Are taxpayers being gaslighted by charm of street lamps

UC researchers measure methane and carbon monoxide released by a lamp fueled with natural gas. In two new studies in Boston and Cincinnati, UC researchers found that gaslights release more toxic gases than other gas appliances. Photo/Provided

And they cost taxpayers untold thousands of dollars to operate, not to mention the associated burdens placed on neighborhoods across the country where the gas is extracted, said Professor Amy Townsend-Small, who teaches in UC's School of Environment and Sustainability.

"They're highly inefficient, burning 24 hours a day. The cost is borne by taxpayers across the entire city even though most of the city doesn't benefit from them. They're wasteful and less efficient than other gas appliances," she said. "And people living near extraction wells are the ones bearing the brunt of the impacts."

Townsend-Small collaborated with David Stradling, the Zane L. Miller Professor of History, and undergraduate student Sacha Brewer in the School of Environment and Sustainability to examine gas releases from streetlights across Cincinnati for a study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

Amy Townsend-Small. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC

"At the same time, lots of people understood that gaslights gave a certain character to their neighborhoods," Stradling said. "They protected them in part because of this distinctiveness and because it seemed like they might be important to retaining property values. This was no small thing in a city that was shrinking rapidly in the late 20th century."

Cincinnati's population contracted by nearly 10% in the 1990s, based on census data, as manufacturing relocated and employers moved to the surrounding suburbs.

Why are gaslamps so loved?

"People express real nostalgia over gas streetlights," Stradling said, adding, "I think they really just like the lampposts, which are historic and very pretty."

The misplaced nostalgia revealed itself when he asked people why they liked them for the study.

"People often said they liked the flickering of the light. This is particularly telling, I think, because gaslights don't flicker," he said.

From the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Victorian Cape May in New Jersey, many cities across the United States still use gaslights, particularly in historic or tourist districts.

For the second study published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, Townsend-Small and now UC grad Brewer partnered with Boston University Professor Nathan Phillips to map more than 3,000 natural gas streetlights in Boston. They also measured emissions from 119 lamps in representative neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Charlestown and Bay Village.

A gaslight in Clifton's Gaslight District. Photo/Michael Miller

• Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego, California: A 16-block historic district in downtown San Diego listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It features over 90 historic Victorian-era buildings now used for nightlife, dining and entertainment.

• Historic Gaslight Square District, Petoskey, Michigan: A well-preserved lakeside shopping and dining district in Northern Michigan. It is bordered by public parks and turn-of-the-century Victorian houses overlooking Little Traverse Bay.

• Gramercy Park, New York: Contains some of the last remaining private gas lamps in Manhattan.

• Glen Ridge, New Jersey: Features a town seal depicting a gas lamp and maintains over 600 working fixtures.

• French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana: Widely uses gas lanterns to maintain its historic 18th-century atmosphere.

• Gaslight Square, St. Louis, Missouri: Formerly a premier entertainment district in the 1950s-60s known for its ornate Victorian style; today it remains a historic residential area.