Ask yourself: “If a friend were visiting town would I suggest they go here” or “If I were travelling through is this a place I’d be glad I stopped”
Generally things like unique local shops and restaurants with good food should be considered if the description supports the relevance.
Generally things like a muffler store, an insurance office, a gas station are not eligible, as they are places you would only go if you really needed that service and not for the pleasure of going there.
Exceptions can be made based on the evidence provided. The muffler shop may have a sculpture that is eligible. The gas station may have an eating area with seats and be the only place for miles in a rural area, so a case could be made for the significance.
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Personally I think that not ENOUGH restaurants have been approved historically. Local restaurants that are unique to an area and have good food have always been something I’ve pushed for the eligibility. But I want to see a description that tells me WHY I should go there.
A lot of really generic businesses also make it through like banks and gas stations. These irk me because I hope they don’t cause a pushback against more businesses.
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Niantic, please come to NYC and delete all these freaking police/fire call boxes. Vast majority of them are not “antique” or unique or interesting. They are literally in the grid on EVERY OTHER street corner. Some neighborhoods consist of 70-80% of nothing but callboxes.
They all should be removed wholesale and force the community to submit actually interesting things.
Painted fire hydrants should be removed as well.
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“Starbucks That Never Were,” is a song title in waiting…
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by Wayfinder Jennings
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Which types and from which eras do or don’t get accepted/rejected?
I don’t think any Police/Fire alarms are really appropriate as Wayspots.
Their whole premise was to be ubiquitous so that emergency response would go directly to the right block.
I’m not aware of any cult following like you lot have with your monarchs’ glyphs or famous designs or celebratory colors. They’re just generic street furniture.
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I have never thought that these were eligible. But they should be only accepted if they are out of commission. Certainly.If there are any that are still working they should not be eligible at all.
How would the typical Explorer or Reviewer know which ones were still live?
Pull the lever and wait for a response?
Consider them all ineligible until they become truly rare antique objects in another ten or twenty years, maybe.
Well, this is a big part of why I don’t think they should qualify at all. But if a local player can see one that is live has A POI associated with it, they are free to get it removed by explaining that it’s a live call box and blocks emergency services.
Really?
I’m sure they have a history that predates even the original 1890 Glasgow police call boxes?
Boston or Albany I think we the first place to use them in maybe 1870ish.
Some of them ones I’ve seen I would view as iconic pieces of US street furniture in the same way that our postboxes, phone boxes and police boxes do.
I’ll will find out for myself if y’all are going to be coy about it.
https://untappedcities.com/2024/05/09/nycs-fire-alarm-call-box/
https://queensledger.com/2022/11/23/sounding-the-alarm-race-to-preserve-historic-fdny-pedestals/
ok but there are thousands of them. collectively they’re historic, but you can’t really learn anything by visiting any individual one.
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You see, it was significant when each city began installing those things.
Once they had one on every block, they were just like manhole covers or telephone booths. We don’t have anybody putting them on historic lists.
All types from all eras get accepted. Old ornate looking ones, restored ones, modern rectangular ones, birdhouse-looking ones, nonfunctioning-with-garbage-inside-ones. Everything. It’s a scourge that Niantic needs to address really badly.
i suppose i could see an argument for the relatively fewer number of victorian era ones being eligible, similar to how UK folks have decided for themselves that older post boxes are eligible.
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Huh, feels familiar in some way I can’t put my finger on 
I dunno I’m not from there that’s why I asked which and from which eras would be considered culturally important, have historic relevance along with their aesthetic beauty.
maybe we can do a survey