Some people apparently think of them as art. Some one in my town came up with the idea of placing old bikes all over town as displays, some people have them in their yards, they're every where. Mostly spray bombed in one color, pink is popular, and with a basket full of plastic flowers. They annoy me for some reason and you hardly ever see anybody actually riding a functioning bike around here. Had to get that off my chest.

Edit: I once donated a nice bike that I didn't ride anymore to the YMCA charity auction, it got a new lease on life and got ridden.