Street Furniture

I feel it immediately necessary to apologize for several things: I could not get the pictures to cooperate for this blog, so they are not organized around the text as best as I would have hoped, and I am sorry for the quanitity of pictures and if it freezes your broswer/internet connection.

I wandered down 3 or so blocks on Mainstreet in Williamsville and found many interseting items that I did not realize existed on sidewalks, and some that I was waiting to find and take pictures of. There is a laundry list of items that I found, including what was on utility poles, what was on the sidewalk, what was written on the sidewalk, and what the sidewalk was made out of.

For items that I found on light poles (not to mention two types of light poles, which I did not realize until my camera was put away, so I only have one type to show): posts to hang banners on during festivals, outlet plugs, signs for the cars and bus system, street crossing equipment for pedestrians, and street signs.

For items found on the sidewalk include yellow paint markings, which I am not completely sure of the purpose. I can assume that it is gas lines or some type of marking for a hidden underground line, but I am not sure. There were also manhole, utility, and traffic covers on the sidewalk. For the manhole covers, I found this unusal since I normally see them in the middle of the street (such as on Maple Road between North Forest Road and Hopkins Road).

I found many items between the road and the building, some of which surpised me while others did not. I found a large wooden bear and person (which other bloggers have posted, so I will not be repetitious with the pictures), as well as benches, memorial to the "Ice House," gas meters, walls (brick and pole separaters), fire hydrant, trees, places to purchase/pick up local papers/flyers, trash cans, plants (or pots for the plants), and hanging liquor shop signs. I even found a mail slot that was built into the building in such a way that it destroyed the obviously fake storm shutters.

Lastly, I have found it interesting as to the material choice for creating the sidewalk. As it is shown in the pictures, the sidewalk is half brick and half concrete.




The placement of many of these street furniture pieces are apparent based on their design and purpose. The reasoning behind some of the pieces is not so clear, such as the material choice as well as the presence of bears and people made out of wood. Due to my lack of travel, I can not compare Main Street's view to that of another city. I have been in St. Louis, New York City, and Indianapolis briefly, I have never ventured to look at the sidewalk in such a manner as to answer this particular question.

There are many objects on the sidewalk that are from the owners of the various shops that line the streets. Examples are the potted plants, the bench outside the bank, and the wooden statues. Other objects are maintained by the town, such as the garbage bins and the "Ice House" memorial. I find one of the more interesting objects to be the outlet found on the utility pole. I knew that I was going to find many objects littered around the sidewalk, but the outlet was a shock to me. Maybe it is the winter time, but the majority of the street future seems to serve as eye-candy more than a function for the people passing by. The memorial, the shafts to hang banners on the light poles, and the multi-material sidewalks serve more aesthetic or ceremonial purposes than anything else.

The liquor shop I found appeared to be the oldest building I encountered on the trip, and it warranted the extra look at the top floor (which was being used by a second business, the Stitchery Witchery).

I never did understand the degree to the clutter (and I still do not understand why some items exist, such as that wooden bear!) and utility of so many pieces of furniture throughout the few blocks of sidewalk that I ventured on today. Lastly, it appears to me that most of the furniture is of newer origin (within the last 40 or so years) than of any older or more historic origin. The only true historic object that I could find was the bench area which appears to serve as a memorial for a historic building that existed years and years ago. Iwas also suprised by the amount of trees that existed, I passed well over a handful, including a newly planted treet.

Overall, I can offer some advice to anyone who wants to go take pictures of street furniture. As tempting as it is, do not stand as long outside the bank taking pictures as I did of their benches and low walls. Just a cautionary word of advice.