First off. I think there is bigger things to **tch about than signs. Second. Where are the Cassetti signs? I haven't seen any yet. Resident watching must be a big time Dem.

Reaching my 9th year in business here on Main street. I have learned one hard truth. Ansonia has a serious perception problem. May folks see Ansonia as a old mill town with abandoned buildings and homeless people wandering the streets. Even many folks who live on the hill, shop on the post road rather then venture down town. I get some every so often who ask "are you new here?" If we are to ever change that perception, we have to start with things such as graffiti & cheezy advertising signs posted on every telephone pole. The current administration has some great economic development projects in the works, such as Fountain lake and the ATP & Palmer Building redevelopment. But if we don't work on changing the perception others have about our city, the 90 new apartments planned will never attract the kind of tenants that will make our downtown flourish. Hey, what if all the businesses posted signs on every street corner. Certainly would be cheaper the the thousands we spend annually on advertising. We have to start somewhere. My point is that there should not be a double standard. Ban ALL advertising and signs on poles etc.(17-24) and enforce it, It the city wants to promote an event. make the signs free standing and remove them within a week after the event. We are coming up on 3 weeks after the "rock the valley" event and they are still up. There might be bigger things to complain about, but when it comes to attracting others to dine shop & generate tax dollars in our city, perception should be #1. Think about that the next time the schools have to cut programs to make ends meet because of a tax deficit.

William Luneski
Owner: L2 innovate Computers & Technology - Main Street
Secretary, Ansonia Economic Development Commission

i just tear thm down when I see them

Bill makes valid points.

I bought a home in Ansonia a decade ago. It was near friends, near work but BOY do I get looks when I say I live in Ansonia! Have a very nice home, make a very good living but because I live in "Ansonia" that causes people to feel as if I must be penniless.

I have had to, sadly, counter with the truth that I was "raised in F airfield County". I also add the truth that since buying my home it has DOUBLED in value and was a VERY WISE investment.

People are equally stunned that Crave, KOI and other restaurants thrive in downtown Ansonia because they think it's all abandoned factory buildings.

I am unsure how Ansonia fixed this perception. A good first move would be to force Farell to knock down all the buildings they are no longer using yet down on Main Street and clean up the sites BEFORE moving to a nice new building in the new industrial park. Had that been done, NO.

The signs on the poles are one thing but can the valley towns do something about the excessively load noise from cars and motorcycles? This alone give the valley a bad name.

Michael, Farrell does not own the buildings, the rent them. you can't force a tenant to fix their landlord's mess. the city has been coming down hard on the landlord - it has been written about extensively, to the point where the NH register's spin was: poor landlord - how could the city expect him to clean this up? the fact that they were able to keep farrell and make it a landlord up at fountain lake was a great first step in a very long road to revitalization.

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