You can't miss them.

North Mary Street is home to a tangerine-colored house, which happens to be next door to a purple house.

A house painted the same shade as the aquamarine hue of the Caribbean Sea sits along South Queen Street.

And have you seen the hot pink house on Beaver Street?

Yowza!

Bright-colored houses and businesses are popping up all over Lancaster city, which has traditionally been more of a colonial-hued town.

The eye-popping pigments are being used by residents who are importing a bit of their native Hispanic culture here or just expressing a love of colors more commonly found in the Skittles palette.

"It's sort of funky," said Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, who has noticed the trend toward head-turning hues.

Experts say the cheerful colors make people feel good in trying times. It is hard not to smile when you see a house painted the same color as Barney the dinosaur, even if you might wonder what the neighbors think.

"People call it the Smurf factory," said Dave Fulton with a laugh, referring to the recent electric-blue paint job he had done to Hildy's Tavern, near Franklin & Marshall College. "When it was being painted, people said, 'You don't know what that's going to look like.' Now they like it. It's something different."

When Esther Beck had her house at 456 S. Queen St. painted this summer, she knew what she didn't want.

"No tan, no red, no white," said Beck, who was wearing a lively purple and white dress as she stood in the doorway of her turquoise house. "I guess I wanted to be different."

Some of Guillermo Arroyo's neighbors have told him that his two side-by-side lime green homes on Manor Street are too different, he said.

"They think it is too much. I said, 'They are my houses and I like the paint,' " said Arroyo, who lives at 554 and rents out 552.

He and his wife, Silvia, like the bright color, which they chose because it reminded them of the forest.

"The only green things we see here are the grass. That's it," he said.

Pete Barber, the owner of Two Dudes Painting Company in Lancaster, said people are more willing to experiment with color these days, both outside and inside their homes. Some use bright colors as an accent on trim, said Barber, whose own home has a purple front door.

"It makes it interesting and allows people to express their individuality," he said. "Some blocks have 30 houses that are basically the exact same house, all built the same. This gives some variation to it."

City residents are bound only by their imagination in painting their homes or businesses. Even in the city's historic districts, there are no rules that restrict colors.

The mayor's own house on North Prince Street sports three different colors — ginger, blue and green — though they are more muted than some of the bright colors being seen around town these days.

Gray's wife, Gail, who is an artist, likes to play with color and chose the combination. She likes to see city homes with a personality.

"Sometimes, at first, it's shocking, but you can go 180 degrees and decide you like it," she said. "Sometimes you have to give it a chance."

Businesses have jumped on the bright band wagon — for obvious reasons.

Carlos Cruz and Luis Almanzar wanted their customers to be able to find their Doctor Tire business in the 400 block of South Prince Street. So they gussied up the building with a lipstick-red roof and a bright blue and bright yellow facade.

"Wow," said customer Hector Colon, of Neffsville, as he recently walked up to the business. "I guess you can't miss this. It's crazy."

Cruz is from Puerto Rico. Almanzar is from the Dominican Republic. In their home countries, buildings often are painted bright colors — the shades of tropical fruits, Cruz said.

He thinks the recent colorful trend fits the city's growing identity.

"It coordinates with the whole artistic culture of Lancaster, the First Fridays, all the galleries," he said.

At Hildy's, Fulton chose blue because that is one of the school colors of Franklin & Marshall College, whose students have long been regulars at Hildy's.

"Everybody says it sticks out like a sore thumb," said Fulton of the tavern, at Frederick and Mary streets. "I said, 'That's good! I want people to notice it.' "

That can be a smart business strategy, said Denise Turner, a consultant and expert on color who has appeared on HGTV.

"It gives people in the neighborhood a landmark," said Turner, who lives in southern California. "If it's painted beige, people might not be as interested in going there."

Bright hues reveal something about our psyche, Turner said, in a time when the economy is struggling and people might be unsure about the future.

"People are using these colors as a self-imposed optimism," she said. "They want to feel good."

Also, a generation is coming along that is accustomed to expressing its singularity in personalized cell phone covers, laptop sleeves and clothing.

"Some people just want to use crazy, fun playful colors to express their personality," she said. "I think it's fun."

cstauffer@lnpnews.com