We recently landscaped the front with pavers, block retaining walls, and versa lock steps. The setup looks beautiful without a handrail but our city requires one. So we put up a minimalist one but don't like it.

Questions:
1) how much maintenance does black wrought iron railing require in humid/rainy/mild snow areas?
2) would combining black wrought iron and existing white vinyl handrail/posts look odd? (These would be for different levels of stairs, black wrought iron for ground to paver walkway and white vinyl for walkway up to door.) Or is it best to keep them matched?

Having hard time visualizing and need help deciding. Thanks!