The difference between what is considered an "eyesore" and what is considered "normal" is often no more than a matter of one's daily habits.
In other words, when you have something you see every day, you tend to get used to it. It becomes normal. You hardly notice it. It often takes a fresh set of eyes to see what is out of place, what looks wrong, or what is an eyesore.
That, in a nutshell, is the underlying issue when it comes to the discussion held during last week's Blytheville Code Enforcement meeting. Councilwoman Missy Langston raised the issue, questioning what, if anything, can be done by the Blytheville City Council when it comes to regulating "cluttered" merchandise displays outside local businesses.
The specific example raised was that of an unnamed business located at the corner of Ash and Division streets. Councilmen John Musgraves and Monte Hodges disputed the "cluttered" description. "I don't think it looks bad at all," noted Hodges.
I've driven by the location in question, and to me it looks like a large, permanent garage sale, something not uncommon to see in many communities, often at self-storage facilities. Whether or not the city of Blytheville should regulate such businesses is a question worthy of further discussion. But I suspect the views of the council members at the meeting were influenced by how accustomed they were to seeing the business. For some, it looked "normal;" for others, it was "cluttered."
Regardless, Langston raised a good point at the meeting. When we think of the places in our community that don't look as nice as we'd like them to, many times the problem is clutter. When there's too much stuff to see, our brains simply process the scene as "messy." And many times, the visual clutter is stuff we don't even realize is there, because we've become so accustomed to seeing it.
The area on East Main Street, just west of Interstate 55 is a great example. Sometime, when you're headed over the overpass back toward town, take a moment to notice all the vertical objects in the area. There are commercial signs; there are traffic signs; there are unused sign poles; there are redundant sign poles; there are changeable letter signs (some with letters missing); there are street light poles; there are utility poles; there are flag poles.
Obviously, some of these are needed. But many are not. And the visual clutter of these objects combine to create an overall "messy" appearance to one of the main arteries into our community.
Another good example is on Broadway, between Main Street and Moultrie. Utility poles and wires line both sides of the street along this stretch. I don't know enough about electrical infrastructure to understand why this is necessary. But I will bet you that if there was a way to minimize the rampancy of this kind of visual clutter, the area would look nicer -- even more so if something could be done about the unsightly grain storage bins in the area.
More unnoticed visual clutter can be found along Main Street in downtown Blytheville. Here, you will find two sets of street lights -- there's the tall standard street lights, with the gray poles; as well as the shorter, more decorative globes on the black poles. This is in addition to the black Main Street arches that are at the beginning of every other block.
The prevalence of such things makes it hard for the Main Street area to have a nice, clean look. There's simply too much "stuff" -- it looks messy.
The thing with clutter is that its effect is often subliminal. The actual clutter itself might not be visually offensive, but its presence in the overall landscape contributes to things looking unsightly. And that is a recurring problem in our community.
Communities that look nice almost always do so because they have a nice, clean, uncluttered look. Commercial signs are well-regulated. Streetlight poles are decorative, or nearly "disappear" from conscious sight. Power lines run underground. And I suspect rules are placed on the way businesses display merchandise.
I don't think anyone doubts that the city of Blytheville needs to take steps to make itself look better. But figuring out what needs to be done sometimes requires a fresh set of eyes -- or at least eyes that are capable of looking past what is "normal," and toward what could be, and what should be.
aweld@blythevillecourier.com