida DOT doesn't allow municipalities to post non-standard signs in state ROW, but for some reason, they have no problem with snipe signs.

Colorado - fancy municipal boundary signs weren't common, but in the Denver area, signature overpasses and sound walls with high-end materials and detailing, detailed road hardscaping, and very nice landscaping, all in a theme unique to the municipality, was common. The standard green DOT i-beam bridge is increasingly rare.

Kansas - usually monument signs and more elaborate structures. Olathe has waterfalls incorporated into some of their welcome signs. Here's Prairie Village.

New Mexico - small DOT signs usually, but Albuquerque and Las Cruces are following the Colorado example of signature overpasses, hardscaping and landscaping.

ObRUGGED!

IMHO, the worst are the signs loaded up with fraternal organization logos. Do that many people really care if the Lions Club or Odd Fellows is in town?

 

[Dan]

[ot]Yikes! How'd you like to encounter this one?

Look ... it's in English, too. They must have been expecting our arrival. [/ot]

 

[ludes98]

Standard metal DOT signs prevail in rural AZ. However, in the metro Phoenix area welcome signs are growing. Subdivision welcome signs have been getting bigger and bigger. Some of the higher end, and esp. gated ones, have an entrance with 20' water falls (in AZ :-\ ) and take up an acre. It seems that some of the Cities are following along and spending a lot of money on entrances. I know one City here does brick pavers in the road, brick monument sign, and trees.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

We have gray rocks with our county logo at the county line on major roads. Doing 55 mph, I don't imagine many folks see them at all.