We just got a tree planted on the sidewalk in front of our house - and the difference is spectacular. Two weeks ago the girls and I watched a crew cut out the concrete and dig a hole, they were an adoring crowd.
Our neighbor was also slated to get a tree, but while the holes were dug two weeks ago, and said neighbors' tree was planted the following day, ours was only planted today. Well worth the wait. New trees popped up all over our neighborhood thanks to a grant applied for by our neighborhood association,
OAPA.
That said, just this week Lehigh county commissioners rejected a grant that the city of Allentown had received as part of the
TreeVitalize program. The sentiment amongst the commissioners appears to be that tree plantings are frivolous, and the money ($25K) should be spent for "1/2 a police officers salary" or something more important to the well being of the city (I should say county, as I have long felt the commissioners could give a rats ass about A-town). Before the commissioners send this 'message' to Harrisburg, I suggest they do a little research on urban forests.
A few benefits of urban forests:
*help ameliorate carbon emissions and greenhouse gases
*reduction of UV radiation
*temperature moderation
*increased air quality (this is a public health issue!)
*reduced storm water runoff
*decrease energy needs of neighboring buildings
*beauty
When those batteries are up and running, I'll post pics of the tree planting in addition to neighborhood photos - the differences between blocks with trees and without are astounding.
Oh, and just to get a mothering slant on this, when I asked my four year old what she thought about the tree she said "I feel proud. Isn't it beautiful?"
Yes. It is.
