Outdoor lighting adds style during the day and safety after dark. Often, cities and counties update old fixtures or add them to new facilities to better represent an image they want to project. The following five cities have chosen new lights to complement aspects of their communities, ranging from the historical (McMinnville, Ore.) to the cultural (Palmdale, Calif.).

McMinnville, Ore.

Founded in the mid-1800s, McMinnville, Ore., wanted its downtown area to reflect the city's historic character. After its request for state funds to pay for a lighting project was rejected, the city and the McMinnville Downtown Association secured contributions from the community and McMinnville Water and Light to replace a group of 1960s-style lights with more than 20 historic-style lamps from Roselle, Ill.-based Sternberg Lighting.

The town unveiled the new downtown additions at a party on Sept. 16, 2006, which coincided with a celebration of the downtown association's 20th anniversary.

Ramsey, N.J.

In anticipation of its 100th anniversary in 2008, Ramsey, N.J., officials decided to update streetlights, beginning with those on Old Main Street. Recently, the community, which is about 20 miles away from New York, completed the next phase of the project, on New Main Street and the library. The newest fixtures from Sternberg Lighting complement the earlier downtown project and a library parking expansion project. Among the celebrations the borough is planning for next year are a Centennial Birthday and Fourth of July event and a Ramsey Centennial Parade in September.

Chattanooga, Tenn.

Unlike Atlanta, its neighbor 100 miles south, a drought is not affecting Chattanooga's water supply. And, nowhere is the city's abundance of water more celebrated than at the Tennessee Aquarium. When the facility redesigned its walkways recently, it added new lighting along the streetscape and pedestrian areas. The fixtures, from U.S. Architectural Lighting, were custom-styled in “Chattanooga green,” and now are being installed in other areas of the city.

Palmdale, Calif.

A fast-growing suburb about 50 miles north of Los Angeles, Palmdale, Calif., is called “The Aerospace Capital of the World” because of its many research, manufacturing and entertainment attractions, such as the Aerospace Exploration Gallery. However, when Palmdale built its MetroLink rail station — part of a regional transit system — it chose a traditional Spanish Colonial design. So, when the city added new fixtures throughout the rail station's public areas and along the streetscape, it picked Spanish-style outdoor fixtures from locally based U.S. Architectural Lighting. The lamps also were installed at Palmdale's recently opened Marie Kerr Park and Amphitheater.

Ave Maria, Fla.

Updating an image for a city was not the mission of the new lighting project in Ave Maria, Fla. Rather, the project was needed to help create an impression for one of the state's newest municipalities. A planned community that started operations this year, Ave Maria is being developed by Naples, Fla.-based Barron Collier Companies, and is the new home for Ave Maria University, which was established by Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza. Set in the city's downtown and adjacent parkways leading to the town, the new lighting was manufactured by La Marada, Calif.-based Architectural Area Lighting.