Street Trees

Three proposed legislative measures would undo one of the more obvious signs of the recession, and return the responsibility for street trees to the city.

July 20, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

Inside access to a huge volunteer effort underway in New York City to account for the condition of an estimated 600,000 street trees—where every single one of the city's trees counts.

August 4, 2015 - The Nature of Cities

Louisville's goals to plant and grow an urban forest to mitigate the city's heat island effect has run afoul of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's engineering standards for state owned roads.

December 12, 2014 - The Courier-Journal

Trees are a vital element of urban design, one that must considered at every stage of planning, design and development.

October 12, 2014 - Congress for the New Urbanism

A new cross-disciplinary report cites 32 case studies to offer practical solutions for integrating trees into civic spaces and surface car parks.

October 2, 2014 - Trees in Hard Landscapes: A Guide for Delivery

Street trees add an interesting dimension to the built environment, providing shade, visual relief and more. They frame the public realm so well that we might be shocked to witness our Main Streets without them. This series of images does just that.

May 2, 2014 - Community Builders

In Los Angeles, where “historic” is a relative term, a 150-year-old house is remarkable. How about a 150-year-old palm tree?

April 21, 2013 - Los Angeles Magazine

As new studies show the fundamental connection between trees and human health, cities are recognizing the essential elements in cultivating thriving urban canopies. And they're enacting policies to ensure their protection and growth.

January 28, 2013 - Next City

How to care for S.F.'s 110,000 street trees and 130,000 park trees was the subject of a hearing last week called by Supervisor Scott Wiener. The Department of Public Works is engaged in a controversial program to transfer care to property owners.

October 29, 2012 - The San Francisco Examiner

Urban agriculture is a hot topic in sustainability, food, and planning circles. From roof and deck gardens to community gardens to urban farms, urban agriculture has captured the imaginations of activists of many stripes as well as gardeners and eaters. When I mention that my academic work focuses on food access in urban areas, the most common response I get is “oh, you mean like urban ag?” As this interest in urban agriculture grows, some are asking whether food sovereignty – the ability for a population to produce enough food to feed itself – is a feasible goal for American cities. 

October 11, 2012 - Lisa Feldstein

A recent study by the U.S. Forest Service shows that out of 20 cities surveyed, 19 showed a decline in tree cover. With their demonstrated benefits to public health, property values, and reducing pollution, Tod Newcombe asks why they're disappearing.

September 28, 2012 - Governing

"It's like the gardener's version of graffiti," says one. In San Francisco, activists hope to transform once-purely ornamental street trees into fruit-bearing ones, to provide fresh fruit to the local community.

September 13, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Using examples of exceptional streets from diverse settings across the world, Kaid Benfield tries to tease out what makes a great city street.

September 7, 2012 - Switchboard

Leda Marritz notes that renderings of proposed landscape improvement projects often feature beautiful mature trees intended to spruce up streetscapes. But the associated plans regularly overlook a crucial element: room for the trees to grow.

July 10, 2012 - Next American City

Tim De Chant compares satellite images of neighborhoods from cities around the world to see if inequality is manifest in the patterns of the landscape. The differences are striking.

May 27, 2012 - Per Square Mile

Trees are an increasingly important part of the urban infrastructure. However, a lack a awareness about how to plant and nurture large trees in urban environments dooms many trees to lackluster performance and a short life.

January 4, 2012 - The Globe and Mail

A new online tool uses the power of crowdsourcing to "map, inventory, and preserve the Philadelphia urban forest."

April 29, 2011 - Azavea

Hong Kong's oldest living resident, the banyan tree, once lined entire streets in the city and provided an iconic presence that many enjoyed and many felt classified as a nuisance. Now, due to urban expansion, only a cluster of twenty trees remain.

December 7, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

Everyone wants street trees, but roots can tear up sidewalks and cause pedestrians to trip. John Olson has the infrastructure solution.

May 6, 2010 - EV Studio

With communities balking at the purported ugliness of windtowers and solar panels, a Dutch company proposes using nature's own designs.

May 27, 2009 - Fast Company