I quite agree with you, 6 Rivers. I feel the streets are too dark. I could walk past my own brother and not know him. And it affects motorists too. With the too-high lights lost in the trees, then if just one nearby lamp also has a burned-out bulb, it is
really dark. Most people wear dark clothes, emerge suddenly, away from the intersection, from between parked cars to cross... really hard to see.
But the worst is when you are riding your bike. You cannot see a pothole or piece of debris on the road. If you could see it, you'd swerve to avoid it. But even if you only see it in the last second and can't swerve to avoid it -- you can at least brace yourself for it. It's a big difference, hitting a pothole with foreknowledge, both hands firmly on the wheel and your whole body ready, vs being too relaxed, maybe having unwittingly picked that moment to take one hand off the wheel to wipe your forehead or scratch your nose or something. I have two lights on the front of my handlebars, but it's still not enough.
Unfortunately there are very strong lobbies in Toronto against something they call "light pollution."
apparently it is more important to be able to go stargazing in the middle of the city than to have safe roads. Me, I accept that if I want to live in the city, there are things I have to give up, like being able to stargaze from right outside my apartment. I think the lower light poles that you suggest would actually reduce the amount of light unnecessarily going into the sky rather than lighting people's way. But there is the issue that the bright lamps would then be at the level of 2nd-floor bedrooms, making it difficult for people to sleep at night.
I have often looked at light poles and night lighting as a whole and wondered if the whole concept shouldn't be given a rethink. Not just different bulbs or slightly redesigned poles, but maybe some kind of radical new model.
