This one is an extreme case, but I agree with you.

I live in Belo Horizonte, another large brazilian metropolis 580 kilometers away from Sao Paulo, and all the cabling is underground in the whole downtown area.

And it's not just the looks, in the five years I lived in this area I never had a blackout caused by storms. Had to buy several UPS units after moving to a suburb.

The worst things about cables is that they prevent the growth of large trees. Adding trees back into areas does far more for improving street beauty than removing advertising.