Neon Killer

An art form became the scapegoat for bad land use

I’d like to revisit an article I wrote over a year ago, about neon signs, the Highway Beatification Act, and land use. Read the whole thing—it’s one of my favorite articles, and I still remember the late-night drive I took to Laurel, Maryland to photograph a couple of the signs pictured in there.

In that piece, I argued that the aesthetic and mostly surf…