The Nordeast Sign Shark

When this blog goes quiet, it is only because I am keeping busy. As I’ve mentioned in my About page, this is something I do in the crevices of my already busy life. Which is very ironic, considering a common detraction of sign sharking is “those people need to get a life”, as if we pull down illegal advertising because we have nothing better to do, and our idle hands are interested in destroying local business.

We are interested in supporting local business. That is why, when a business spends money and effort to advertise legally, we believe they deserve the fair share of your attention. Putting a neon sign for your lawn service outside of a new local restaurant is deplorable. A business can spend thousands of dollars to improve the aesthetic of their 20 feet of sidewalk space, and snipers dirty it up with a 20 cent sign. How does that not compute for some people?

I’ve updated the City Codes page with Maplewood and North Saint Paul, where I’ve taken down a fair number of signs. Maplewood is pretty rough.

I’ve been radio silent for a week, but the sharking continues. Here’s some activity from snipedinner:

One sign, I’ll let you slide. Two signs, a few towns apart, and you’re definitely getting pulled up.

snipedinner:

Sundance Construction thinks you need snow removed in July. Are you having trouble with your snow? If so, I apologize for taking down these signs.

Again, I think I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, while I talk more about this whole sign sharking thing in general. Today’s trip takes us through South Minneapolis, since Nordeast looked pretty clean. I don’t have any set routes I take; I figure I should be just as unpredictable as the people sneaking their signs up in the first place.

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I’m not going to bore you with a step by step account of Sunday’s sharking run. It was a success, and I had a fellow sharker with me to lend a hand. You can look at the gallery and map and get an idea of the route we ran if you’d like. Let’s instead talk about sharking and why I do it, using my latest run as an illustration.

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I was trekking through Fridley today, and spotted a snipe sign on the frontage road. So, I zipped over, tagged and bagged it. Then, heading back into Nordeast, I saw a neon yellow corrugated plastic sign. I yanked this one down with my bare hands.

Pinball machines wanted, junk cars wanted… I guess we all want things. I want my neighborhood to be free of garbage illegal ads.

The spoils from July 5th.

It was the perfect evening to start sharking. I knew what I needed, and I knew where I was going. There was a sign on 37th and Polk that has been there for months. A “cheap homes” sign on a phone pole outside a church. Half a year ago I wouldn’t have even known that sign was illegal, it’s so subtle and ambiguous. But that’s how these illegal advertisers survive.

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