Downtown: "Key" Signage

whoopee. another ugly bank sign.

i was just downtown and noticed the backlit plastic bank sign on the ellicott square building, main st side. how did that monstrosity get past the preservation board?

I think everyone in Buffalo is yawning over this post. No one cares about another sign or logo added

Buffalo is anxiously awaiting another 20+ story office tower...with those large single floor sqft foot plates that the Larkin@Exchange offers...

(there are few places downtown that can offer large footprint office towers because downtown city blocks tend to be small which further justifies that downtown should maintain a historical perspective...and those new office towers should be built south of main and east of main.)

Unlike other comments on this post I actually am happy to hear that corporate entities are posting their names on downtown buildigs they help support. By no means am I a proponent of radical unregulated signage however I do think their is value added in terms of name recognition for the business and it shows a sign of confidence in the local community by the corporate entity who puts their name up on the skyline of a city. "We're corporation X and we're here in Buffalo, NY!!!" Believe it or not I think it says something to out of towners passing through when they see major corporate names on city buildings. Frankly I have thought Buffalo was a bit light in downtown corporate signage com pared to many other cities, almost like corporations were here but perhaps ashamed to put their name up in lights in such a depressed city with such a bad reputaion. Maybe these signal the winds of change for Buffalo, a sort of business based re-interest in Buffalo. Certainly though population numbers and continued decline are significant worries there are projects and movements underway to change the city once and for all and the well intentioned are poised to fight off the plight and depression of the past 30 years.

I have no issue with this type of signage as long as its reasonably sized and placed on a building. Posts on here poften reflect fondly on how things used to be and how they should remein however I find signage such as this far less obnoxious than the ridiculous amounts of signage city centers across the country were plastered with during the industrial revolution and few decades after.

Would be nice to see one of those new in an ideal world towers at Washington and Broadway where a surface lot ruins the urban enclosure of Lafayette Square.

Good to see a corporate presence via the signs. When I visit other cities I like to see what corporations are represented. I believe many people do this - and identify cities by the signage. Charlotta: BOA Columbus: Nationwide Rochester: Kodak etc, etc. I welcome more of then - and, in fact, would like to see HSBC replace the tacky painted logo with one that lights up.

Might be off topic, but what ever happen to the community push to get the Rand Building lit up at night again? It would be nice to see that buildings tower lit up to let everyone know it's not an empty building.

All hail the symbols of American wealth and greed. We shall kneel before the new appointed gods of capitalism and worship reverently to the sign of the dollar. Let us forget about the underclass who are ignored by Key Bank, the people who are turned away at the door of the Key Center, and those who are not economically viable enough for Key Bank. They are not nearly as important as this bright neon display of how important the almighty dollar is to the big bankers and greedy property owners. This just proves where our priorities are as a nation and a city.

Grad94 and Heather are pure examples of the Buffalonians who hate any sort of progress in the city. They're the enemy to the city's potential renaissance, as far as I'm concerned, because they like things the way they are. They're either a part of the select uneducated mass of people who don't have any outside perspective on what it means to live in a prosperous community or they're a part of the group of old money in the city who desperately want to cling onto power over city politics as long as possible. Making the city appear business friendly is unacceptable to them because... God forbid suburban companies might look into relocating into downtown the city isn't so strict.

This is the only building I can see out my downtown apt now. Dammit! I joke.

I went to dip my spoon into the Wegmans yogurt this morning. As I saw the Wegmans logo - I immediately stopped b/c the thought of the wealth and greed of Wegmans. But hell - at least no one is turned away at the door of their stores. ;-)

Heather I agree with your frustrations over corporate greed and a soul-less economy that has failed many people and regions however in no way do I agree that anyone is kneeling before the corporate gods as you suggest at least as it is in regards to this post talking about signage on a building.

I can't see how a Key Bank sign translates to a worship of false idols. I would like to see a bit more ethic and soul in an effort to avoid this Country's current state of affairs as well but large companies arent necessarily the root of all evil and in fact have led to many advancements in society. I would like to think that Buffalo can one day benefit from the growth of business and be viewed as a business friendly location where companies want to locate to. Lets not forget all mega corporations at one time started out as a small business somewhere.

Shouldn't we be talking about architecture and other largely superficial topics instead.

-The Troll-

This whole conversation has gotten out of hand, off topic and nuts. Anyway, nice post/story.

5 x 42 ft ... the enormous BURCHFIELD PENNEY sign may have that beat.

Signs like these help kill the impression that buffalo is still an "ex-steeltown"

All banks are evil entities and should be outlawed. They serve no purpose other than to fill the pockets of their fat-cat owners and oppress the poor. The fact that the city of Buffalo has allowed them to actually display their company logos is reprehensible.

I just wish we could all get all of our money from the government instead of from these capitalist b@stards.