I am writing concerning the expansion of Wi-Fi and cell towers in Santa Fe.

The giant fake trees and towers painted blue to "match the sky" are not disguised. The clutter and broken landscape have now turned Santa Fe upside down into The City Blighted, instead of what the tourists come to see. Even the surveillance cameras that litter our intersections and light posts remove the charm that Santa Fe once had. As a tourist destination, Santa Fe is losing its ability to charm.

I have read scientific papers concerning the health dangers caused by all of the criss-crossing signals, and there are many, many studies. Just because these emissions are "invisible" doesn't mean they don't cause bodily harm. Many studies suggest increased incidence of heart irregularities, brain-wave disruption, irritability, nervousness, high-pitched sound pollution and brain tumors and blood cancers.

In my own home (where we have lived for 21 years), we have been able to fight the Public Service Company of New Mexico from installation of "emitting" devices. These devices are expensive to maintain and install. We all know that jobs are needed in Santa Fe, and replacing them with problem-causing machines is really short-sighted.

When these ghastly towers are erected, the neighborhood is no longer a cozy and welcoming place to live, and our property values are threatened. If they are only placed in poorer sections of town, that kind of visual blight in neighborhoods will increase vandalism and graffiti because youth recognize that no one really cares about poor people and industrialized spaces.

When I see Free Wi-Fi signs at cheap hotels I always ask: Free at what cost?

The gadgets being sold — like iPads and iPhones — are expensive toys. They are not really for real communication. I just read about a man who drove into a train while texting. Using these devices while driving causes more wrecks that driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

We must rethink what a modern world should look like. We need the peace of nature and the health gained from silence. Tourists want peace and nature, too, and not souvenirs from China and goo-gahs that can be found anywhere on Earth. The Southwest offers a kind of respite.

Why import visual pollution just because the "market" has convinced its customers that they can get better rates on their own useless conversations. I hear men in supermarkets asking their wives, at home, what kind of tomatoes they need, describing on their iPhones the color and texture in order to make a decision. Cell phones make people talk more about less. They have become more about style than function.

Our historic areas are threatened, and our property values and health are being destroyed by shortsighted techno expansion. I request a moratorium. Let's make Santa Fe an example of peace and recreation.

Sally Blakemore is the owner and creative director of Arty Projects Studio, Ltd. in Santa Fe.