I applaud the mayor of Sao Paulo. He had the stomach to approve a law banning billboard advertising in the city.

Imagine what a difference this would make in so many U.S. cities. In the San Francisco Bay area there are two main highways to get from San Jose to San Francisco, 101 or 280. On the rare occasions that I need to go to S.F., I always pick 280, because it has no billboards. And because it goes through one of the most beautiful landscapes around here:
 

101 is a mess of billboards and ugly urban sprawl. 280 is a fresh breath of open space and rolling hills.

I hope that Sao Paulo can become a model for cities in the U.S. who want to improve on their physical environment.