It’s very painful to consider the possibility that beautiful public lighting is really dead forever. LED, the fast food of the optic market, has replaced every sodium vapor bulb in almost every town in America. Just look at the picture below. The experience of driving down a dreamy stretch at midnight, while the beautiful gargantuan city looms in the distance, is simply gone. The change is so criminally hideous that one struggles to articulate the feeling of futile frustration. A simple calculation of cost was made by some faceless troglodyte, and this wonderous dreamscape that we created by accident, civilization by sodium vapor bulb, was trashed without a second thought.
One good example of this is the vintage-style streetlamp a few blocks down. For years this lamp cast its amber glow on its surroundings, making the night charming. It was obvious the moment the bulb was changed to LED. The glare of it caught your eye, the way a distant welding arc does. The intensity of its cold white light has murdered the charm of the evening. The night has been transformed into a hospital room.
What could possibly be done? The type of person making the decision to utilize these bulbs is impervious to appeals to beauty or charm. For some reason every city government hires a variation of the same person who is responsible for making the night grotesque. Not all LED bulbs are created equal. Some mimic, albeit poorly, the ambient charm of sodium vapor bulbs. Could a city government be talked into using a “warmer” bulb? Why not place blue-blocking filters over the existing bulbs? Is this really a concern of such a small minority that a city government couldn’t be bothered with it? I refuse to believe it.
Dasha once said even if global warming is true wouldn’t it be better to march to our doom as a beautiful glittering technologically advanced civilization than make these sad little barters to buy at most a few more years. One of her best takes. pic.twitter.com/dyS3bFYLQJ
— Gay Interrupted (@TwinkTheory) October 21, 2025
