The Neon Lights They Shine So Bright On Market
We've been wondering when, if ever, we'd see a "CSI: San Francisco". Now, before one of you clever commenters points out that part of the "CSI" formula involes cops actually solving crimes (seriously, do our cops ever do that?), we'd like to point out another drawback: not enough neon. After all, what is an episode of one of the three "CSI"s without an establishing shot of the noble gas lit Vegas strip, Times Square, or South Beach? Sure, our bridges are nice and sparkly, but they just don't give off the decadent glow that comes with people who get shot by their pimp/ their mom/ the dog.
That impediment is one step closer to resolution with new Warfield owner David Addington's proposal to "create a special neon-friendly zone for eye-popping high-tech advertisements between Fifth and Eighth streets". While our visceral reaction is that this is a sort of extreme idea, the ballot measure as presently suggested:
Would require that all billboards be locally-designed and unique to Market Street...half of the revenues generated by the electronic billboards would funnel into neighborhood theater arts and education nonprofits, and half would go to property owners.
We're all for efforts to bring increased services to this presently challenging area of Market Street, but question if this measure is the only way to do so. Then again, it doesn't seem like a lot of other solutions are being bandied about, does it? Until we see more of a solid plan, however, our panties will remain unwadded in either direction -- after all, how long have they been talking about closing Market Street to cars?
And for the "CSI SF" theme song, can we recommend "I Can't Explain"? Extra points if CBS ditches the Who version entirely in favor of the Bowie cover, but we know that there's as much chance of that as there is a glowing pedestrian boulevard Market Street, free of urine and strife as far as the eye can see.