The city of Atlanta is looking for companies that want to advertise in parks, on kiosks, on the sides of some city-owned buildings and even on trash cans.
The money from these ads would go towards fixing things like sidewalks and street lights.
Sam Adams works on special projects in the city of Atlanta. He wants people to know what the city doesn’t want to be: Times Square.
But Adams says the city is looking for new real estate to place ads.
“Things from advertising-supported cellphone charging stations that are solar-powered or digital kiosks that can be installed throughout the city that will include social media and information about transit or local history that also may have some sort of marketing component.”
The goal is to help the city come up with the money it needs to repair things like its sidewalks and signs. Next March, Mayor Kasim Reed will present a $250 million voter referendum to do exactly that. The city has a long list of things that need to be fixed, says Adams.
“We’re playing catchup against ourselves. A billion dollar backlog in infrastructure means that, you know, we have potholes, we have sidewalks that need fixing, we have traffic that can be alleviated by using just some slightly smarter technology.”
Woodruff Park is one place the city is looking at. The kiosks there are free of advertising at the moment. Some people say they wouldn’t mind ads.
But Chris Lewis, who walks through the park every day, thinks there are already enough ads around the city.
“It’s basically just an eyesore,” Lewis says. “The city of Atlanta needs to maintain the beauty of its cityscape and I don’t think that’s the right way to go.”
Some places – like Centennial Park, the BeltLine and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – are off-limits.
