Street trees in urban environments

[mhays]

Ok, but those sidewalks won't be very nice if there isn't shade, aesthetics outside of buildings, etc.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by emathias

WHAT!? Which hipster bar was this?

Harding Tavern. They took out 4 or 5 mature elms (10-12 in trunks) for their patio seating. The city made them plant like 20 new trees elsewhere along Milwaukee but I dont really want to wait 20 years for them to grow to full size.

[FREKI]

Originally Posted by mhays

Ok, but those sidewalks won't be very nice if there isn't shade, aesthetics outside of buildings, etc.

We can quickly agree that trees adds to a streetscape, but if a place is so dire it desperately needs trees, then it has already failed and trees alone won't save it..

[austin242]

In Austin almost every downtown street is either already tree lined or in the process of becoming tree lined.

Some nice streets
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2647...wi-J9VTolw!2e0
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2649...9F-uSYyRKQ!2e0
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2656...Sg7FLOgvHQ!2e0
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2664...bb2yI1RyFQ!2e0
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2676...!2e0!5s2014-07
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2666...1UPCPTlrYw!2e0

[10023]

Plane trees are particularly good sidewalk trees (they don't mind having their roots constrained). Street trees also need to be pruned appropriately so they don't just grow into the fronts of buildings. American cities tend to just cut them down when they get too big, because they don't have the foresight to do this.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Harding Tavern. They took out 4 or 5 mature elms (10-12 in trunks) for their patio seating. The city made them plant like 20 new trees elsewhere along Milwaukee but I dont really want to wait 20 years for them to grow to full size.

Was this done for the restaurant itself, or for the new building? (which took out an awesome old Art Deco building)

[speedy1979]

Originally Posted by fflint

The older parts of Sacramento have a fantastic tree canopy:


source

Now, the parts of Sacramento with the great street trees are comparable in density and built form to streetcar suburbs--Victorians, Edwardians and Craftsman homes, 2-3 story apartment buildings, etc. Sacramento doesn't have narrow streets lined with rowhouses. San Francisco does, however, and this city generally has very few street trees relative to other US cities.

Looks like a street in the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens in autumn. Complete with Ginkgo Biloba and London Plane's minus the mature Canary Date Palms in the center median.

I knew Chinese Windmill palms could handle the cold, but...

Well I guess you learn something new every day.

[DenseCityPlease]

I knew Chinese Windmill palms could handle the cold, but...

Well I guess you learn something new every day.

Even in the dead of winter, Sacramento almost never gets colder than 50F by day and 30F by night. And that's only for about a two month window from mid-December to mid-February.

You'll see healthy, mature Canary Date Palms as far north as Redding, CA (inland) and Eureka, CA (coastal).

[Obadno]

There are only a few square miles within the Phoenix Area where their are street trees.

I apologize for the image sizes I pulled these off random google

During the cities boom from 1960-2000 the design ethos meant nobody gave a flip about trees for some reason, and the areas that did have them were largley destroyed or neglected.

Some of the "urban streets" with trees

Mill Avenue in Tempe:






North of downtown best picture I could get of the palm tree lined streets. Although I hate palm trees as street trees because they provide about 0 shade.





Luckily over the last 15 years or so street trees are becoming a thing again so some of the old neighborhoods are being restored to their former glory. The best street lined trees are all residential areas. The main streets were built for car capacity and now the city is spending a lot of money trying to revert back.

Glendale


Tempe:


Older Central Phoenix:


The Encanto Neighborhood of pheonix looking south east:


The Arcadia Neighborhood between Phoenix and Scottsdale.


Mckormick Ranch Neighborhood in Scottsdale. I couldnt find any good pictures of the public roads, but they are lined with these types of Canary pines.


Some good news though many new developments are starting to plant street trees as a design feature so hopefully we will have many new tree lined neighborhoods in 20 years !

[AviationGuy]

Very nice pics of the Phoenix area. I've always been impressed with how much attention the valley cities pay to landscaping. Even some of the freeways have nice landscaping, whereas most American cities' freeway landscaping consists of weeds and trash.

[TownGuy]

Are those trees sustainable in a desert?

[Buckeye Native 001]

Most of the trees in those pictures appear to be cottonwood and ironwood, which are native to the area.

[AviationGuy]

I'm assuming it would also depend on the level of the groundwater table, and depth of root growth.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I'm assuming it would also depend on the level of the groundwater table, and depth of root growth.

True, and while Phoenix isn't exactly a model of sustainability by most counts, the Sonoran Desert is deceptively lush.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Are those trees sustainable in a desert?

No not really, However Phoenix and the Sonoran Deseret are much greener than most people would realize.

If you aren’t familiar with it you might assume desert means vast expanse of empty dirt. Which some are, but the Sonoran look like this generally"


Those Cacti are 12-20 feet tall many of the shrubs etc that are all around are quite large much bigger than a person. During the winter and after rain the desert is covered in grasses and flowers.

Phoenix itself exists on the confluence of 2 decent sized rivers, the Gila and the Salt, which are both fed by a number of streams and creeks. They are all dry most of the time now because we have dammed them and made reservoirs for agriculture.

Most of the Phoenix area was cotton fields and citrus groves until the city developed. The environment can handle a lot more foliage than you might expect.

Also, the City/state has had a great water plan for well over 100 years there isn’t a shortage of water any time soon.

[AviationGuy]

Beautiful photo. I love the vegetation in that area.