State’s Sleaze Industry Causing Problems
December 11th, 2006 by Peter
Yesterday’s Courant also had a front page story on Hartford’s “image issue:”
For those trying to sell it, the city is all about New England charm, wholesome family outings, high culture, good food and vibrant neighborhoods.
But, partly because of zoning regulations designed to isolate the city’s virtue from its vice, Hartford’s highways sell a different, sexier scene.
Drivers coming in from the north on I-91 first see the city’s skyline, then its panty line – with the easily visible Gold Club cabaret and Luv Boutique just off to the right. Visitors from the south don’t have to travel far to Very Intimate Pleasures, an easy-off, easy-on at Exit 27, for sex toys and other paraphernalia. From either direction, big billboards sell the city’s sex industry.
If a pair of Connecticut businessmen have their way, there will be even more to sell.
The article is written from an economic and legal perspective. The question of why the city’s sex businesses are bad for Hartford’s image in the first place is not engaged. But the appearance of this article is a step in the right direction. More:
In Berlin, an ordinance that restricts the location of sexually oriented businesses is at the center of a federal lawsuit brought by the would-be owner of a proposed Very Intimate Pleasures store. The owner argues that the town’s ordinance – which prohibits the businesses from operating within 250 feet of residential property – is unconstitutional.
In Manchester, the opening of another Very Intimate Pleasures this year brought significant public grief…
And Michael Kintner, head of the soon-to-be-phased-out Hartford Image Project, says the sex shop phenomenon is not Hartford’s problem alone. Sex billboards hit you in the face in New Haven, too, he said.
“Things you can’t control are going to affect image,” Kintner said, from sex signs to crime reports. Unless you ban billboards entirely, he said, there’s not much to be done.
We’re not so sure that it’s a choice between banning billboards entirely or doing nothing. Watch this space for information on ways you can make Connecticut more friendly for families and less so for the sleaze industry.
I find it interesting that you can pinpoint all these “dens of iniquity” and billboards, yet I have never noticed them. I guess I’m not be as sex-obsessed as you guys.
Exactly what bothers you — that these businesses exist at all, or that they’re being advertised? Is it the images on the billboards that offend you, and would different images be less offensive to you? Are you opposed to “sex toys and other parahernalia” in general?
By the way, thanks for pointing out all the locations here on your blog. As I usually pay attention to the road and traffic while I’m driving, rather than billboards, and so I never knew where these businesses were located. Should I need to spice up my life a little, I now know where I can find a store selling the spice.
The poet Alexander Pope wrote:
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
“As to be hated needs but to be seen;
“Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
“We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
I and most others are in the enduring stage. Apparently you, chele, are moving to embracing. Pardon me if I do not believe your claim of having tunnel-vision while driving.
Well.. one solution is to tax the sleaze industry so much that they cannot stay in business.. Can we get the CT legislature to pass a sleaze tax? Libs should like that, more money for their nanny state social programs.
NaCN —
Lovely. You know nothing about me yet accuse me of embracing “vice” — and call me a liar to boot.
First off, of what “vice” do we speak, exactly? Are you saying that any and all sex toys (and “paraphernalia”), when used by adults in a marital relationship, constitute “vice?” (Does this include lingerie?) Between a man and wife, in the privacy of their bedroom, what constitutes “vice?”
Secondly, I *was* completely unaware of billboards advertising these businesses, as well as their locations. Call me a liar if you will but that simply serves to show you as rather mean-spirited and prone to knee-jerk reactions.
I asked some simple questions in my first post. I was am honestly curious about this fixation with sex shops and where exactly your problem with them lies.
It is true that everything I know about you came from your post. In your post when you refer to the sex shops you put quotes around the term “dens of iniquity,” which normally indicates a level of disagreement with a term (e.g., same-sex “marriage”). You next ask the reader to explain “exactly what bothers [them]” about these businesses, which reasonably indicates that you do not find them or their billboards to be objectionable. Then you follow up by stating, “thanks for pointing out all the locations here on your blog,” and state that you would be willing to visit them if you need “spice” in your life. This also clearly indicates that you have no objections to using the businesses. Further, given that the CTFamily blog is merely repeating what was widely published in the state’s largest newspaper, with little additional comment, your use of irony in thanking the blog can reasonably be construed as a basic disagreement with concerns about the business locations and billboards, and with CTFamily for daring to think it is an issue worth repeating. All of this supports the conclusion that you are “moving to embracing” these businesses, their locations, and their advertising, which I refer to as vice. I did not say that you had embraced vice, just that you were moving to it.
If this is a faulty conclusion, it is based on a reasonable reading of your post. You can easily refute it by providing an example, any example, of what you find objectionable in regard to these businesses, their locations, or their billboards, as they currently exist or are proposed. Also, if this is a faulty conclusion, I would encourage you to reduce your use of sarcasm in your posts so that readers will not reach wrong conclusions.
I will leave it to you to define “vice” since you appear to want to have that discussion. Do not expect me to respond. It is pretty much settled law that the term “vice” is associated with these businesses. If you really have an interest in a definition, rather than just wanting to start an argument, I would suggest starting with Black’s Law and the cases cited there.
As to my conclusion regarding your truthfulness, it also is based on your own post. You tacitly admit that extrapolating from what is posted to a conclusion is a valid exercise when you state that my post “serves to show [me] as rather mean-spirited and prone to knee-jerk reactions.” (I, of course, disagree with that assessment, but that is no matter.) So how did I extrapolate that you were less than truthful in stating that you had not noticed the billboards? First, the Courant article (not the CTFamily blog) states that the billboards are clearly visible:
“Drivers coming in from the north on I-91 first see the city’s skyline, then its panty line – with the easily visible Gold Club cabaret and Luv Boutique just off to the right. Visitors from the south don’t have to travel far to Very Intimate Pleasures, an easy-off, easy-on at Exit 27, for sex toys and other paraphernalia. From either direction, big billboards sell the city’s sex industry.”
Second, I have observed the billboards myself. They are large and easily visible. Indeed, if the billboards did not get peoples’ attention, they would not be there. That is, after all, the point of a billboard, and the sex shops would not advertise there if it did not get peoples’ attention. Third, the billboards are located along the busiest highways in the state where most people, at one time or another, drive. Yet you stated “I have never noticed them.” I perceive that there are three possible explanations for this (with associated probabilities):
1) You have not driven on the state’s major highways around Hartford, (Highly improbable),
2) You are highly inattentive to your environment, (Possible but not probable),
3) You chose to take creative license with the truth to start an argument, (Probable given the sarcasm in your post and that an argument cannot be sustained if one starts by admitting the truth of your opponent’s position.)
Your second post emphasizes that you were indeed ignorant of the billboards. Fair enough. I will take you at your word. But, again, I encourage you to reduce the sarcasm in your posts so that readers will not reach wrong conclusions.
Isn’t there already a precedent for regulating billboards? I have never seen a billboard advertisement for cigarettes in CT.
There must be some regulation or we would surely see them as commonly as in other states. Those of you with the facts, please chime in!
There are many adult-oriented products that require proof of age for purchase. These products should not be advertised where easily accessible by the under-aged. My children see everything we drive by.
My name is Nick, and i am the manager of the Luv Boutique in hartford. I find your arguments interesting. Have you ever stepped foot inside my store? Even, if for nothing else, to see what it looks like? Let try to describe it for you.
As you walk in you find a second set of glass doors with stainless steel handles. After entering through those doors, there is a nicely arranged display of shoes to your right, behind the panyhose and thigh-highs, with some sexy costumes in front of you. To your left, there are some designer clothes from penthouse and shirley, all arranged around the wall. moving forward, there are lube displays (left), more clothes on racks(center), and some jewelry following by alternative tobacco smoking accessories (left). Only once you go past those another 20 feet, past the counter, can you find things like movies, toys, and gag gifts. I understand that when someone thinks of a “porn shop” or “adult store” they think of a place where people hang out to do less than appreciable things. This is not the case with my store. My staff is kind, and will go to any length to help you. Whether you need a toy, a movie, or some clothes, we are all very well trained and customer-service oriented. We are here to help people. Women who wish to practive abstinence from men but still enjoy sex some to my store. No risk of STD’s, pregnancies, or anything like that. Men who suffer from impotence, and don’t wish to even see their doctor come to us, look enlarge areas or even something so simple as bring back the passion to their sex lives. I help these people every day, and i don’t think them ill or bad, i just help them. And you all would do just for yourselves and Hartford to at least look inside before anyone says poorly of us.
i appreciate and thank your looking into my store or just a reply in advance.