I love a nice tree-lined street. Trees add so much value to a city. As an Atlantan it’s quite sad seeing the sprawl destroy the once ‘city in a forest’. I also wan to know your opinion on what can be done to mitigate the two largest problems with trees (that I see): 1. Falling trees, at least here in Atlanta after storms it seems there is always a tree related death or damage to property. 2. The roots destroying roads, sidewalks, and even home foundations.
Its a huge economic issue in poor neighborhoods. I love trees but they have to be maintained. I noticed that street trees are synonymous with richer areas. Those in poor neighborhoods do not have the means to pay for tree maintenance which annually can be hundreds to thousands of dollars. Most cities in Utah require the homeowner to maintain the space between the sidewalk and street. This is infuriating as they will charge homeowners for new sidewalks or maintenance for a public use space. This also means that most of our streets end up with rocks or concrete in those spaces.
A street tree literally saved my dad's life last week. He was in the front of his house when someone driving a Suburban way too fast down a residential street had a stroke and slammed into the big 40 year old oak tree in his front yard, 10 feet in front of the window where he was standing. If the tree wasn't there the truck would've crashed into the house right where he was.
Wow he was lucky! I am “pro tree” myself but a freak accident a few years back killed a driver in my city a few years back. She was stopped at a red light, waiting to take a left hand turn when a large tree in the median fell over and crushed her in her car. It was determined the tree was diseased and the soil was too soft - it wasn’t raining or anything but the tree could not support itself due to the disease. Horrible freak accident. The city responded by removing all the trees on that street. Not sure if I agree but perhaps the others had the disease as well.
@@davids6898 If the trees were all the same species there is a chance they were all diseased. I hope the city plants something else in their place, and not a monoculture
@@davids6898 unfortunately in my area there are many cases per year where during thunderstorms, hurricanes, or cold winters with ice buildup, limbs or entire trees will fall on houses and cars causing tens of thousands in damage. This occurs mostly in more wooded areas, not suburban streets, but still. I love the look and shade of trees, and I'm guilty of always taking the shaded parking space at work, but I'd like trees to be set just a bit further back from residences.
Man nobody who is at risk of stroke should be driving. (Yes I know everybody can have a stroke and any time) Those who have more than a 0.75% chance to have a stroke when doing a high-stress activity should not be allowed to drive. Less than that, you're fine, you're just normal.
@KrucibleKrucible2 There's no good way to determine that risk for most people. However, we can do a lot to reduce strokes while driving by just reducing the need and desire to drive by making cities and suburbs less car-dependent. Lots of people don't like driving or even feel safe doing so, but have to if they want to participate in society. Try going without driving for a month in a car-dependent location and see how crippling it is.
I want to mention one small detail when doing a conversion from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius i see in many videos made in US, we (the Metric World - LOL!) use approximations when there is no need for accuracy (like sciences). Nobody uses decimals like 37.8C , we say 38C. Most thermometers won't register 0.1 differences anyway, some show 0.5 increments at most, since it ain't a big difference. Other than that, THANKS for the Extra Effort (i didn't want to sound too judgemental - sorry if i did). You have a Great Channel, with great topics and i always enjoy a new one !
for example, New York. It's ugly. Specifically Gen Z appear to really embrace eco-brutalism as a sort of effort to embrace "Cities Without Mankind," and while I understand it, building a brutalist-style city is not conducive to carbon emissions, it would make more sense to HALT urban/suburban development for a short while(like a year or two) and work on introducing plants, more specifically native plants, to urban environments to offset the co2 emissions by cars and oil companies and whatnot. I personally don't believe Earth can be saved. It was doomed a long time ago, but we could at least make its last days comfortable, as we would for any human.
Are you aware that "shade" is not the only way trees make the environment cooler, but also the evaporation of moisture from the tree's leaves causes the air below them to be cooler.
In Philadelphia, street trees are becoming an important component in storm water management. Our old sewer system is a combined sewer and general storm water system. This means in heavy rains the system gets overwhelmed and dumps sewage into the river. To help minimize this, the water department has started putting in more street trees, often along with other plants over special cisterns that will hold the rain water rather than dumping it into the sewer.
In the US storm drains were required to be separated from sewers years back. Our town did just that. Others in the region didn't, and the evidence is clear in storms, of their water-treatment plants being significant point-sources of pollution, even forcing beach closures. There's a big difference IMO between being conservative and cheap, being neither.
I love urban trees. Comparing tree lined streets to treeless streets, you can easily see that tree lined streets are much more appealing. Especially when wide streets have tall, mature trees. A great tree lined street is the South Mall in Cork, Ireland. The South Link City Road, also in Cork, has a tree lined median
Oh man, that's not good. The tree in front of my house is dropping seeds and pollen seemingly year round, which can be a pain. But it's so nice to look at! :D
Exactly a month after the tree hit the car some lady drove into the back of our car on a trip in Vermont and totaled our car, so we have a new one now. And yeah the same tree is now covering my car in pollen and stuff, but as long as it's not dry and dropping tree limbs I'm o.k. with it! It does give some shade to our apartment, which is nice considering we don't have an A/C.
I was going to mention the same thing. A tree fell on my bedroom once during a heavy wind storm. Thank Higgs I wasn't actually in bed at the time. But that tree was probably already dead, it was pretty old. And I think the risk of an occasional wind storm is small price to pay for the awesomeness of trees.
My street has a lot maples. People hate those seeds but I've always loved the little helicopters everywhere. They are worth it for the beautiful colors in the fall.
Enjoyed this video! I especially enjoyed it since I live in a city almost blanketed by them, Charlotte, NC (search Myers Park neighborhood). I think a good follow-up topic might be how cities should plan for maintaining the urban tree canopy. A few years ago, Charlotte had to hire a team of pilots to spray the entire city for cankerworms. I remember hearing those planes buzz overhead back and forth for about a week. We also have a lot older trees fall when it rains or we get storms.
As somebody who lives in phoenix, well placed and well taken care of trees can truly make a difference in the beauty and relative coolness of a street, especially in june when its really hot out. :) great vid
I loved this video. Thanks for stressing the importance of continually planting trees. My friend is in an area of Phoenix that had mostly mature trees and now they are dying off.... if only everyone was planting trees years ago to help with this - instead its a blend of no trees, dead trees and super young, the neighborhood looks nothing like it did when she bought her home. Extra bonus for the cute cat at the end of the video, that made the video extra awesome!
That's why I love Berlin: here we have trees everywhere. That's why I was pretty shocked by NYC cause there aren't any trees on the sidewalk at all. Trees really make a difference and I like cities with a lot of green
It's amazing how having more trees can create a more urban feeling in a city. Quite the opposite of what you would expect. People just like to be around them, so plant trees if you want high quality open spaces.
I think it's really cool that a lot of cities around the world are starting to plant street trees. Even China, which was infamous for their lack of green spaces has begun planting street trees in many cities, and it's a very welcome change seeing as their summers can get very brutal regardless of where you are.
I was actually just telling a friend yesterday how I wished my neighborhood in Boston had more street trees. The heat island effect is pretty bad. It would certainly help with the air quality and beautification as well. I wish the city would plant more trees there!
I've been so happy being in Sacramento because of all the trees! I love trees, and am glad we picked the City of Trees to move to (bring back the old slogan!!!) I do wish you'd talked about the concerns I've heard many people bring up with trees near homes: roots. I know roots can be problematic, breaking up concrete, fencing, walls, and even building foundations. Hopefully you'll be able to address these issues in a later video or something. Also: it's KILLING me that we can't afford to live in Downtown/Midtown =(
As a real estate investor, i leanred that i uniquely observed the benefits and value increases. Its the 2nd best indicator to an "up and coming" neighborhood. Glad youre spreading the knowledge, we cant do anyging alone. Little improvements by everyone will make the difference.
This is one reason I really liked living in a small Central Illinois city called Champaign. They had tons of street trees.If you looked out of a window of the 15th floor of a building (one of the highest points in the city) it would almost look like a forest.
trees can also provide that "I'm home!" - feeling if they are of a characteristic type. In Rome, it's the beautiful Stone Pines. In Singapore, it's the large-canopy tropical trees. In many parts of France, it's Sycamores that remind you where you are.
Thank you so much for this Fantastic and very important video. I live in New York City and we have SO MANY beautiful trees here, even in Manhattan. But most hasty New Yorkers fail to notice them, including myself. After moving back from Las Vegas before the lockdown, I become a loyal, hardcore Tree-lover in NYC. Vegas has few trees, and most of them provide no shade--a main reason for my leaving Las Vegas after two years. I often walk in Manhattan streets and caress trees (secretly) to create a personal relationship with them. I so appreciate the street trees. They make me feel happy and deeply connected with New York City. Street trees are Beautiful, Lively and Essential for our well-being.
I'm in Sacramento in the Natomas area, and the shade trees in my yard (not exactly street trees, but required by statute, so similar) were cracking the porch and driveway because they were poorly planted and the roots just ran shallowly near the surface. We just paid big bucks to have them both removed and start over with a tiny new tree, so I'm not exactly on speaking terms right now with trees. Sure was a lovely day today, though.
When I see videos like this, it reminds me how much I take urban trees for granted. When I was a child, it never crossed my mind that there’s streets without at least trees on the side.
Just bookmarked this video. I'm planning a big move in which I'm going to end up in a more urban area then what I've been used to growing up. In my efforts to plan on being a highly involved citizen of my locale, I'm making urban forestry one of my community service hobbies. I love that you mentioned the tunnel effect! That instantly triggers my nostalgia of my childhood in the Poconos.
I live in TX where it's around 100 degrees most of the summer, and I love that my apartment complex is surrounded by trees because my building stays relatively cool, I rarely need to turn on my A/C so my electric bill is pretty low. Of course, I frequently have to wash my car because of all the pollen that falls on it, but I'll take it.
It's a pleasure listening to you talking about city planning! Your passion for architecture is contagious! I love "la calle porvera" in Jerez de la Frontera! Greetings from France! :)
City Beautiful Are you working towards a PhD? I work in remote sensing, and my research focuses on trying to meet urban mapping applications using polarimetic radar. It would be wonderful to see your formal work, if it's available somewhere online!
I am working on a PhD, but I'm still in the early stages of my dissertation work. I'll definitely adapt anything I publish to a video with a link to my actual research when the time comes.
The home values in St Petersburg, FL where there are more trees (and yet smaller houses) are much higher than when it is more barren and often just grass in the yard. You hit this idea right on
In Vancouver we have so many trees everywhere. The tree lined streets are amazing in the summer. And in the spring there are thousands of cherry blossom trees that cover the city in pink.
another cool way they keep us cooler us not just shade, but evapotransipration, making the air around them cooler, and also as lifeforms they are collectively warmer than surrounding air in winter and help insulate neighborhoods.
Denmark: My parents hollow road is amazing. In the summer there are passages where the road is total enveloped in the leaves. The unpaved road, has century's of wear and tear which has sunk the road into the ground. This gives the feeling of being in a green tunnel of leaves.
I had wished you'd gone into a little more detail about bad trees. Sure, you touched on the Elm issue, but the 'worst' culprit, based on how cities have gone about it, is the Callery Pear. The tree is an absolute menace. Planners probably chose them because they grow REALLY FAST and have pretty flowers in the spring. The biggest issue is that they grow so fast and the branches fall all the time in high winds/storms. It's dangerous. Ours has caused thousands of dollars in damage over the years. We have to regularly have urban forestry come around to trim the branches that just got too big. The secondary issue is that they really stink in the spring.
As someone who lives on a street with no trees (really none of the streets in this dense part of South Philly have trees), I never really realized how much nicer things would look if the city put more effort into planting trees
Although I'm not an outdoors person I love seeing trees in town. When I moved to the city I was afraid it'll be nothing but concrete and although there's allot less trees than I'm use to I'm happly surprised to see as many of them as I do.
Coming from Singapore this is one of the things they really hard committed to since the 1960s and I'm glad they did. There's a Chinese saying 「前人栽樹，後人乘涼」 which is basically "earlier generations plant trees so later generations enjoy the shade" and that's the kind of spirit that people should have all around
Loved it. Apparently elms are still planted vigorously here around in Melbourne. But now there's like more Maple, poplar and oaks are planted around here. And yes summers do get VERY HOT here as well.
They have developed some disease-resistant cultivars of elm. And when I was researching this video I learned you can inoculate existing elms to reduce their chance of infection. So all is not lost for the elm!
Since we are talking about trees, please do a video on Atlanta, GA urban planning. Pros, cons, opportunities, missed opportunities, etc. I'm curious what a trained urban planner thinks about the capital of the south.
Great videos. I'm surprised you left out water. As an urban stormwater engineer, trees are one of our top tools for intercepting rainfall which reduces urban flooding and helps keep receiving waters clean.
Great job again for putting up a useful and fascinating video. Can't fault much about trees in urban spaces, however, having a good canopy over a street may not be simple as it sounds. Where I come from, we certainly experience the benefits of trees, at the same time, they are causing significant issues in attracting a lot of unwanted wildlife in the middle of cities. bird poo or what we used to call 'airforce attacks' is such a common problem that get in the way of daily urban life. Another issue is the high maintenance cost incurred by tree growth disrupting overhead power lines. Unless you have cities that have been planned from the scratch to have underground utility networks, unwanted growth can be such a pain for councils. Must say, nothing tops the need to have trees in cities; but, it must be the right type of tree. One lesson I remember from the class is that, when it comes to landscape design, you can plan and do everything right to achieve the desired outcome. But, that outcome will not remain simply because trees grow!
I live in the Milwaukee area (loved the shout out), and I live on one of our major roads which is also tree lined. Most of our narrower residential streets are also tree line and are referred to as green cathedrals.
Our city is just full of trees, its like, everywhere. And I would definitely say this is a beautiful little city, and the air is the most amazing. The city is fairly spread out, and whenever there is a gap in the housing, its full of streets and greenery. We have sizeable forests just kind of sandwiched between housing areas!
If only all city authorities realisied trees, and their roots, grow! The number of trees I see surrounded by a small patch of earth and a wide expanse of cracked and broken paving is ludicrous!
Almost every streets in Barcelona (Cat) have trees. The only part of the city that doesnt have them is the old town because the streets are too narrow. If it wasn't for the trees we would melt in summer (we already do) and we'd be dead by pollution.
When I was a kid, my favorite part of car rides with my parents was passing through streets covered by tree canopies. Nothing makes me nostalgic quite like that.
Great episode! Having grown up in Buffalo, NY, I resonate with the attention to the value of tree-lined boulevards as well as the need for diversity of species planted. Frederick Law Olmstead's vision for Buffalo, as well as cities like New York, Milwaukee, and Boston, created an integrated park system for livable urban environments. Unfortunately, Dutch Elm Disease wiped out so many of those picturesque and environmental assets that leaves us with a cautionary tale for urban planners today.
This is an interesting topic which I had never given much thought to. Would've been good to cover some of the disadvantages though, even if they don't outweigh the benefits. For example, the roots of large trees can grow under paths and roads causing the tarmac to crack, and can damage the foundations of houses. Also, falling trees can do a lot of damage, especially during a storm. I suppose autumn leaf fall also causes problems, such as blocked trains.
great video. the city of manteca should take this advise. they are listed as a tree city USA member but driving through the town reveals that there are little to no street trees
John Labus it depend on what type of tree that we're talking about. Los Angeles and other California cities use palm tree as a sort of landscape decoration, which produce little oxygen and provide less shade. I think most cities should plant deciduous and coniferous trees than tropical ones.
South Florida communities are adding more deciduous tree cover in combination with palms. I certainly prefer the shade provided by them, but I still enjoy seeing the palms too!
I live in a little city in Brazil, and there are many, many trees. Around the neighbourhood, in the streets, along the river. And they really make the city more cooler (in the 2 meanings ^.^), the air here is really fresh, and we have some beautiful landscapes ^_~
I agree with this, my dad's house is in an old neighborhood with trees and I love it also there are brick roads so it is 👌 but my mom's house is in a new subdivision with no trees and it's so boring and trees make it so much better for playing as a kid as you can enjoy your time outside more as the sun isn't constantly beating down on you.
When I went to Sacramento, I was so surprised at the bright greenery. Very few California cities have that. It's so nice and beautiful. Another city is Berkeley.
I love this channel nice work! My favorite big shade tree is a Catalpa and I really want one in my front yard but it would be very restricted by the overhead power lines that run over my park strip. Salt Lake City has a pretty good urban forestry department going now and they are removing a dying tree and planting a new tree for me this year. I wonder if other cities have done anything to bury power lines given all the benefits that shade trees offer. SLC has a massive problem with shade trees being severely pruned due to power lines.
Excellent points, well made. Trees are extremly valuable urban assets. Here in the UK there's the term "leafy suburb", which it's always more desirable than not-so-leafy because mature trees give the sense of an "established" neigbourhood. Worth saying that trees require dedicated ongoing maintenance, since cities aren't their natural environment (you've touched on that anyway). Species and individual trees must be wisely selected according to a number of criteria. Trees that produce less or no polen (female trees where applicable) are preferable as they do not cause hay fever (rhinitis) - a lot of people, myself included, suffer badly from this.
I live in a border community in the deserts of Southern California. (Imperial County) and it gets up to 120° in the summer. There's been a loss of trees here and there's no trees in the center medians in my city. However, there's a new non profit called Imperial Valley Urban Forest project which is finally bringing thousands of trees here. Mesquite, Jacaranda, Chinese elms, Arizona ash, Willow acacia, weeping willow, eucalyptus, chinese pistache. A variety of drought tolerant trees. Im planning on helping soon!
Yes , planting trees with beautiful small colourful leaves & Good Shrubs & Lawns , really can Brighten Up the area & help to reduce Land Erosion & Landslides!
A counterargument to the pollution-absorbing benefits is research that has shown trees reduce wind at street level, and therefore pollutants don't blow away as quickly. I heard it on BBC news, can't remember the source.
I live in Orange County and one of my frustrations in much of Southern California is the lack of large trees lining the streets. But in all fairness Orange County was agricultural up until the establishment of Disneyland in 1955 so any trees that were added while developing its cities have not had that much time to mature. And something that frustrates me is they aren’t allowed to get big. The city is always trimming trees that do not need it. They need to be allowed to grow and create a canopy. My friend lives in Pasadena and this city is an exception in that it and many nearby cities do have beautifully tree lined streets. I love going there. Many movies like Halloween and Back to the Future were filmed there because it is close to Hollywood but it has the look and feel of a traditional tree-lined American city.
I live in a city called Thousand Oaks, the name speaks for itself. If you can get a permit to remove an oak tree you have to plant three more to replace it.
Always suspected that you were a fellow Sacramentan (I recognized the backdrops in some of your videos). The trees are definitely one of my favorite things about living here. Even on a hot day, there's plenty of shade to take refuge under.
Great video!! But you have forgotten to mention two other important benefits. Rainwater management and heat island effect reduction. Trees can absorb/hold lots of rainwater and reduce flooding, etc. And also it reduces the urban heat island effect by providing shade to paved surfaces and also through the cooling effect of evapotranspiration.
I live in an area filled with trees, and even though it's a lower middleclass area, it feels a lot more homely than my mother's upper-middleclass area, which looks like a barren wasteland in the summer. Also, I found your channel through your simcity video. I'm curious to see if the rest of your videos have the same comforting effect as this one. Or maybe I just really love trees.
One thing I've noticed is that the common street design of having no gap between the sidewalk and the carriage way so as to pack more lots into the same area drastically reduces the number of city-owned trees since it means there is literally nowhere to plant them. That one example you showed is one such street. Maybe the road allowance goes beyond where the curb is, but based on the fences, it probably doesn't, at least in any practical sense. Of course, in places where the streets are simply far too wide, one could just reclaim space from the excessive width of the carriage way and use that for boulevards and trees. At least in Calgary, there's a policy about having to replace any tree removed from public land with at least one new tree and judging by the number of trees planted on streets with boulevards, there has to be some sort of policy about requiring a tree every so many metres. Too bad trees that create that nice canopy effect take so long to grow.
Out here in Folsom, near the county edge, we are severely lacking in street trees within the neighborhood, they just line to broad avenues. Roseville seems to have the same issue.
I totally agree with you, and I love trees. The problem is than in hotter/dessertic areas where there's less rain it is not substainable to maintain the trees. An alternative would be to use native species, but then the benefits are diminished as they are usually smaller trees or shrubs. They have less shade, less leaves and therefore oxygen and in my opinion look awful when compared to the trees you talked about.
Yes, I made a five minute video on street trees. What are your thoughts on street trees?
City Beautiful Do you think Los Angeles should get rid of palm tree and plant more regular tree, like oak and ash?
This is the content I crave.
I love a nice tree-lined street. Trees add so much value to a city. As an Atlantan it’s quite sad seeing the sprawl destroy the once ‘city in a forest’.
I also wan to know your opinion on what can be done to mitigate the two largest problems with trees (that I see):
1. Falling trees, at least here in Atlanta after storms it seems there is always a tree related death or damage to property.
2. The roots destroying roads, sidewalks, and even home foundations.
hear hear!
Its a huge economic issue in poor neighborhoods. I love trees but they have to be maintained. I noticed that street trees are synonymous with richer areas. Those in poor neighborhoods do not have the means to pay for tree maintenance which annually can be hundreds to thousands of dollars. Most cities in Utah require the homeowner to maintain the space between the sidewalk and street. This is infuriating as they will charge homeowners for new sidewalks or maintenance for a public use space. This also means that most of our streets end up with rocks or concrete in those spaces.
A street tree literally saved my dad's life last week. He was in the front of his house when someone driving a Suburban way too fast down a residential street had a stroke and slammed into the big 40 year old oak tree in his front yard, 10 feet in front of the window where he was standing. If the tree wasn't there the truck would've crashed into the house right where he was.
Wow he was lucky! I am “pro tree” myself but a freak accident a few years back killed a driver in my city a few years back. She was stopped at a red light, waiting to take a left hand turn when a large tree in the median fell over and crushed her in her car. It was determined the tree was diseased and the soil was too soft - it wasn’t raining or anything but the tree could not support itself due to the disease. Horrible freak accident. The city responded by removing all the trees on that street. Not sure if I agree but perhaps the others had the disease as well.
@@davids6898 If the trees were all the same species there is a chance they were all diseased. I hope the city plants something else in their place, and not a monoculture
@@davids6898 unfortunately in my area there are many cases per year where during thunderstorms, hurricanes, or cold winters with ice buildup, limbs or entire trees will fall on houses and cars causing tens of thousands in damage. This occurs mostly in more wooded areas, not suburban streets, but still. I love the look and shade of trees, and I'm guilty of always taking the shaded parking space at work, but I'd like trees to be set just a bit further back from residences.
Man nobody who is at risk of stroke should be driving. (Yes I know everybody can have a stroke and any time) Those who have more than a 0.75% chance to have a stroke when doing a high-stress activity should not be allowed to drive. Less than that, you're fine, you're just normal.
@KrucibleKrucible2 There's no good way to determine that risk for most people. However, we can do a lot to reduce strokes while driving by just reducing the need and desire to drive by making cities and suburbs less car-dependent. Lots of people don't like driving or even feel safe doing so, but have to if they want to participate in society. Try going without driving for a month in a car-dependent location and see how crippling it is.
Also, 100F = 37.8C. Sorry I forgot the conversion in the video.
City Beautiful Holy fuck, how are you alive.
You're the best human ever
Bram Van Hooydonck you have never been to the middle east or the tropics? 🤣
I want to mention one small detail when doing a conversion from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius i see in many videos made in US, we (the Metric World - LOL!) use approximations when there is no need for accuracy (like sciences). Nobody uses decimals like 37.8C , we say 38C. Most thermometers won't register 0.1 differences anyway, some show 0.5 increments at most, since it ain't a big difference. Other than that, THANKS for the Extra Effort (i didn't want to sound too judgemental - sorry if i did). You have a Great Channel, with great topics and i always enjoy a new one !
In particular we need shade trees! The other benefit is it gives us more oxygen
I love trees. Cities don't have to be concrete jungles. They can be plant jungles as well. :)
for example, New York. It's ugly. Specifically Gen Z appear to really embrace eco-brutalism as a sort of effort to embrace "Cities Without Mankind," and while I understand it, building a brutalist-style city is not conducive to carbon emissions, it would make more sense to HALT urban/suburban development for a short while(like a year or two) and work on introducing plants, more specifically native plants, to urban environments to offset the co2 emissions by cars and oil companies and whatnot. I personally don't believe Earth can be saved. It was doomed a long time ago, but we could at least make its last days comfortable, as we would for any human.
"Specifically Gen Z appear to really embrace eco-brutalism" Huh???
Are you aware that "shade" is not the only way trees make the environment cooler, but also the evaporation of moisture from the tree's leaves causes the air below them to be cooler.
I am aware, thanks! I should have mentioned that.
same effect from sweating
In Philadelphia, street trees are becoming an important component in storm water management. Our old sewer system is a combined sewer and general storm water system. This means in heavy rains the system gets overwhelmed and dumps sewage into the river. To help minimize this, the water department has started putting in more street trees, often along with other plants over special cisterns that will hold the rain water rather than dumping it into the sewer.
Yes, that's another great benefit!
In the US storm drains were required to be separated from sewers years back. Our town did just that. Others in the region didn't, and the evidence is clear in storms, of their water-treatment plants being significant point-sources of pollution, even forcing beach closures. There's a big difference IMO between being conservative and cheap, being neither.
I love urban trees. Comparing tree lined streets to treeless streets, you can easily see that tree lined streets are much more appealing. Especially when wide streets have tall, mature trees. A great tree lined street is the South Mall in Cork, Ireland. The South Link City Road, also in Cork, has a tree lined median
Wow, I have so much more respect for trees now. Even if the tree on my block dropped a limb on my old car and damaged it.
Oh man, that's not good. The tree in front of my house is dropping seeds and pollen seemingly year round, which can be a pain. But it's so nice to look at! :D
Exactly a month after the tree hit the car some lady drove into the back of our car on a trip in Vermont and totaled our car, so we have a new one now. And yeah the same tree is now covering my car in pollen and stuff, but as long as it's not dry and dropping tree limbs I'm o.k. with it! It does give some shade to our apartment, which is nice considering we don't have an A/C.
I was going to mention the same thing. A tree fell on my bedroom once during a heavy wind storm. Thank Higgs I wasn't actually in bed at the time. But that tree was probably already dead, it was pretty old. And I think the risk of an occasional wind storm is small price to pay for the awesomeness of trees.
@@FutureNow This creates a new industry, and jobs. Lol. Urban arborists!
I love this channel. It’s nice to finally find a channel that explains how cities actually work.
Thanks!
It feels wrong to love the things of the world , thus it would be wrong.
My street has a lot maples. People hate those seeds but I've always loved the little helicopters everywhere. They are worth it for the beautiful colors in the fall.
Obama's EPA started going after fireplaces and wood stoves.
Enjoyed this video! I especially enjoyed it since I live in a city almost blanketed by them, Charlotte, NC (search Myers Park neighborhood). I think a good follow-up topic might be how cities should plan for maintaining the urban tree canopy. A few years ago, Charlotte had to hire a team of pilots to spray the entire city for cankerworms. I remember hearing those planes buzz overhead back and forth for about a week. We also have a lot older trees fall when it rains or we get storms.
Yes!!! I love Street Trees!!! Really hate new subdivisions without trees
I find it depressing to live in a place without street trees.
As somebody who lives in phoenix, well placed and well taken care of trees can truly make a difference in the beauty and relative coolness of a street, especially in june when its really hot out. :) great vid
I loved this video. Thanks for stressing the importance of continually planting trees. My friend is in an area of Phoenix that had mostly mature trees and now they are dying off.... if only everyone was planting trees years ago to help with this - instead its a blend of no trees, dead trees and super young, the neighborhood looks nothing like it did when she bought her home. Extra bonus for the cute cat at the end of the video, that made the video extra awesome!
Had to add the cat. It was so friendly!
I thanked a tree like you asked and now my neighbours think I'm CRAZY...THANKS FOR THAT, MAN!!!!
Just go full crazy and tell them they had better thank a tree too... or else!
That's why I love Berlin: here we have trees everywhere. That's why I was pretty shocked by NYC cause there aren't any trees on the sidewalk at all. Trees really make a difference and I like cities with a lot of green
Depends on the neighborhood
It's amazing how having more trees can create a more urban feeling in a city. Quite the opposite of what you would expect. People just like to be around them, so plant trees if you want high quality open spaces.
I think it's really cool that a lot of cities around the world are starting to plant street trees. Even China, which was infamous for their lack of green spaces has begun planting street trees in many cities, and it's a very welcome change seeing as their summers can get very brutal regardless of where you are.
The Chinese have been making a big effort at reforestation!
I was actually just telling a friend yesterday how I wished my neighborhood in Boston had more street trees. The heat island effect is pretty bad. It would certainly help with the air quality and beautification as well. I wish the city would plant more trees there!
I've been so happy being in Sacramento because of all the trees! I love trees, and am glad we picked the City of Trees to move to (bring back the old slogan!!!)
I do wish you'd talked about the concerns I've heard many people bring up with trees near homes: roots. I know roots can be problematic, breaking up concrete, fencing, walls, and even building foundations. Hopefully you'll be able to address these issues in a later video or something.
Also: it's KILLING me that we can't afford to live in Downtown/Midtown =(
As a real estate investor, i leanred that i uniquely observed the benefits and value increases. Its the 2nd best indicator to an "up and coming" neighborhood. Glad youre spreading the knowledge, we cant do anyging alone. Little improvements by everyone will make the difference.
This is one reason I really liked living in a small Central Illinois city called Champaign. They had tons of street trees.If you looked out of a window of the 15th floor of a building (one of the highest points in the city) it would almost look like a forest.
champaign isn't even a small city for illinois lol it has uiuc and is close to chicago, but yeah it does have a lot of trees lol
I saw that the forecasted low for Champaign today was -38F! No thanks!
trees can also provide that "I'm home!" - feeling if they are of a characteristic type. In Rome, it's the beautiful Stone Pines. In Singapore, it's the large-canopy tropical trees. In many parts of France, it's Sycamores that remind you where you are.
Don't forget gumtrees in australia
Over here in Amsterdam, the streets with trees are by far the most loved to live in. Lomanstraat for instance, just beautiful
I am a huge fan of your work. Thank you for making planning more accessible to the general public.
Thanks so much!
City Beautiful , let me know if you ever want to do something on zoning codes.
Thank you so much for this Fantastic and very important video.
I live in New York City and we have SO MANY beautiful trees here, even in Manhattan. But most hasty New Yorkers fail to notice them, including myself.
After moving back from Las Vegas before the lockdown, I become a loyal, hardcore Tree-lover in NYC. Vegas has few trees, and most of them provide no shade--a main reason for my leaving Las Vegas after two years.
I often walk in Manhattan streets and caress trees (secretly) to create a personal relationship with them. I so appreciate the street trees. They make me feel happy and deeply connected with New York City.
Street trees are Beautiful, Lively and Essential for our well-being.
First! Always happy to see your video in my recommendations!)
I'm in Sacramento in the Natomas area, and the shade trees in my yard (not exactly street trees, but required by statute, so similar) were cracking the porch and driveway because they were poorly planted and the roots just ran shallowly near the surface. We just paid big bucks to have them both removed and start over with a tiny new tree, so I'm not exactly on speaking terms right now with trees. Sure was a lovely day today, though.
When I see videos like this, it reminds me how much I take urban trees for granted.
When I was a child, it never crossed my mind that there’s streets without at least trees on the side.
This video was beautiful, just wanted to appreciate the existence of this content :-)
Thanks!
Just bookmarked this video. I'm planning a big move in which I'm going to end up in a more urban area then what I've been used to growing up. In my efforts to plan on being a highly involved citizen of my locale, I'm making urban forestry one of my community service hobbies. I love that you mentioned the tunnel effect! That instantly triggers my nostalgia of my childhood in the Poconos.
I'll add that I'm highly appreciative of the regularly provided citations!
Thanks! It takes a little extra effort, but it's worth it to avoid the "Where did you get that info??" type comments.
I live in TX where it's around 100 degrees most of the summer, and I love that my apartment complex is surrounded by trees because my building stays relatively cool, I rarely need to turn on my A/C so my electric bill is pretty low. Of course, I frequently have to wash my car because of all the pollen that falls on it, but I'll take it.
It's a pleasure listening to you talking about city planning! Your passion for architecture is contagious! I love "la calle porvera" in Jerez de la Frontera!
Greetings from France! :)
I agree, these trees in DC have helped me so much keeping me cool on my bike commute to my internship site which is 2 miles away from my housing
I really enjoyed this video and this new format!
Thanks!
City Beautiful Are you working towards a PhD? I work in remote sensing, and my research focuses on trying to meet urban mapping applications using polarimetic radar. It would be wonderful to see your formal work, if it's available somewhere online!
I am working on a PhD, but I'm still in the early stages of my dissertation work. I'll definitely adapt anything I publish to a video with a link to my actual research when the time comes.
City Beautiful That's amazing. All the best with work! I might be in Sacramento in December. I'll definitely contact you and perhaps we can chat!
Send me a message if you're in town!
He is absolutely right a beautiful street trees does raise real state value......I do now feel so much importance of trees ...
The home values in St Petersburg, FL where there are more trees (and yet smaller houses) are much higher than when it is more barren and often just grass in the yard. You hit this idea right on
In Vancouver we have so many trees everywhere. The tree lined streets are amazing in the summer. And in the spring there are thousands of cherry blossom trees that cover the city in pink.
As a Sacramento Native, I agree with this 100%
Great vid. Love the citations and editing too.
Great video! Here in Chicago, I also feel like trees cut back on noise pollution as well.
another cool way they keep us cooler us not just shade, but evapotransipration, making the air around them cooler, and also as lifeforms they are collectively warmer than surrounding air in winter and help insulate neighborhoods.
I’ve been to SG, it’s a great example of the integration of city and nature.
It’s so clean that my nouse hurts when I breath.
Denmark: My parents hollow road is amazing. In the summer there are passages where the road is total enveloped in the leaves.
The unpaved road, has century's of wear and tear which has sunk the road into the ground. This gives the feeling of being in a green tunnel of leaves.
Greetings from Winnipeg. We have many beautiful elm lined streets in Winnipeg. We still have over 250,000 elm trees in Winnipeg.
That's awesome!
I had wished you'd gone into a little more detail about bad trees. Sure, you touched on the Elm issue, but the 'worst' culprit, based on how cities have gone about it, is the Callery Pear. The tree is an absolute menace.
Planners probably chose them because they grow REALLY FAST and have pretty flowers in the spring.
The biggest issue is that they grow so fast and the branches fall all the time in high winds/storms. It's dangerous. Ours has caused thousands of dollars in damage over the years. We have to regularly have urban forestry come around to trim the branches that just got too big.
The secondary issue is that they really stink in the spring.
We have planted Native trees in our home in Chicago and birds, bees and butterflies LOVE THEM!!
Bravo! Wonderfully made video. Street trees are top on my list for a what makes a city more livable. Thanks!
Thanks!
Another great video as always! Didn't realize you live in Sacramento, maybe I'll see ya around sometime ;)
Cool! Feel free to say hi if you see me.
As someone who lives on a street with no trees (really none of the streets in this dense part of South Philly have trees), I never really realized how much nicer things would look if the city put more effort into planting trees
In dense areas, trees can make the air even more polluted, by trapping the particles and blocking the wing.
love your channel, keep up the good work
Although I'm not an outdoors person I love seeing trees in town. When I moved to the city I was afraid it'll be nothing but concrete and although there's allot less trees than I'm use to I'm happly surprised to see as many of them as I do.
I'm a tree hugger; love this video. Thank you for the education!
Coming from Singapore this is one of the things they really hard committed to since the 1960s and I'm glad they did. There's a Chinese saying 「前人栽樹，後人乘涼」 which is basically "earlier generations plant trees so later generations enjoy the shade" and that's the kind of spirit that people should have all around
Excellent information sir, love from India
Much love from Sonoma county and great video as always.
Beautiful area!
Loved it. Apparently elms are still planted vigorously here around in Melbourne. But now there's like more Maple, poplar and oaks are planted around here. And yes summers do get VERY HOT here as well.
They have developed some disease-resistant cultivars of elm. And when I was researching this video I learned you can inoculate existing elms to reduce their chance of infection. So all is not lost for the elm!
Since we are talking about trees, please do a video on Atlanta, GA urban planning. Pros, cons, opportunities, missed opportunities, etc. I'm curious what a trained urban planner thinks about the capital of the south.
Technically Richmond is the capital of the South.
Great videos. I'm surprised you left out water. As an urban stormwater engineer, trees are one of our top tools for intercepting rainfall which reduces urban flooding and helps keep receiving waters clean.
Great job again for putting up a useful and fascinating video. Can't fault much about trees in urban spaces, however, having a good canopy over a street may not be simple as it sounds. Where I come from, we certainly experience the benefits of trees, at the same time, they are causing significant issues in attracting a lot of unwanted wildlife in the middle of cities. bird poo or what we used to call 'airforce attacks' is such a common problem that get in the way of daily urban life. Another issue is the high maintenance cost incurred by tree growth disrupting overhead power lines. Unless you have cities that have been planned from the scratch to have underground utility networks, unwanted growth can be such a pain for councils. Must say, nothing tops the need to have trees in cities; but, it must be the right type of tree.
One lesson I remember from the class is that, when it comes to landscape design, you can plan and do everything right to achieve the desired outcome. But, that outcome will not remain simply because trees grow!
The trees are one of the things I love most about DC neighborhoods!
You should do an episode on Orlando, Florida and all changes they've made to the downtown area to make it more lively.
Fellow Sacromentan here. I love all the trees in Midtown. Being on the second floor of a place makes it look like your in a big tree house.
I live in the Milwaukee area (loved the shout out), and I live on one of our major roads which is also tree lined. Most of our narrower residential streets are also tree line and are referred to as green cathedrals.
I grew up in Wisconsin so I try to throw in references to my home state when I can.
Living in Brazil myself, I totally feel you for walking on the side of the street that has the most trees.
Our city is just full of trees, its like, everywhere. And I would definitely say this is a beautiful little city, and the air is the most amazing. The city is fairly spread out, and whenever there is a gap in the housing, its full of streets and greenery. We have sizeable forests just kind of sandwiched between housing areas!
If only all city authorities realisied trees, and their roots, grow! The number of trees I see surrounded by a small patch of earth and a wide expanse of cracked and broken paving is ludicrous!
Almost every streets in Barcelona (Cat) have trees. The only part of the city that doesnt have them is the old town because the streets are too narrow. If it wasn't for the trees we would melt in summer (we already do) and we'd be dead by pollution.
They were my savior when I visited
Madrid also has lots of trees. In recent years, they keep planting Pyrus calleryana trees which is a shame as they smell like cum.
When I was a kid, my favorite part of car rides with my parents was passing through streets covered by tree canopies. Nothing makes me nostalgic quite like that.
I live in Reno and a lot of roads don't have many street trees but I have seen newer streets putting trees in
Great episode! Having grown up in Buffalo, NY, I resonate with the attention to the value of tree-lined boulevards as well as the need for diversity of species planted. Frederick Law Olmstead's vision for Buffalo, as well as cities like New York, Milwaukee, and Boston, created an integrated park system for livable urban environments. Unfortunately, Dutch Elm Disease wiped out so many of those picturesque and environmental assets that leaves us with a cautionary tale for urban planners today.
I'll be in Buffalo in October for a conference. Maybe I need to make a video on FLO and Buffalo's parks?
This is an interesting topic which I had never given much thought to. Would've been good to cover some of the disadvantages though, even if they don't outweigh the benefits. For example, the roots of large trees can grow under paths and roads causing the tarmac to crack, and can damage the foundations of houses. Also, falling trees can do a lot of damage, especially during a storm. I suppose autumn leaf fall also causes problems, such as blocked trains.
It was funny watching this video and seeing location, I kept saying,"Oh yeah that's just down the street."
Yeah, I have a tunnel of trees in my Street. It's really beautiful!
great video. the city of manteca should take this advise. they are listed as a tree city USA member but driving through the town reveals that there are little to no street trees
I think that oxygen is my #1 benefit, Love this video, and as someone who also lives in a hot city, I can appreciate everything that you are saying.
John Labus it depend on what type of tree that we're talking about. Los Angeles and other California cities use palm tree as a sort of landscape decoration, which produce little oxygen and provide less shade. I think most cities should plant deciduous and coniferous trees than tropical ones.
Yeah, not a fan of palm trees as street trees.
South Florida communities are adding more deciduous tree cover in combination with palms. I certainly prefer the shade provided by them, but I still enjoy seeing the palms too!
I live in a little city in Brazil, and there are many, many trees. Around the neighbourhood, in the streets, along the river. And they really make the city more cooler (in the 2 meanings ^.^), the air here is really fresh, and we have some beautiful landscapes ^_~
I agree with this, my dad's house is in an old neighborhood with trees and I love it also there are brick roads so it is 👌 but my mom's house is in a new subdivision with no trees and it's so boring and trees make it so much better for playing as a kid as you can enjoy your time outside more as the sun isn't constantly beating down on you.
When I went to Sacramento, I was so surprised at the bright greenery. Very few California cities have that. It's so nice and beautiful. Another city is Berkeley.
I love this channel nice work! My favorite big shade tree is a Catalpa and I really want one in my front yard but it would be very restricted by the overhead power lines that run over my park strip. Salt Lake City has a pretty good urban forestry department going now and they are removing a dying tree and planting a new tree for me this year. I wonder if other cities have done anything to bury power lines given all the benefits that shade trees offer. SLC has a massive problem with shade trees being severely pruned due to power lines.
Yeah, burying power lines solves some problems. Unfortunately it is really expensive to do.
Excellent points, well made. Trees are extremly valuable urban assets. Here in the UK there's the term "leafy suburb", which it's always more desirable than not-so-leafy because mature trees give the sense of an "established" neigbourhood.
Worth saying that trees require dedicated ongoing maintenance, since cities aren't their natural environment (you've touched on that anyway). Species and individual trees must be wisely selected according to a number of criteria. Trees that produce less or no polen (female trees where applicable) are preferable as they do not cause hay fever (rhinitis) - a lot of people, myself included, suffer badly from this.
I live in a border community in the deserts of Southern California.
(Imperial County) and it gets up to 120° in the summer. There's been a loss of trees here and there's no trees in the center medians in my city. However, there's a new non profit called Imperial Valley Urban Forest project which is finally bringing thousands of trees here.
Mesquite, Jacaranda, Chinese elms, Arizona ash, Willow acacia, weeping willow, eucalyptus, chinese pistache. A variety of drought tolerant trees. Im planning on helping soon!
Yes , planting trees with beautiful small colourful leaves & Good Shrubs & Lawns , really can Brighten Up the area & help to reduce Land Erosion & Landslides!
A counterargument to the pollution-absorbing benefits is research that has shown trees reduce wind at street level, and therefore pollutants don't blow away as quickly. I heard it on BBC news, can't remember the source.
Great editing! Great video!
Thanks!
I live in Orange County and one of my frustrations in much of Southern California is the lack of large trees lining the streets. But in all fairness Orange County was agricultural up until the establishment of Disneyland in 1955 so any trees that were added while developing its cities have not had that much time to mature. And something that frustrates me is they aren’t allowed to get big. The city is always trimming trees that do not need it. They need to be allowed to grow and create a canopy. My friend lives in Pasadena and this city is an exception in that it and many nearby cities do have beautifully tree lined streets. I love going there. Many movies like Halloween and Back to the Future were filmed there because it is close to Hollywood but it has the look and feel of a traditional tree-lined American city.
I live in a city called Thousand Oaks, the name speaks for itself. If you can get a permit to remove an oak tree you have to plant three more to replace it.
LOVEEEEE SACRAMENTO & its whole 3M regional suburbs!!! I was born & raised there with prides!!! Missing Tree City USA, SACRAMENTO!!!
my favorite youtube chanel
Thanks!
Always suspected that you were a fellow Sacramentan (I recognized the backdrops in some of your videos). The trees are definitely one of my favorite things about living here. Even on a hot day, there's plenty of shade to take refuge under.
Nice! I'm sure Sacramento will continue to make appearances in my videos, too.
Great video!! But you have forgotten to mention two other important benefits. Rainwater management and heat island effect reduction. Trees can absorb/hold lots of rainwater and reduce flooding, etc. And also it reduces the urban heat island effect by providing shade to paved surfaces and also through the cooling effect of evapotranspiration.
sacramento is such an underrated city.... i wish we had trees like this in las vegas
I always feel like I'm on a desert when I have to walk a few meters in the full sun without any shade available
I like the idea of trees planted in median strips down wide avenues and highways.
Thank you trees, for falling over into roads during every spring storm season in michigan
The pleasure is mine. Take it easy!
I live in an area filled with trees, and even though it's a lower middleclass area, it feels a lot more homely than my mother's upper-middleclass area, which looks like a barren wasteland in the summer.
Also, I found your channel through your simcity video. I'm curious to see if the rest of your videos have the same comforting effect as this one. Or maybe I just really love trees.
One thing I've noticed is that the common street design of having no gap between the sidewalk and the carriage way so as to pack more lots into the same area drastically reduces the number of city-owned trees since it means there is literally nowhere to plant them. That one example you showed is one such street. Maybe the road allowance goes beyond where the curb is, but based on the fences, it probably doesn't, at least in any practical sense. Of course, in places where the streets are simply far too wide, one could just reclaim space from the excessive width of the carriage way and use that for boulevards and trees.
At least in Calgary, there's a policy about having to replace any tree removed from public land with at least one new tree and judging by the number of trees planted on streets with boulevards, there has to be some sort of policy about requiring a tree every so many metres. Too bad trees that create that nice canopy effect take so long to grow.
Out here in Folsom, near the county edge, we are severely lacking in street trees within the neighborhood, they just line to broad avenues. Roseville seems to have the same issue.
Robert Hamman This is why I hate having to go to Roseville for shopping. It's so much cooler in the Midtown, especially during the summer
I hate going to Roseville because it feels so far away from Midtown! If I need a mall, I usually just resort to Arden.
Ive watched a lot of your videos i had a feeling you lived in sacramento mostly because you give sac some love and no one gives us love
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I totally agree with you, and I love trees. The problem is than in hotter/dessertic
areas where there's less rain it is not substainable to maintain the trees. An alternative would be to use native species, but then the benefits are diminished as they are usually smaller trees or shrubs. They have less shade, less leaves and therefore oxygen and in my opinion look awful when compared to the trees you talked about.