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Sidewalk signs hyping Capitol Hill apartments hit with Independence Day weekend blackout tagging protest

A 15th Ave victim

A 15th Ave victim

 In the meantime, the Central District has taken anti-development angst into a much more creative direction.

In the meantime, the Central District has taken anti-development angst into a much more creative direction.

We don’t know exactly what set it off but somebody was busy with a spray can over the 4th of July weekend tagging a-frame sidewalk advertisements for various Capitol Hill apartment complexes from 19th Ave E to Pike/Pine.

This picture below from Twitter was claimed to show a tagger at work Sunday night.

With rents continuing to rise and City Hall so far powerless to do much to stem the tide, it’s possible the weekend’s blackout tagging was an angry response to the ongoing rise in the cost of Capitol Hill living. Or maybe whoever is responsible is a sidewalk muni code vigilante tired of what can be a cluttered pedestrian experience. Whatever the cause, the response was thorough if not elegant with apartments and condo buildings new and old included in the sweep.

Screen Shot 2014-07-07 at 2.47.36 PM

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23 Comments
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Snarky Amber
9 years ago

Potential motive: disgruntled apartment manager trying to thin the competition by making competitors’ sings illegible?

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
9 years ago
Reply to  Snarky Amber

You’ve got to be kidding. Managers are renting the crap outta all these apts even with the silly-high rents. Tagged signs won’t slow that down. Apt managers don’t have to fear the competition, obviously, or the rents wouldn’t be so high.

Bryan
Bryan
9 years ago

Good. Advertising is heinous and deserves to be destroyed.

Timmy73
Timmy73
9 years ago

There was a cluster at Broadway and Mercer, all tagged. What they did was wrong but sheesh, so is polluting our sidewalks with all these sandwich boards. They city should limit the number of them as well as their placement. You can’t walk a block without seeing the redundancy of them.

Mark
Mark
9 years ago
Reply to  Timmy73

I see these sandwich boards on extremely narrow sidewalks all the time (i.e. 15th Ave E businesses). They should be banned from certain blocks. I like some of the businesses that do it, but it makes narrow sidewalks barely useable by two people.

pivolover
pivolover
9 years ago
Reply to  Timmy73

They are limited. Actually, they are all illegal.

I’ve called the city about it and was told they’d get around to it eventually. Maybe J wants to ask SDOT as a member of the press why these companies are allowed to park their crap illegally on our sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.

The Gatsby is the worst. I’ve seen their signs as far south as Harborview and as far north as right near Husky Stadium.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  pivolover

You’re absolutely right. The City has detailed regulations as to where signs can be placed, but these are widely ignored (especially by apartment marketers) and unfortunately the City does nothing to enforce their own regulations. (same thing for the posters, by the way).

Whenever I see a sandwich board in a place other than in front of the business, I simply push it over…and encourage others to do the same.

pivolover
pivolover
9 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

Just be thoughtful about where. I saw one in the broadway bike lane a few weeks ago and I also saw one knocked down in one of the curb cuts at an intersection where a person in a wheelchair was struggling to get over/around it.

sjn
sjn
9 years ago

A scarcity of available apartments drives up the rent. An abundanace of available apartments drives down the rent. Why are we against more apartments?

Ryan Packer
9 years ago
Reply to  sjn

A slick marketing campaign that dumps signs from here to Tuesday increases costs to renters and drives more people to our neighborhood, keeping demand high.

sjn
sjn
9 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

Wouldn’t you already have to be in the neighborhood to see shin-high signs?

Being walking distance from downtown drives people to the neighborhood. The more the burbs become undoable (freeways/bridges clogged from too many people moving out to what used to be bear territory) the more people will find the city appealing again.

lost on the street
lost on the street
9 years ago

Abanded goods on the sidewalk should be disposed of

Michael W.
Michael W.
9 years ago

Some guidelines on sandwich boards from the City (SDOT);

Visibility: No obstructions to pedestrian visibility should be present within 30 feet of an intersection. These include parked cars, street trees, signal control boxes, sandwich boards, utility poles and landscaping mounds.

pivolover
pivolover
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael W.

Sandwich board signs are allowed if they are directly in front of or adjacent to the business (so if your business is down an alley, you can put a sandwich board at the end of the alley where it intersects a street/sidewalk).

What you can’t do is blanket 125 square blocks with your crap without paying a street use fee.

Tom
Tom
9 years ago

Don’t worry, these places will just raise the rent for a 1 bedroom from $2000 to $2100 to pay for the damages.

Joseph Singer
Joseph Singer
9 years ago

I get tired of seeing all the A frame signs too. More than that I hate all the damned posters over posters on utility poles.

sam
sam
9 years ago

I’m so tired of all the Gatsby signs miles from where the actual complex is.

seattlecarol
seattlecarol
9 years ago

I’m using a knee scooter due to my lower leg being in a cast. I’ve literally had to turn around, go back the way I came, cross the street and proceed just because I cannot get by the signs on the sidewalk. They are usually chained to something and I cannot move them due to not being able to stand on my broken ankle.
At least 3x a day I stop and reflect on what the people using wheelchairs are suppose to do? Or a walker? Gatsby – I’m talking to you! Today you blocked me twice. As soon as I’m able I will be ninja kicking your signs down if found blocking the sidewalk.

pivolover
pivolover
9 years ago
Reply to  seattlecarol

Please call the City’s customer service line and tell them. Hopefully our esteemed editor is reading these comments as well. There are some intersections where the same building is illegally advertising on all four corners.

Michael W.
Michael W.
9 years ago
Reply to  pivolover

I believe that chaining a-board signs to trees or utility poles is against City regulations. I’ll check that.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael W.

The answer is yes, that’s illegal…..and another regulation that is widely ignored and unenforced.

RainWorshipper
RainWorshipper
9 years ago

The city has lots of laws it never enforces, and the people that break these laws know it. The laws may as well not exist. When was the last time you saw someone ticketed for smoking in a bus shelter for example? I wonder why they even make these laws. Those of us that are polite don’t need them, and those that aren’t don’t care at all.

jason.
jason.
9 years ago

i think what this guy is doing is great. my rent has gone up $800 a month in the past 4 years. if i didn’t need my building as a reference when i eventually move i would be standing outside right now with a huge sign that says “DONT LIVE HERE THEY RAISE RENTS”