Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Friday, April 30, 2021

Arbor Day, Friday April 30th

Today is National Arbor Day, which is celebrated on the last Friday of April.  For a blogger, it's always a good way to write about the value of trees in the urban environment.

The National Tree Benefit Calculator provides data on the economic value of individual trees in terms of storm water, property value, energy savings, air quality, and carbon dioxide capture. 

 According to the US Forest service, cities see an average US$2.25 return each year, for every dollar invested in trees.

From a planning perspective, when it comes to trees there are two "transformational concepts" (in the line of thinking of what I call "transformational projects action plans") that should be incorporated into city and county master plans.

1.  Treating streets as linear parks.  I first heard this expressed by parks planner David Barth in a presentation at the American Planning Association national meeting in DC in 2004.  

Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Strip District

I think it's brilliant.  This concept made it into a few master plans that he worked on, but it hasn't been widespread.

The Parkway approach from the 1920s is still applicable today.

-- Parkways, San Francisco Better Streets
-- Boulevards and Parkways, Seattle Open Space 2100
-- Street Types, Boston Urban Design Manual
-- Parkway Design Guidelines, Denver 

but not just for boulevard-type streets, but "ordinary" streets too.

Some cities have more radical approaches, mostly as one offs.

-- Minneapolis converted the street serving the two block Milwaukee Street Historic District to a non-car space.  Greenway advocates in the city use that as a model for promoting greenways and other approaches to pro-sustainable mobility (photo and article, Terrain).

In Seattle, the street in front of the Belltown Community Center (sadly, no longer in operation) was converted to a pedestrian and community priority space (NACTO article).


If we thought of streets in these ways, in terms of how street aesthetics impact how we see and experience our communities, rather than as merely the way that we move and speed up traffic, we would treat the design of roadsides much differently.

Also see "Extending the Signature Streets concept to Signature Streets and Places."

For example, the "parking strips" fronting roads are usually too narrow to best accommodate the growth of trees.


Salt Lake City has a variety of planting strip widths, narrow, decently sized, and super wide, usually on major arterials.

South Temple Street, Salt Lake City

One way that DC accommodates tree root growth and expansion is by the use of rubberized sidewalks.

1900 block of E. Bryan Avenue, Salt Lake City

Unfortunately, too many public works departments see trees as a maintenance nuisance and prefer to cut them down.

2.  Treating a city's trees collectively as an urban arboretum.  This concept is promoted by the Morton Arboretum in Illinois through their ArbNet accreditation program.  

A few small cities have adopted this approach, but it hasn't been widely adopted. Although many cities have moved tree and "urban forestry" divisions into transportation agencies, with the aim of a more integrated approach.

Perhaps the largest city participating is Newport, Rhode Island ("As city’s first generation of exotic trees die out, Newport Tree Conservancy works to replace them," Newport Daily News).  

Many cities get designation as "Tree City USA" by the Arbor Day Foundation.  But the standards are somewhat minimal:

  • A Tree Board or Department
  • A Tree Care Ordinance
  • A Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita
  • An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

To to my way of thinking, working to get the tree canopy of the entire city as a "municipal arboretum" at the city-wide scale is much more transformational.

You'd think that the various organizations promoting tree planting efforts in their city, such as the Casey Trees initiative in DC, Trees Atlanta, or the Heartland Tree Alliance in Greater Kansas City, would want to move their communities in this direction.

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11 Comments:

At 11:49 AM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Salon: In America's cities, inequality is engrained in the trees.
https://www.salon.com/2021/05/06/in-americas-cities-inequality-is-engrained-in-the-trees_partner/

 
At 10:45 AM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/climate/trees-cities-heat-waves.html?smid=url-share

 
At 3:37 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Salt Lake Tribune: Salt Lake City looks to shade trees to mitigate its 'urban heat island' effect.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/09/12/salt-lake-city-looks/

 
At 5:37 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

The Optimist Daily: This experimental “super forest” shows how to plant trees the right way.
https://www.optimistdaily.com/2022/04/this-experimental-super-forest-shows-how-to-plant-trees-the-right-way/

 
At 11:30 AM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

ABC6OnYourSide.com: Advocates push for 'environmental justice' demanding protection for the city's tree canopy.
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/advocates-push-for-environmental-justice-demanding-protection-for-the-citys-tree-canopy-bread-organization-columbus-franklin-county-ohio-5-10-2022

 
At 12:16 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

TribLIVE: Tree planting along Carlisle Street in Harrison an effort to 'preserve heritage'.

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/tree-planting-along-carlisle-street-in-harrison-an-effort-to-preserve-heritage/

5/23/2022

It is the largest stand of elms in a suburban setting in Pennsylvania, according to Gene Becker, president of the Allegheny Shade Tree Association.

The 10-member group of neighbors formed in 2004 with the goal of tending to the towering row of nearly 180 trees that line both sides of the residential street.

On Saturday, the group will dole out 10 young trees to residents to replace those afflicted with Dutch elm disease, which is a fungus spread by elm bark beetles or by infected roots. Bark peels from infected trees, making the disease somewhat easy to notice.

Planting was to be performed by the homeowners. The tree association foots the bill for the trees, which have a root ball of about 2 feet and are delivered bagged in burlap.

“Having a tree-lined street is like the white picket fence,” association member Ryan Lilly said. “It’s what everyone wants.

“It preserves the beauty of the street and makes it appealing. Everyone enjoys the shade while they’re out walking their dog or talking to neighbors.”

 
At 1:29 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Los Angeles Times: Trees are critical infrastructure. Water them amid drought.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-05-24/trees-are-critical-city-infrastructure-keep-watering-them

 
At 12:51 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

The New York Times: In Los Angeles, a Tree With Stories to Tell.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/28/us/in-los-angeles-a-tree-with-stories-to-tell.html

 
At 9:39 AM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/09/travel/paris-trees.html

"Admiring the trees of Paris"

trees as a key element of Paris identity.

 
At 3:10 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Seattle has lost 255 acres of tree canopy. Here’s why

Seattle's tree canopy shrank by 255 acres from 2016 to 2021, with most of the loss in natural areas and residential zones, according to a new city assessment. Here's what's behind the decline.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-has-lost-255-acres-of-tree-canopy-heres-why/

The city incurred a 255-acre net loss in tree canopy from 2016 to 2021, mostly in natural areas and residential zones, according to an assessment released this week by Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment.

That’s not a radical change, given that trees still spread across more than 15,000 acres in Seattle. Their branches and leaves covered 28.1% of the city’s land in 2021, down from 28.6% in 2016, according to the assessment.

But 255 acres is a significant amount of space, nonetheless — for comparison, Seward Park is about 300 acres — and the loss happened inequitably, with less-affluent neighborhoods like Delridge, Rainier Beach and Lake City suffering above-average canopy reductions. Some such neighborhoods had less canopy to start with, the assessment notes.

“Seattle’s tree canopy is slowly declining at a time when we need more canopy to mitigate the effects of climate change and build community health and resilience,” the assessment says, recommending more planting, better care for existing trees and new regulations for developers.

with graphic

The new assessment is based on research by a team from the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab, which used laser technology and aerial imaging to map Seattle’s tree canopy in 2016 and 2021. The net loss of 255 acres resulted from more than 1,500 gained and nearly 1,800 lost.

The mapping research didn’t determine why certain areas gained or lost tree canopy — only what changes occurred. But officials have some ideas about what’s going on. The city’s assessment says the primary reasons for the city’s canopy reductions likely include climate-change impacts, aging deciduous trees, infrastructure projects and redevelopment.

The greatest segment of the city’s canopy (nearly half) is located in “neighborhood residential” zones — blocks of houses with yards. Yet the largest net decrease in canopy from 2016-21 occurred in Seattle’s natural areas — like the West Duwamish Greenbelt in West Seattle, much of Discovery Park in Magnolia and most of Interlaken Park on Capitol Hill.

They lost 182 acres and gained 71, for a net loss of 111.

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

New Urban tree transect

https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2023/05/22/citywide-forestry-plan-sets-new-urban-standard

 

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