Neon/bright billboard districts in your city (think Times Square etc.)

[destroycreate]

I'm not sure why, but I've always had a fascination with the areas of certain cities which have a lot of neon/bright lights and flashy billboards. It gives the cities a lot of character and a vibrant energy. I wish more cities could have areas like Ginza in Tokyo or Times Square in NYC, I love how they feel at night...bustling and big-city like. Or perhaps I just have an out and out fetish with neon.

With that said, does your city have an area like this? In Copenhagen we have Rådhuspladsen which actually has a lot of neon lights and bright advertisements everywhere. The square would look so dark and dreary at night without them.

Here is a pic I took from last December



Somebody else from flickr took this shot (Moch_en_Seine)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/...5bdd3a08_b.jpg


By Jonathan_Ziapor
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/...17dfd1cd_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/...412a7366_b.jpg

[Buckeye Native 001]

The Strip in Vegas, anyone?


Source

[JDRCRASH]

LA Live:





Hollywood & Highland:


© Betsy Malloy Photography 2007

[dktshb]

Oh boy this thread might get interesting. Rådhuspladsen looks pretty cool but I can't imagine many cities making this thread. LA certainly shouldn't. We have a number of pretty cool neon signs scattered throughout Los Angeles but none of it is concentrated in one area.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by dktshb

We have a number of pretty cool neon signs scattered throughout Los Angeles but none of it is concentrated in one area.

They should be, though. Maybe 2 areas.

[amor de cosmos]

there's Piccadilly Circus in London, Dundas Square in Toronto, Shibuya Crossing (& others I'm sure) in Tokyo, the Bund in Shanghai(?).... somebody post pics of all those places

[alps]

Shibuya



source

Shinjuku (Kabukicho)



source

[Exodus]

DETROIT'S tiny little lit up district

The Hockeytown cafe, and Second City are pretty lit up,



And across the street from the Fox theatre, which is pretty lit up,



And across the street from this.



Courtesy of googlemaps.com

[BTinSF]

This kind of concentrated neon is pretty much illegal in San Francisco. There was a ballot measure last year to restore it to Market St (which once had a lot of it), but it failed. Two locations I think it would be great would be the intersections of Broadway & Columbus and that of Mission & 4th (in front of the Metreon). But I don't think it'll happen--it's another thing that doesn't fit with too many people's vision of the city as Victorian village.

[Nowhereman1280]

There are no areas like this in Chicago period. Large public advertisements, for whatever reasons, are almost none-existent in the city of Chicago. I've just begun to realize that our downtown is almost completely sterilized of advertising.

[10023]

Times Square.


/smartass

[MolsonExport]

Love the neon in Giant Asian cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo (#1) and Seoul.

[10023]

I guess you could say Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, to some extent, or I guess the Europa Center at the end of the Kurfurstendamm.

[Busy Bee]

For me, besides Times Square and Tokyo's Shinjuku district, nothing quite beats old Piccadilly Square...


Doveson2008/Flickr:













Charles Cushman Collection:

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

There are no areas like this in Chicago period. Large public advertisements, for whatever reasons, are almost none-existent in the city of Chicago. I've just begun to realize that our downtown is almost completely sterilized of advertising.

If I remember correctly Daley had a hand in this. Apparently he equates big electric ad displays as visual pollution on par with his dreaded and nearly locally defeated nemesis—graffiti. Sad really, because the best cities are cities that are kinetic and electrifying. Big neon displays flutter your soul, no matter what the advertisement is, at least they do me anyway, because it looks and feels like what a big city should look and feel like. Taking that way or preventing it all together is a real disservice I believe.

The old Lake Shore Drive jumbo signs like Pabst and ICRR have been gone for decades. There's hardly any big displays on the expressways anymore either—the Magikist lips are long gone, that one beer display on the Kennedy is still around, but its no work of neon art. Just think of the abundance of business neon we had for miles of thoroughfare, most of it gone, Milwaukee Ave still has some oldtimers. Ever seen that Paradise marquee or the Marbro? Dear God, they just don't make anything quite that spectacular anymore—at least not in Chicago.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

There are no areas like this in Chicago period. Large public advertisements, for whatever reasons, are almost none-existent in the city of Chicago.

River North perhaps? Obviously it's not as concentrated as Times Square so it doesn't have the same effect, but there is an abundance of billboards, neon, and basically every restaurant or hotel has its own hanging sign. Even that nasty highrise on Ontario has a pretty large video screen on the 4th floor.

[plinko]

Nanjing Road / People's Square in Shanghai is pretty impressive...

[Tuckerman]

Atlanta, like many big American cities has lots of electronic billboards and signs but they are mainly along the expressways where, IMO they are distracting and a traffic hazard. Much better to have the bright lights in a confined area with lots of people and congested traffic like Times Sq, Picaddilly, Shinjuku etc because this is really a phenomenon that is best appreciated on foot.

[Metro Matt]

DALLAS

[ThreeHundred]

Incredible pictures of LA Live


Stan Roth


Stan Roth


Stan Roth


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Stan Roth


Stan Roth