Consider More Plants, Trees To Shade Shoppers

Having to shop in Bristol on Volunteer Parkway is a chore.
Landscaping on business sites varies from minimal to none. Many parking lots have no trees for shade. And so any required journey on US 11E is unpleasant,  sign-encrusted and vegetation-free. It is exceeded only by one on Virginia’s US 11 from Bristol to Abingdon.
Now narcissistic auto dealers wish to further “entertain” us by cluttering their property with more signs, banners and flags. In San Jose, Calif., traveling through shopping areas is a pleasure.
Vegetation along the way attractively screens you from businesses. Unified attractive directional signs inform you of available businesses.  Businesses themselves are attractive and involve a pleasant walk from the car, not the local sun-baked ordeal.
When revising Bristol’s sign code, the City Council could encourage the city’s planners to review San Jose’s sign code. Following its example might even encourage us to travel US 11W and shop more often.

Powell Foster
Bristol, Tenn.