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I’m on the west coast doing some travelling and I can’t help but notice how strange some of these cities are. For example, you may find this hard to believe but there is absolutely no advertising on the bus shelters in Seattle or Portland.<\/p>\n
How silly. What a waste of potential revenue for their cities. I can’t begin to understand why their politicians would pay money for these things, when you can get them for free from companies like CBS or Astral Media. Even stranger, the shelters in these cities have unique designs and patterns.<\/p>\n
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I think Toronto’s shelters are much easier to locate and identify because they look the same as other ad-funded shelters in other cities. This is especially useful for tourists.<\/p>\n
But it gets even sillier. I don’t know what they put in their coffee in Seattle, but the braniacs at the transit company have decided to put art on their shelters. First they refuse ads which could make money, and then they turn around and cover the shelters with art. It’s sad, really. Who elects these people? And it’s not even real art. Most of the work is done by children. Children! It looks like that silly “art attack” stuff you see in Toronto sometimes. My god.<\/p>\n
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But no, it doesn’t stop there. Both Seattle and Portland have information pillars, with maps and transit info clearly facing the sidewalk.<\/p>\n
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Toronto’s info pillars are much more interesting because the information always changes; Botox one day, pantyhose the next day. And the maps are hard to find in Toronto because they are hidden on the back on the pillars. This is a brilliant strategy to foster problem-solving skills in our workforce.<\/p>\n
It’s hard to be away from home. I get homesick sometimes. I get scared being surrounded by a culture that doesn’t value basic things like putting money back into the pockets of taxpayers. I can’t wait to get back to Toronto, where city councillors understand that I’d rather save a dollar a year and have informative advertising at my bus stop and in my parks.<\/p>\n
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