Amarillo Yard Art: Resident Responses to Yard Signs and Their Regulation

In the City of Amarillo, Texas, more than 5,000 objects of a unique form of art—yard signs—are located on individual properties. We used a windshield survey to identify 2,311 such signs and sent questionnaires to a random selection of 394 residents with the signs and 696 of their neighbors. We asked how often they encountered the signs and their opinions of them and also solicited background information. Most residents with no sign in their yard evaluated the signs negatively. The findings suggest popular support for design control over this one kind of public art in residential yards. The signs and residents' responses to them bring to the fore some questions relating to the conflict between design controls and property rights and freedom of speech. Communities with similar conflicts should consider controls of location and physical features, citywide or on a block-by-block basis, and use a proactive approach.