Rome's Election Billboards: Dinosaurs in the Age of Social Media?

 

This set of billboards, on via Tiburtina across from the Verano cemetery, is one of many in Rome intended for the the display of large political posters ("maxi-manifesti") that for decades have been a part of Rome's electoral campaigns, in this case European parliamentary elections that will take place in June. 

They are installed every year about this time on the city's sidewalks, which are mostly asphalt, then removed after the elections. Some say they interfere with the movement of pedestrians (especially those with disabilities), others that the installation process can damage the sidewalks. It is clear that they are costly; the cost each year to Rome taxpayers is about 300,000 Euro, or about $325,000. There are more than 5,000 of them, distributed in 166 locations within the 15 local jurisdictions in the capital. 

But the most interesting criticism is that they are increasingly irrelevant in an age when political communication takes place not through posters but on the social media, not to mention radio and television. A recent article in the Rome daily newspaper, Il Messaggero, describes the billboards as "immortal," resisting the inevitable: AI. One city official calls the billboards "medieval," an epithet that wouldn't have much resonance for Americans, but means something to Europeans. 

In 2023 critics advanced a proposal to eliminate the billboards. It failed because to do so would require changing a 1956 national law that established and underpins the system. 

Bill 

The set of billboards at center left have just been installed; they've been cleaned of old posters.

This set of billboards has also been recently installed, but already someone has put up posters for a trans/non-binary demonstration--probably an "illegal" poster.  

Walking in Rome "Safely", or "You Can Walk but They Can Kill You"

You can't.  Walk in Rome safely, that is.  But there are some things you can do, and information you need to have, to improve the odds of your staying alive in the Eternal City.

Parked in a crosswalk

1.  Cross the street at lights and crosswalks (with white stripes).  That would be sensible advice anywhere, but it's especially relevant to Rome, where Rome drivers are conditioned, more or less, to stop for, or avoid, pedestrians in white-striped crosswalks.  In theory, pedestrians have the right-of- way in crosswalks, but as Dad told me, "there's no right of way in heaven."  Many motorists will stop for a crosswalk pedestrian only if the ped is aggressive--that is, steps into the crosswalk, thereby indicating that he/she is determined to use the crosswalk, even if a car is coming.  And that's not something everyone will feel comfortable doing, or should.,  Older persons--older women, especially, it seems to us--use the crosswalk as if it were 1960, not even looking to see if there's a vehicle approaching.  Perhaps they imagine they're still in a rural village.  Today, in Rome, this is insanity.  Be aware, too, that the stripes of many crosswalks are faded, sometimes badly faded, and may be difficult for drivers to see.

And of course, sometimes vehicles park in the crosswalk. Worse still, in the Flaminio piazza where we lived, vehicles--cars, trucks, scooters (we do it, too)--routinely use the crosswalk to make u-turns up the adjacent street.  Keep you eyes peeled.

2.  Even when crossing at lights there are hazards.  Cars seldom go through red lights, but about 1 in 10 scooters pay little attention to the color of the light. Often scooters will approach a red light, slow down, then accelerate through it.  Moreover, traffic in Rome is such that when the light turns green, vehicles--especially scooters--move away rapidly.  Therefore, be sure you have plenty of time to get across the intersection; don't get caught in the street when the light changes. In the words of a 1970s blues tune, "stop on the red, go on the green, don't get caught by Mr. Inbetween."

3.  Understand that Rome motorists are distracted in a way they were not only a few years ago.  Today, many  motorists and scooter drivers are listening to music, on the phone with a spouse or lover (maybe having an argument), or otherwise not paying full attention to the road.  Some of those driving scooters will check their cell phones, and even text, while they're in motion (it is possible, though ill-advised, to drive a scooter with only the right hand, which covers the accelerator and one brake).  Not long ago, on the fastmoving Muro Torto, a woman on a scooter, on the phone (tucked into her helmet) was driving with the right hand while gesturing dramatically with the left.

4.  Watch out for Smart Cars.  Rome's Smart Car population is growing rapidly.  Two problems arise.  First, Smart Car drivers are among the most distracted in the city.  Why?  Because, unlike most automobiles in Rome, Smart Cars shift automatically.  Hence drivers do not have to use two hands, leaving one free to a) smoke b) eat c) use a cell phone d) gesture.   Second, Smart Car drivers, feeling liberated from the big cars they used to drive (and that had trouble navigating traffic), now act like scooter drivers, weaving in and out of traffic, often dangerously.  But they're not scooters.  They can't turn as easily as scooters or stop as fast as scooters.  It won't take long for Smart Car drivers to learn they're not scooters, but as for now the lesson hasn't sunk in.

5.  Scooter drivers vary in their behaviors.  Some will brake for pedestrians (no matter where they are), others will swerve to avoid them without stopping, and still others will avoid them, but barely--as if the pedestrians were cones in game of skill.  So beware.  Most scooters, thank God, can stop on a dime. But--this is really important--scooter drivers may be on the phone or listening to a favorite tune and hence somewhat distracted.  Even so, driving a two-wheeled vehicle without falling requires having eyes on the road at all times.  You can pretty much guarantee that a scooter driver will see you in the crosswalk and will be thinking about whether to stop or how to avoid you. Not so with cars.

6.  There is no right on red in Rome, and it's uncommon.  But some do it, anyway.

7.   "You can walk but they can kill you."  That's been our motto the past few years.  Unlike in the States, where a pedestrian walk light indicates that pedestrians can expect the intersection to be clear of vehicles, in Rome a pedestrian walk light is often coupled with a green arrow for vehicles that signals the right to move through the area you';re about to walk in.  If that seems crazy or wrong, get used to it.  To be safe, expect it, especially at complex intersections.

"You can walk but they can kill you."  Crosswalk, pedestrian OK, but cars turning right over the crosswalk,
in front of you.  That's Monte Mario in the background.  

Heavy traffic?  Scooters now and then use the sidewalk.

8.  In the city, use available protections.  In Rome's center, many streets have no sidewalks.  Some have poles in the street providing pedestrians with protection from vehicles.  Use them.  If the street has no poles, duck in between parked cars when vehicles pass.

9.  Sidewalks normally provide protection against getting run over.  But scooters often park on the sidewalk, and to get there they drive ON the sidewalk, sometimes for most of  a block. If traffic is very heavy, scooters may use the sidewalk as if it were another lane.  Be aware.

10.  While crossing one-way streets, look both ways.  Rome isn't London, where driving the wrong way on a one-way street would earn a quick ticket.  Scooters, especially (including this driver) will sometimes go the wrong way to find a parking space--or whatever.  Be conscious.

Bill
For more on scooters, see our posts on renting a scooter in Rome, riding a scooter in Rome, parking a scooter in Rome, getting a ticket in Rome, preventing scooter thefts, and junking a scooter in Rome.

The Asphalt Jungle: Rome's Sidewalks

Rome has lousy sidewalks.  Yes, sidewalks. 

Americans may be shocked to learn that sidewalks are not the same world wide (as if RST could claim familiarity with the world's sidewalks).  There are places--and Rome is one of them--where those familiar concrete rectangles, placed one after the other--do not exist.

A sidewalk of sampietrini, on viale Trastevere

There are some handsome sidewalks in Rome.   Here and there, especially in or near the city center, one finds sidewalks fashioned of handsome modern paving blocks, others of sampietrini.  The one at the right is lovely, but the stones can come loose, leading to expensive repairs (or no repairs) [see photo at end].

Piazza Vittorio

Under its porticos, Piazza Vittorio (left) has a colorful sidewalk in the terrazzo style. 

But by and large, the preferred sidewalk material in the Eternal City is anything but eternal: it is asphalt.  Asphalt makes some sense as a paving material for the city's streets; it is smoother and provides better traction than the lovely but impractical sampietrini that fill so many roadways, and scooter riders can now enjoy a less bumpy, safer, and more predictable ride on--for example--large sections of the Lungotevere, the city's main north-south artery.  So streets are one thing. 

Monteverde Vecchio.  A dog's world.  They are all wealthy.

And sidewalks another.  And surprisingly, the city's sidewalks are mostly asphalt.  Even in elegant neighborhoods, like Monteverde Vecchio, where an average condominium sells for a million dollars.




We don't know why this is so.  Perhaps in Rome the difference between the cost of asphalt and the cost of cement is substantial, or larger than elsewhere.  Perhaps, in a city where many prefer to walk in the streets, sidewalks are an understandable afterthought.  Perhaps the asphalt sidewalk is just another sign of how little Italians care for, or take responsibility for, anything beyond their own homes and apartments.    

There is one advantage to asphalt.  The dark, undivided surface is good to write on, and Rome's bards have taken advantage, letting the sidewalks speak of Giovanni's obsession with Maria, of Massimo's with Chiara, of Vittorio's with Frederika, and so on.

Otherwise, the asphalt sidewalks are a failure.  They are hard to clean (not that Romans are out there scrubbing away).  See right.












Compared to cement, they are hardly level even when new.   The thin layer of asphalt breaks up into pieces and holes.  Ugliness abounds.  Dangers loom. 









 But it is more than that.  There is something dispiriting, degrading, even disgraceful, about an asphalt sidewalk.  That would be true in Peoria, but it is especially true in Rome, where the elegance of the past is everywhere. 

Rome deserves better.
Bill

Sidewalks of sampietrini can be handsome, and they have
historical resonance, but they are hardly indestructible. 

Love Poems: on the Streets and Sidewalks of Rome

Rome's walls--the walls of buildings, the sides of trains and Metro cars--are full of graffiti, some of it reaching the level of art, some of it powerfully political, much of it juvenile scribbling. 

Much less common than wall writing, street and sidewalk graffiti appear here and there, most often on the city's ordinary and ugly asphalt sidewalks, but sometimes on the cobblestoned streets.  This form of writing is seldom political, and never artistic--at least not in the bold letters/colorful sense that one normally associates with the best graffiti.  The streets and sidewalks are a space for personal statements: congratulations and best wishes, vows of commitment, and poems of love. 

Among the simpler statements is "Buon Compleanno Princepessa" (Happy Birthday Princess) and "Claudia Ti Amo" (top) which hardly needs translating. 

From a street in Monteverde Vecchio

And "Auguri Dottoressa"--with the date, September 29, 2011.  Auguri means something like "best wishes," and while "Dottoressa" could mean a woman doctor, here it probably means a woman graduate of any program. 




The love poems proved surprisingly difficult to translate, and we sought help from our friend Massimo, a professional translator.

Here's one:

Tuscolano

                                                                                   
  15.09.11                         September 15, 2011
  Guardami negli occhi     Look me in the eye
  Dimmise non                 Tell me [dialect=dime se non] if you don't                           
  Vedi che io                     See that I
  Sono sempre                   Am always
  Qui X te                          Here for you

Massimo notes that X means "per"--that is, "for"--a custom that derives from the way Italians learn their multiplication tables: 2 X 2 is recited "due per due." 

Another poem:

A Garbatella manifesto

ora che                             now that
ora che 6 con me             now that you're with me
io vivo questo attimo       I live this moment
io vivo fino in fondo        I live fully [to the end of time?]
con te                               with you

Here "6" means "you are" because, in Italian, "6" and "you are" are both spelled and
pronounced "sei." 

And our final example:

Tuscolano

Accettami cosi...Ti          Accept me as I am
Prego..non guarda           Please do not look [see below]
..Nella mia testa              Into my most personal thoughts
Ce un mondo da             
Ignorare!                         There is a world to ignore
28.10.11 Ti Amo             October 28, 2011  I love you

Massimo suggests that this poem might have been penned by a non-native Italian: in the second line, "non guarda" should be "non guardare."  Or perhaps the letters "re" are on the white curb and not visible--or the author ran out of space. 

When we found this last poem, it had been on the sidewalk for about 8 months--obviously written with indelible paint.

Bill

The Streets of Rome: Made for Walking

....me and Mamie O'Rourke
Tripped the light fantastic
On the sidewalks of New York

Some 115 years after they were written, these lines from "Sidewalks of New York" are still with us, still capable, somehow, of representing the thrill of being part of America's largest city. 

On Via Cavalcanti

The song could never have been written about Rome, and not because the city doesn't have sidewalks.  There are sidewalks on Via Nazionale, sidewalks on Piazza Venezia, sidewalks on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, sidewalks on the Tiber. 

But Rome is not New York.  Via del Corso, the mile-long street connecting Piazza Venezia with Piazza del Popolo, has sidewalks, but they are perilously narrow, and pedestrians are inevitably tempted into the street.  Many streets laid out in the city's medieval period and into the Renaissance have no sidewalks, though here and there--meaning seldom--those on foot are shielded from traffic by a line of metal poles.  In the tourist mecca of Trastevere, sidewalks are hit and miss.  The near-in "suburbs," built with cars in mind, all have sidewalks, and many are welcome and well-used.  But--and that but brings me, finally, to the point of this piece: Romans like to walk in the street.  One cannot say the same of New Yorkers.

On the balcony at Via Cavalcanti

We came to this conclusion--hardly a man-bites-dog story, but interesting enough--during a recent stay in Monteverde Vecchio, an upscale neighborhood of villas and apartment buildings on the Trastevere side, where we sampled the local whites from a small 4th floor balcony.  The balcony was located above Via G. Cavalcanti, half a short block south of busy Via Lorenzo Valla. 

Late one afternoon, while enjoying a Sicilian Grillo and observing the regular flow of walkers below us, we couldn't help but notice how many preferred the street to the sidewalks on either side. 

Some were alone, some with children in tow or in strollers, some old, some young, men and women, couples, an occasional threesome.  For about 40 minutes we took the photos you see here--and many others. 

There is traffic on Via Cavalcanti

But why  are these folks walking in the street?  One reason, we thought, was peculiar to Via Cavalcanti, a one-way street (uphill, north, to the left in the photos), which carries high traffic volume only after it intersects with Via Lorenzo Valla, a half block north of our observation.  True enough, but Cavalcanti is hardly free of cars and scooters (photo at right), and pedestrians sometimes prefer the street even at its busier points. 

The street may also seem attractive in comparison with Cavalcanti's sidewalks (similar to those in many outlying areas), ugly strips of cheap poured asphalt, bulging here and there from exposure to the Roman sun and erupting tree roots, seldom swept or cleaned--just plain dirty one could say--not all that wide (though wide enough for two) and used by the neighborhood's dogs, escorted by owners who seldom clean up after them.  So there's that. 

Still there's something else at work here, something that has to do with Rome's history, with the narrow, tangled streets of Trastevere, the Jewish ghetto, and Parione (the area to the west of Piazza Navona).  Having walked these streets for hundreds of years, Romans have their own idea of what streets are and should be: though vehicles may use them, they are meant for walking. 

And so it is that Romans use their streets, and not just the medieval ones, for purposes that modern traffic engineers did not intend.  On the streets, they stride and stroll, walk and talk, move their groceries and their children (and their employer's children), walk their dogs, ride their bicycles.  What they do not do is "trip the light fantastic"--not in the street, and surely not on the sidewalks.  But then, it's not New York.  It's Rome. 

Bill