... been that way for a real long time. Somebody ought to start a startup for an AR app that replaces those billboards with other billboards you might find in some other kind of city, say Boston or Philadelphia or Atlanta so people in SV can have a little empathy for "the rest of us".

When it comes to billboards, I want to give a little shout-out to the Washington State, which I think has a rather clever and effective rule: Advertisements along the highway have to be for things people can actually get on the property hosting the sign. [0]

This prevents pathological billboards in a rather organic way: Real businesses don't have enough financial incentive to blot out the sky above, or create a chain of self-competing active sites, and anyone who does erect a forest of billboards will have a hard time inventing a profitable business underneath to buy the space. [1]

[0] https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=47.42

[1] I anticipate this will need adjustment as someone tries to argue a tiny touchpad kiosk at the base of the billboard tower counts when remotely ordering a product for future delivery elsewhere.