[sunday_serif]

Not so long ago, I was traveling around Switzerland. During my time in the country, there was always something just a little off, and I couldn’t place what it was.

Was it cleaner? Was the architecture just very modernist? Did it have something to do with the season?

Eventually, I realized that the difference I was noticing between Switzerland and California (my home state) was that there was simply much less advertising in the physical spaces of cities.

I am not sure if this is a result of some legislature there or if it is just a result of the way the Swiss think about visual design and advertising.

But I absolutely loved it. It was so refreshing to see the beauty of a city block without being bombarded by advertisements.

It really lets the character of a city shine through.

LA, SF and Sac seem to be on the opposite end of the spectrum… practically the only thing you notice are the billboards.

[Zanni]

Hawaii has a "no billboards" law [0] (as do Maine, Vermont and Alaska). I think this is a cleaner, better statement than "ad-free city," which is obviously far overstating the case and paradoxically doesn't even ban billboards (they're still allowed for non-corporate advertising).

[0] https://movingtokona.com/why-there-are-no-billboards-in-hawa...

[secretsatan]

Geneva narrowly rejected banning billboards recently.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/geneva-throws-out-ban-...

[maxwell]

Yeah I've heard several people report similar "little off but I love it" feelings when visiting here in Maine. The obnoxious billboards always bugged me around Chicago as a kid, but my kids enjoy the novelty when traveling. Similar with TV: we got a digital bunny ear and they were all excited about the commercials, as they've seen so few in their lives (YouTube Premium, streaming, discs/drives, etc.).

[ChiMan]

Tokyo is jam-packed with ads and loads of neon. When I lived there, I loved the visual effect. It brought the city to life and visually reaffirmed the economic bedrock of any modern city: Commerce.

[davidgay]

Billboards (standalone or on buildings) are not allowed.

[rrrrrrrrrrrryan]

In California, billboards are banned in Orange County (where I grew up). I left Orange County almost two decades ago and all the billboards along the freeways are still jarring.