NEW YORK -- New York is home to 40 different types of street lamps, and more could be on the way as the city prepares to host an international design competition to find new styles.

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NYC Asking For Bright Ideas

Street lamps light the way, help make the city safe and -- if designed properly -- can show off a neighborhood, but that was not always the thinking.

In the 1950s, the standard "cobra head"-style streetlight replaced the other varieties, and street lamp aficionados lamented.

"I was in first grade," streetlight enthusiast Jeff Saltzman said. "When I went to school that day, the same old incandescent lights that had been on that street since we moved there were there. When I came home six hours later, there were these gooseneck mast arms."

Saltzman was rattled by the change.

"It was a trauma," he said. "I was 6 years old. These lights were a constant to me."

Variety returned in the late 1980s as historic-looking lampposts made a comeback.

But the historic lampposts don't fit in everywhere, which is where the design competition comes in.

"It's so much more exciting to hold an international competition," Department of Transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall said. "To really go out and say to the world that we're looking for some type of innovative and creative design that fits in with the different elements and neighborhoods in New York City."

The lights won't just have to just look good; they'll have to be tough.

"Engineering-wise, they really have to stand up to the rough and tumble life of New York City," said Weinshall, who added that city employees and volunteers will pick the winners.

Is all of this necessary?

The project is not a waste of money, Weinshall says. As lampposts near retirement age, they would need to be replaced anyway.