Deep Quality of Life Thought:
Trees work.
If anyone has been in Dover lately and seen the mature pin oaks that were planted 20 years ago, it is obvious that trees can have a huge impact on quality of life.
(Photo stolen without permission from Mike Mahaffie’s flicker file.)
I just remembered Tommywonk’s post regarding the economic value of urban trees.
Pretty picture.
The town of Little Creek used to look like that. To get government money for paving the one street through town, they were required to cut down all the silver maples. Now the place looks like a dump.
I wonder if we could get Mike Mahaffie to the Delaware Liberal Official Photographer? He probably wouldn’t like our pay scale. Urban trees are awesome. Unless they are ginkos. Actually, very old ginkos can be cool. But cities need shade trees.
There’s a ginko in front of my house.
Well, this is all very kind… I would also note that that photo is currently our eye-candy on the front page of the State Planning Office Site (yes, I use my own photos…).
And street trees are important. Loockerman Street is a lovely street, even if traffic is often very heavy. I walk there most days at lunch and I love it in all seasons and all weathers.
Side note: The people who take care of street plantings and medians and hanging flower baskets in Dover do an outstanding job. How a town looks is a hugely important part of economic developemnt.
Also, keep in mind that trees can outgrow streets eventually. In Lewes, we had lovely trees lining Second Street, but when the street had to be re-paved, the City (wisely, I think now) decided to remove those trees and plant new ones as part of a complete street make-over. Those trees had reached maturity and were perhaps too large for the street.
It looked like hell for the season it took to do the work, but the results are very nice and the new trees, though small, fit the scene and promise to become fixtures into the near future.
I was wondering why Second Street in Lewes looked so sterile to me. As the new trees grown in that will go away – it just takes time and vision though.