The Problem with Street Lighting

[@nunyabidness3075]

Once in the Army, decades ago, I was posted to guard an ammunition bunker near the Mexican border. There was a fence around it, and bright lights all along the fence. The result was that I could not see more than 15 feet outside the fence while anyone outside the fence could see me from hundreds of yards. There I was with my M16 feeling more vulnerable than I’ve ever felt in my life. There was another guard on the road about 200 yards away over a slight rise who I could not see and who did not have a fence, but did have a guard shack. She had the same issue with lighting and some smugglers took advantage to mug her and take her weapon. We both would have been better off with no light rather than the bad lighting design we had.

[@melevan15]

This is an excellent comment. Thank you for sharing this.

[@Croz89]

In the UK (and elsewhere I believe) there's a couple of trials with red street lighting as it's supposed not to disturb nighttime wildlife like bats. It also seems to mess with night vision a lot less, so while you can't see in colour you can see better in the dark so shadows don't seem so strong. Everything does look kind of creepy though!

[@ttopero]

Another prime example of the conflict between doing things efficiently vs doing things effectively! Municipalities love to talk about how their being responsible stewards of tax dollars except that we get lead results from gold costs when we take this backwards approach.

[@Pystro]

Having uniform lighting is the most important factor with light. No amount of light in the light spots can help with the dark spots. Extra light in the bright spots will just shine into our eyes and compensate for the extra light that reaches the bright spots. The bright spots are where (hypothetical) attackers can get a good look at their potential victims. And the vast dark areas (that you have to inevitably cross because the street lights are _at least_ 3 times further away from each other than they should be) is where they can jump out from. In some ways having no street lights would actually be safer. At least then you could comfortably see everything equally in half the nights (when the moon is near full). How do I know that? I grew up on a street with no street lights, and during moonlit nights you could see all the shapes in all the front yards. There was no shadow, just like the sun leaves no deep shadows. Yes, you couldn't make out much detail; You would be able to spot dog droppings or clumps of leaves (without being able to tell them apart sometimes) but I bet you wouldn't have been able to reliably tell puddles from just general wetness after a rain - luckily the drainage was superb. But there also were no areas where people could just stand around and not be noticed until you're right on top of them.

[@gregorydaggett7444]

What about lighting bollards? That seems like a sensible way to provide the low- angle/ minimal glare nighttime lighting you're describing, as well as providing pedestrian protection as necessary

[@ttopero]

They’re an option except for cost, maintenance, vandalism, vehicle’s damaging them. Many needed & not “efficient” use of taxpayer dollars according to municipal thinking.

[@PixelatedLlama]

@@ttopero work fine in places like Indianapolis' Cultural Trail

[@ttopero]

@@PixelatedLlama that was probably something integral from the beginning, not adapted later at higher expense & interruption? Not saying they shouldn’t be used, just what I’ve been told as to why they aren’t installed, even in new construction projects.

[@Kattbirb]

I've been complaining about this for years with the change from sodium lamps to LEDs The sodium lamps had a nice, warm glow and were quite soothing. They didn't ruin night vision and didn't cast harsh shadows. I felt like I could see for miles down a road with such lights at night. Having LEDs everywhere has reduced my ability to see at night. Nothing but glare and migraines everywhere I go, and so many of them flicker! It's irritating.

[@drivers99]

When I went walking in the suburbs, the worst lights were due to oncoming cars. Completely blinding.

[@Jebbis]

Wonder if the old moonlight towers like they have in Austin would work in this type of situation.

[@ttopero]

It’d cast a much larger light than appropriate for a neighborhood with lots of trees & houses to create shadows by

[@AndyInTheFort]

How about a prosperous street, lit by the many shop-windows displaying their goods? Will we ever get that back?

[@BalaenicepsRex3]

15-min street? 😳 B-but my food desseeeeert

[@flyguy1237]

Something else I wanted to bring up is the type of lights we use effect our sleeping, our view of the night sky, and effect wildlife. The white LEDs that we use now disrupt the ability to see the night sky a lot more than the old high pressure sodium bulbs, and use white light to cue us into "it's work time." I agree with your sentiment of "we need better thought about night lighting" overall. I used to live next to an apartment that had a massively bright omnidirectional light just to light up a parking lot, but it meant that you had to always close your windows because it was a bright white light.

[@Stargate2077]

Why don’t we have lighting low on the ground on each side of the sidewalk?

[@longhaulflyer]

Because it requires intentional design and an effort to make a pleasant public space. Local governments in the US often lack both the expertise necessary to design such a space, and the political will to invest in creating it. This is why I like Chuck and Strong Towns so much, they bring attention to these small areas where just a few people can make a huge difference to a community by advocating for and providing their expertise to make things better.

[@milliedragon4418]

local municipalities are cheap, ever since they switched to LEDs, which also for environmental and enegy cost reasons. The Amber light wasn't but great, but it was a lot more pleasant. I loath light pollution. It's also bad for the bat population. And it's bad in general for both human and animals, because it disrupts sleep. The best lighting is a lamp, shaded, blocking up ward lighting to the sky with motion sensors and is on the low visibility. Darkness is meant to be dark. So we have to balance it with the human needs for lighting.

[@deborahamos5401]

CAR LIGHTS SHOULDN'T BE BRIGHTER THAN STREET LIGHTS

[@bobbyjones9017]

Have you considered running for mayor in your town? Great video by the way.