How to talk to your neighbor about a bad light

Here in Flagstaff, the world's first International Dark Sky City, we have pretty good outdoor lighting overall. There are some bad gas stations, and some pretty ugly motels, but most folks around here treasure our glorious dark skies and do their part to preserve them through the use of quality lighting.

So what's the number one complaint that we hear?

In our experience, the best thing to do is to simply bring it to your neighbor's attention and offer a constructive alternative. In almost every case the neighbor is unaware that he is causing a problem. Hey, it looks fine from his window! Invite him over to see what it looks like from your house. In most cases, that's all it takes to convince him to fix the problem.You could suggest that he choose a different fixture or add a motion detector. And while you're at it, have a look at your own lighting from his house. Maybe you could both solve each other's problem!