So while I’m out here in London, Astral Media Outdoor is holding an open vote on designs for a billboard that illustrates what Toronto means to its residents. I’m quite impressed that Astral Media went to OCAD students and is willing to donate a good chunk of its advertising space in the city to celebrating Toronto, but as one commenter on blogTO said: “how about no ads?”

They bring up a good point. While it is valiant of Astral Media to try and push residents to think about the sentence “My Toronto Is,” it would be nicer if there were fewer ads — whether for the city or not — that littered our public spaces. Another blogTO commenter finished the sentence as: “My Toronto is… covered with billboards.”

I voted for this design, which speaks to me a lot more than any of the other designs, but don’t let my opinion color your vote. The way I see it, if Astral Media is going to be littering our public space with ads, they might as well be ads that promote our city.