It is amazing to me that there are still neighborhoods and parks in the city that still have cobra-style street lighting. These are the street lights that were built for highways and freeways and somehow ended up becoming a standard form of lighting for the quaintest streets and parks in the city. Seriously, there are some neighborhoods in Allentown that look like the residents have dumped millions of dollars into house facades, gardens, walkways, historic banners, etc. - yet the street lighting shouts out, "Speed down this street!"
Fortunately there are some residents in Buffalo who have demanded that these cobra-style lights come down. Now, instead of just lighting up the street for the cars, the sidewalks are also lit, which ultimately makes walking in neighborhoods safer. I was just taking some photos of cobra-style street lamps in front of Trattoria Aroma (on Bryant Street) last week. And the week before I found some at the Erie Basin Marina - these are not the types of places that need highway grade lighting.
Today I received an Essex Street Neighborhood Association newsletter stating that one of their missions is to have The City replace the existing lamps with decorative street lamps. It really does make a huge difference. The next time you walk out of your front door, look to see what type of lamp you have been stuck with. If it's not a decorative street lamp, then call your councilperson and ask him or her when your block is scheduled to have the 'cobras' replaced.