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does anyone have a link to a study proving that less lighting is not really unsafe?) I would like to have this in my hand when it comes up.

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How about studies that show that lighting increases crime? They certainly exist. It turns out that the idea of lighting reducing crime is largely a myth perpetrated by companies that sell lighting (nothing better to sell something than fear) coupled with the juvenile fear of the dark that often extends into adulthood.

Turns out that criminals like to see what they're stealing and like to know if people are watching them

Good luck - hopefully you live in an area with people that have an IQ above that of a wet dish-rag and who will understand such studies. I live in a beautiful dark sky area that is about to be trashed by politicians who dismiss scientific studies as "meaningless"

I am still working on them, but it seems like a hopeless cause (certainly it's a useful lesson not to mention astronomy - at least they don't know that's one of my ulterior motives!).

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Edited by Tom L (02/16/08 09:40 PM)

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Good luck - hopefully you live in an area with people that have an IQ above that of a wet dish-rag and who will understand such studies. I live in a beautiful dark sky area that is about to be trashed by politicians who dismiss scientific studies as "meaningless"

I am still working on them, but it seems like a hopeless cause (certainly it's a useful lesson not to mention astronomy - at least they don't know that's one of my ulterior motives!).

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Well it's now getting on for two years later after I wrote that, and this story has a nice ending. Although the current politicians ignored our efforts, a new commission chairman came in, and a new planning commission was launched. And on that planning commission was an architect who was also an astronomer(!). He put together a new lighting ordinance, incorporated ideas I had put into the one that I proposed, and it just passed. Sure it's not perfect, but it will ensure that all new commercial ventures use down-cast shades, requires that all billboards be lit from the top down, that the lights be turned off by 11pm (!) regardless and a number of other dark-sky friendly attributes.

My thanks to my friend Rick LaRosa for having worked on this and more importantly for succeeding in getting the lighting ordinance passed for our county! Stick with it - sometimes persistence pays off!

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