Street trees in urban environments

[Larry King]

Are they important? When has this been done well? When has it been done poorly?

[MolsonExport]

nah, trees are awful. The world should be shut of them. Business would prosper.

[KevinFromTexas]

I live in Texas. I worship trees. Of course they have a place in cities.

[Eightball]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

nah, trees are awful. The world should be shut of them. Business would prosper.

[Munchitup]

I love Los Angeles, but the city definitely has done street trees "wrong", at least in a lot of neighborhoods.

While there is a vast range of tree life in Los Angeles, there are two trees you see on most commercial and residential streets. First is the ficus trees, which have become overgrown and their roots absolutely demolish the sidewalks (which LA has no money to repair). They do provide great shade though.

Streets that come to mind are:
Cesar Chavez in Boyle Heights
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bo...9ea70c76393a94

Larchmont Village in Central LA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/La...ec441911d0e49e

Green Street in Pasadena
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0 (sidewalk view)
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0

And then of course, the other famous street tree of Los Angeles is the palm tree. Provides no shade, drops fronds on the sidewalk from 50+ feet and seem to be a magnet for graffiti. They essentially look like telephone poles from the street level. However, they do provide a certain aesthetic that has made Los Angeles iconic.

[jg6544]

My favorite urban tree in L.A. is the Liquidambar or "Sweetgum". The leaves turn the most gorgeous colors - crimson, yellow, orange, plum - and their colorful season is so long - August - December.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

nah, trees are awful. The world should be shut of them. Business would prosper.

UNIDRIVEWAY FOREVER!

I haven't seen many trees within sidewalks that fare very well. I would love to see some good examples of this.

[pacarlson]

Houston has a few trees. I suppose they're nice.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

UNIDRIVEWAY FOREVER!

I haven't seen many trees within sidewalks that fare very well. I would love to see some good examples of this.

There was a good sized Oak tree in our neighborhood. I mean, it was bigger than I could put my arms around, and it was probably 150 years old at least. When they put in the sidewalk on that street, they cut down the tree. That area, which backs up to our neighborhood, and our neighborhood itself, are covered with live oak trees that are 100 to 400 years old. We have 4 of them in our yard, and I can't get my arms around either of them. My grandma's house had an oak tree 5 feet off the back porch that was probably 400 years old. It shaded the entire house and most of the yard with a 50+ foot canopy. On Google Earth, no portion of the house can be seen under the tree. Even in the summertime with the air conditioning turned off, the house was always comfortable. Anyway, that tree is surrounded by a concrete porch, but it has an area around it about 8 feet square with just dirt. We have some elm trees and pecan trees, also, but they're significantly smaller than the oaks.

[xzmattzx]

Of course street trees are important. Drive around South Philly on a rainy January day and you'll appreciate trees.

[chris08876]

Michigan has the unique ability to have trees that are all the right height. This physical property allows its streets to have a greenscape that is unrivaled. This gives the residents the feeling that it just feels right there. The grass is also the perfect color too.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Munchitup

I love Los Angeles, but the city definitely has done street trees "wrong", at least in a lot of neighborhoods.

While there is a vast range of tree life in Los Angeles, there are two trees you see on most commercial and residential streets. First is the ficus trees, which have become overgrown and their roots absolutely demolish the sidewalks (which LA has no money to repair). They do provide great shade though.

Streets that come to mind are:
Cesar Chavez in Boyle Heights
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bo...9ea70c76393a94

Larchmont Village in Central LA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/La...ec441911d0e49e

Green Street in Pasadena
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0 (sidewalk view)
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0

And then of course, the other famous street tree of Los Angeles is the palm tree. Provides no shade, drops fronds on the sidewalk from 50+ feet and seem to be a magnet for graffiti. They essentially look like telephone poles from the street level. However, they do provide a certain aesthetic that has made Los Angeles iconic.

Good Post.

LA is moving away from Ficus trees and in the Downtown area, we are seeing sycamores being planted instead, which i think are great street trees. I recall Paris having a nice urban forest and was mostly Sycamores (or a very similar tree)

I also love the Jacarandas that are planted all over the LA area. They turn purple and are beautiful, however, the flowers stain the sidewalks and are a sticky mess.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Munchitup

I love Los Angeles, but the city definitely has done street trees "wrong", at least in a lot of neighborhoods.

While there is a vast range of tree life in Los Angeles, there are two trees you see on most commercial and residential streets. First is the ficus trees, which have become overgrown and their roots absolutely demolish the sidewalks (which LA has no money to repair). They do provide great shade though.

Streets that come to mind are:
Cesar Chavez in Boyle Heights
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bo...9ea70c76393a94

Larchmont Village in Central LA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/La...ec441911d0e49e

Green Street in Pasadena
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0 (sidewalk view)
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445...i8Lhyl6GIA!2e0

And then of course, the other famous street tree of Los Angeles is the palm tree. Provides no shade, drops fronds on the sidewalk from 50+ feet and seem to be a magnet for graffiti. They essentially look like telephone poles from the street level. However, they do provide a certain aesthetic that has made Los Angeles iconic.

Coral Gables near Miami did a good job IMO with balancing the Palm Tree aesthetic with actually wanting to provide shade for pedestrians. They put palm trees in the median and shade trees along the sidewalks.
Miracle Mile in Coral Gables for example (of course that median also has to remind me every time I see it that this is where street cars used to run back in the 1920's to 40's )


http://mpnomundo.blogspot.com/2011/0...-in-miami.html

[mhays]

I walk endlessly as a tourist and as a local, but if it's not cold out I keep almost exclusively to shady places. That can be accomplished with buildings, though the effect can be too sterile without trees. In places without shade from buildings, it's all about trees.

I'm ok with some sidewalk cracking and pushing up. The "solution" is often much worse...in my city they often expand the tree well into the sidewalk space several feet beyond the tree. Among houses that might be ok if enough sidewalk is left, but they do it on busy streets in Downtown and fringe areas. These get in the way. Some people just walk through the tree wells. Some are gravel so that gets kicked up everywhere.

[llamaorama]

I had a potted ficus that grew towards light so much it got too asymmetric and fell over. A one off firm of locomotion for plant kind!

I guess sidewalk slabs which are upturned can be ground down with power tools until they are level but otherwise it just seems like a acceptable reality that trees will chew up the sidewalk and our taxes replace them every so often.

One day someone will invent a rubber sidewalk that actually works. Also there will be flying cars and rainbows and unicorns .

[eschaton]

It's a rare opinion, but I think street trees can be overdone. They tend to be universally applied with a more = better logic, when there are some streetscapes they just don't work for.

In particular, I think narrow residential streets with zero setback really don't look good with street trees. I mean, they are fine when the street trees are small, but once they grow out they tend to obscure the buildings and result in a claustrophobic feeling. As an example, compare this to this. IMHO the no-trees, unobscured street just looks better.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It's a rare opinion, but I think street trees can be overdone. They tend to be universally applied with a more = better logic, when there are some streetscapes they just don't work for.

In particular, I think narrow residential streets with zero setback really don't look good with street trees. I mean, they are fine when the street trees are small, but once they grow out they tend to obscure the buildings and result in a claustrophobic feeling. As an example, compare this to this. IMHO the no-trees, unobscured street just looks better.

I strongly prefer the tree example you provided. I love the combination of mature tree canopy and narrow rowhouse streets of Beech Ave. and the Mexican War Streets. I wish Lawrenceville and South Side had similar street tree coverage.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by pacarlson

Houston has a few trees. I suppose they're nice.

Houston has a nice street tree and landscaping program, even in many of the newer areas. In the past, it was mainly the neighborhoods that were so nicely wooded, but civic groups and city leadership have stepped up to the plate in the last decade to plant many street trees. Still a lot of work to be done.

Edit: I'll provide some photo examples later this evening when I have more time.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I strongly prefer the tree example you provided. I love the combination of mature tree canopy and narrow rowhouse streets of Beech Ave. and the Mexican War Streets. I wish Lawrenceville and South Side had similar street tree coverage.

It's also worth noting that street trees really aren't a thing in Europe on residential streets, even in the poshest areas.

[MolsonExport]

rilly? I must have visited the wrong cities in Europe. Many streets were completely canopied with tree cover.