I think the “privilege” meme has jumped the shark on this one. Don’t people move to California for the sun? Still, I see no problem with trying to add shade.
9
When Los Angeles won the bid to get the Space Shuttle displayed in our science museum, hundreds of mature trees in South Los Angeles were cut down to make room for the Space Shuttle to clear the streets. They promised to replace the mature trees with double the amount of new trees. Wondering if that happened?
My green neighborhood is mentioned in this article, o am lucky to live here. But I feel terrible for the lack of green space in other parts of my beautiful city. I hope they are serious about planting new trees, focusing on drought tolerant, fast growing trees. Native trees would be a bonus.
6
Read “Two Years Before the Mast” it includes a description of the LA area before “civilization” effected it. No natural harbor, no trees, no water. The author revisited the area sometime later and was astounded by its growth. LA, like Vegas really are not places suitable for human habitation. For that matter, neither is Phoenix. When you move to a desert you have no right to cry about the weather.
11
“Some neighborhoods have more trees than others. It’s an equity issue.”
Why not just go full communist already?
“Some homes are bigger than others. It’s an equity issue. Let’s force people to all live in communal housing.”
“Some people have more money than others. It’s an equity issue. Let’s mandate that everyone has to have an equal amount of money.”
“Some people have cars and others don’t. It’s an equity issue. Let’s make private ownership of cars illegal.”
“Some people have nicer clothes than others. It’s an equity issue. Let’s force people to all wear identical outfits.”
...
10
@Ted
Well said, but your message won't play well here.
4
When I moved to W. 68th St between CPW and Columbus in Manhattan in 1972, there were just a few trees, the rest having been cut down by the city (?!?!?). Shortly after, we formed a block association and began planting trees in the vacant plots where the trees had stood. I remember an old guy stopped to watch me work. Shaking his head he said, "Waddaya tink ya doin'? Dis is New Yawk!" In the ensuing 47 years, those trees grew and now provide a lush canopy over the block. (But just try to find an apartment for $150/month!) The point being, LA neighborhoods could undertake the same sort of initiative.
5
'Provident' is misused at the end of the article; it means 'frugal' or 'sparing.'
3
Awnings on building fronts would create shade corridors. A regular architectural feature in hot southern cities when I grew up.
6
This is resoundingly true. And something I've felt, but perhaps never articulated to myself as clearly as this, many times before now. Shade is a form of inequity. Yes.
At the extreme end of LA inequity, the homeless are surely most vulnerable to the unequal distribution of shade. I've passed homeless men and women whose faces appear chronically sunburned. Further, many of the streets in which the homeless put up their makeshift homes suffer, for at least part of the day and in some instances nearly all of the day, from an absence of shade. (I'm thinking in particular of Hollywood streets such as Carlos/Tamarind.) I can't imagine what the temperatures must be like in the flimsy air pockets of their tents.
2
I've long considered myself a shady lady, rather than a sunny one, after doing too much uncomfortable sunbathing in the Midwest during college to get a good tan. I spent 14 months in Denver a few years ago and kept saying that the sun is so intense. That city is short of trees on main thoroughfares so big hats are required. Back here in Chicago I don't have to worry about too much sun for months at a time.
The cover photo on this terrific article is a great illustration to ALL the points. Touché Ms. Mollenkof.
1
I want to thank the New York Times and Tim Aranoff for publishing an article which captures the lived experience of working class epeople in the city of Los Angeles. Public transit passengers no less, in a city where, stereotypically, “nobody” rides the bus. Too often, LA coverage by
the New York Times and other outside media focuses only on celebrities, criminals, and conflagrations.
Los Angeles is not unique in having shade be a class privilege. As others have commented, this is true in many cities. What is important in this story is that Los Angeles has recognized this problem and is making a major effort to combat it.
7
Yet one more thing I'm supposed to feel guity about.
7
Teslas are a sign of privilege? They are signs of many things, but perhaps best to start with the most likely and obvious one for an article about climate and inequality - somebody earned enough to buy one. The overuse and misuse of the word "privilege", along with "intersection", leads to lazy writing and often shallow analysis. Why not just deal with the issue at hand - less affluent communities have been underinvested in and exploited for far too long.
7
You wrote an entire article, mostly about the shade thrown by trees, you have several photos of trees and you never say what KIND of trees! Wait, at the very end you do manage to identify palm trees. That was some crackerjack journalism there, identifying palm trees.
2
In addition to lack of shade, LA has too much concrete paving, exacerbating the heat island effect. There’s no good solution since it is comically difficult to go anywhere in LA by public transit, so everywhere needs paving. That being said, I’m surprised how few buildings have awnings, a standard feature in more inclimate cities.
3
There are tree and parks all over LA. Where do you get this nonsense.
1
@Rachelle Lane Hey Rachelle: please walk La Brea from Hollywood Blvd through Beverly and find me a single tree. But one example.
This isn't about parks, it's about the everyday concrete arteries that connect the places and things Angelenos need to get to. If you don't have a car, that means a bus. Which means waiting on a sidewalk like that of La Brea. With no trees.
8
@Rachelle Lane -parks are not where people travel, wait for buses or at stoplights
8
I dont know where to begin on this. From a NY'er point of view, I understand the difference between a metro area and outer city. Cities are hot and filled with pavement with little room for vegetation. Similarly, LA is set this way. Downtown / East side is more city living style while the West is more green and residential neighborhood like. Not to mention, mostly zoned only for homes, not apts. My point being, this isn't an equality issue nor one of "privilege" ( strong use of words). Its city planning and more mature neighborhoods. I've waited in cold and heat in several cities. People are stronger and more resilient than this article states. Kinda dangerous to rope in several non-aligning issues.
26
Reading these comments: people in LA don’t seem to like trees very much. Yes, trees need water. But they also hold water, too. They hold it in the ground to prevent runoff (some say more effectively than grass). They hold water in their leaves, transpiring later in arid conditions. They hold life as well.
Maybe LA can figure out some way to reinvent irrigation in an urban setting,
maybe not. Remember, water is a renewable resource and it’s conceivable that you all have more h2o available in twenty years than you do today.
Regardless, trees are universally just great. Hug one next time you’re around one.
7
@Sam -- thank you for suggesting to hug a tree. You are writing to a tree hugger. I love trees. We have as many on the property as the space allows. We would never dream hiring anyone but a certified arborist to check out our trees, trim them, and fertilize them bi-annually. Trees give us fresh air. I don't understand why so many people don't understand this!
5
Nothing has changed regarding pedestrians in the last fifteen years. Author makes it sound like Los Angeles has built new freeways and streets right through areas that used to be pedestrian friendly. Nothing like that has taken place. Los Angeles has always been known for cars and freeways and traffic jams.
If there's a recent danger to pedestrians, it's from the stupid electronic scooters and bicycles that are supposed to be using the streets but often zoom by on sidewalks at high speeds. Mostly young kids oblivious to the danger they pose to others and themselves, until . . . crash. Wait until lawyers start suing Uber and the other companies renting out those devices.
Interestingly the places with the tree canopies are the areas that burn when the flora dries out. Wildfires in Bel-Air and Malibu, Silver Lake and Ventura County and other wealthier areas. None in South Central or other areas that are lacking in foliage.
Clearly we need more trees everywhere. They give us oxygen, remove CO2 from the atmosphere, provide us with beauty and emotional satisfaction. And shade . . .
4
I noticed this while in Central LA this past September. Block after sun-blasted block with hardly any trees.
4
Trees consume a lot of water. If they don't get sufficient water, limbs drop off. Trees can also spread fire, especially trees which have died for some reason. Trees also cause sidewalks to buckle, causing problems for pedestrians and wheelchair users. Tree stumps are difficult to remove.
2
@Marilyn Sue Michel -- you couldn't think of one positive about trees? How about they clean the air that you breathe? I don't understand people!
4
But will they water the trees enough? With the continuing water restrictions, so many trees are collapsing and getting cut down. You can plant all you want, but you also need to maintain the poor things.
Also, for some unknown reason, years ago they *removed* many bus shelters all over the city. Why did it take so long for people to notice? And now they have to be replaced?
7
Hats really help. Even a baseball hat can make a huge difference. I can’t leave the house without one!
6
Shade is an equity issue? Shade is an urban issue; an issue when cities are devoid of real planning for green space. This article is nonsense; another article in the NYTimes claiming climate change and inequity at the core of everything. Those terms lose their meaning when they are attached to every article.
In the mean time, the real issue for CA is over-population. It is an arid state for the most part, prone to earth quakes and fires, and very little water. Not sure how to stabilize the unfettered growth and sprawl, but that is the root cause of CA issues. And it's not going away with 90,000 trees. Although, it is trees that eat CO2....
14
“Deploying an umbrella against the sun, not the rain, in MacArthur Park.”
Umbrellas against the sun are referred to as “parasols” and they are all over the world (ever spend any time in the tropics ) not just Los Angeles - and have been for centuries.
Nothing to see here move along!
11
Important addition of equity, function and beauty to the City of Angels. Having worked in the environmental sector for many years now, I would like to add what I believe is an important piece of advice. Planting trees that are functional (and preferably native) for our current climate may not do well in a warming climate. It behooves us to plant tree species that may not be traditionally found in a sage scrub or chaparral habitat, but more often found in dryer or desert habitats. Trees that are adapted to hotter, dryer, climates and more likely to survive the longer periods of drought and heat and will also have more resistance to parasites. Regardless, so happy to see that my dear city is looking more broadly at these issues for a more cohesive and livable Los Angeles.
7
@BB -- great advice because in our ever warming climate some of the trees we've learned to love may no longer be able to live. But there are other trees that can adapt to a hot planet.
1
This is probably a problem involving density as well. Low density locations are likely to have more green space than higher density locations where everything is built up: concrete sidewalks making for an asphalt jungle. With lower density green spaces are more likely to be hospitable to tree building. So put more canopies and umbrellas in the high density locations.
5
@Barbara ~
Beacon Hill, in Boston is high density and streets such as Mt. Vernon and Chestnut are graced with large shade trees. Many of the blocks have smaller trees that add to the character and charm of this historic neighborhood. Most likely arborists help maintain the health of this urban canopy.
4
Boston also has plenty of water.
4
I grew up in southwest Los Angeles but now live near Pasadena. Waiting for the bus or streetcar in the blazing sun was just something we all did -- in the 40s and 50s, and we were white, middle class people who happened to be from one-car families (as most families were then). It was dreadful! Summer in LA, then, was just as hellishly hot as summer in LA now. Los Angeles has NEVER taken care of the human need for shade! The city seems to allow neighborhood street trees to die, and not replace them. I know this is true because I've "walked" many of the old streets on Google Earth and immediately noticed that they looked more "open" than they did in the 50s. Tree died? Haul away the carcass and let them have sun! If LA is finally waking up to the fact that human beings need shade, good for them! I wonder, though, how people who have never had trees, and are mainly renters, will take the trouble to water their new trees! The city cannot come up and down streets monthly and soak all the parkways. I think LA should start out by covering all the bus benches and only when that's finished, start on the trees. Remember, as well, that unless a new tree is in at least a 36" box, it's so darn small that it will need 10-15 years growth to provide any shade. Will the City have enough money for thousands and thousands of young trees in 36" boxes? I'm not holding my breath.
9
@Marilyn -- you are raising valid points. I doubt renters and even a great portion of homeowners in certain parts of the city will be willing to spend money on watering the trees. It's just not their priority.
3
In the San Gabriel Valley where I live, the tree cover is ubiquitous along the base of the San Gabriel mountains, stretching from Pasadena, through Arcadia and Monrovia. In Pasadena, poorer areas (which were not always poor) have tree cover but as you go south from the mountains, into historically poorer areas, there is definitely a thinning. One of the problems for fixing the problem is that a primary reason we have so many large shady trees is that they were planted 70, 80, even a hundred years ago. It takes a long time to get to where we are now....
7
The small central New York city where I live recently clear cut a whole downtown block of trees. These twenty-something year old trees created an aesthetically pleasing foreground & tree canopy, to the old brick buildings. The trees added an indiosycrantic charm to my favorite city block.
The replacement trees are spindly saplings, non-native Japanese Lilacs, which will never produce shade. This is the block where the Farmer's Market is held, the block that has four outdoor seating areas for cafes and restaurants. On the hottest days, there will be no shade.
The decision was misguided. Funds had been given by NYS for improvement to this city's downtown but instead of enhancement, this block looks bereft. I am beyond sad that my hometown doesn't value its trees.
8
Hmm. Strange article. Mixing rich vs poor with trees vs no trees vs bus riders. It is a very good idea to put up some trees. The author using Beverly Hills is a poor example since they are a rich city independent of Los Angeles. Making this a rich vs poor issue of trees I do not think has any relevance to riding the bus. If shade is needed for bus stops, they need to add those little covered/protected structures that they started putting up.
14
Portland, my home has planted nearly a million street trees as well as yard trees for their heat island and rain mitigation effects. LA can surely manage more w neighborhood help. Drip irrigation bags are effective for watering
2
LA might take a page from Miami-Dade's playbook and do free tree giveaways to the residents a few times a year. This practice engages people to feel responsible for the care and the maintenance of the trees and discover the pleasure of watching a tree grow and thrive with their help. Otherwise the residents are going to feel the trees are not their responsibility and consequently not care whether they live or die. Residents need some skin (or bark) in the game for this to be successful.
6
This is a great idea, but it’s important to understand that the vast majority of people suffering from income inequality, especially in cities like LA, have very little opportunity of becoming property owners. You cannot plant a tree if you don’t own the land needed to do so.
6
@Beyond Karma -- unless you are a homeowner and really understand the value of a tree, trees won't stand a chance in less well-to-do areas.
@Beyond Karma Los Angeles already does this. We planted many free trees in our neighborhood over the past few years.
2
It's a little more complicated than just income inequality, though that is an aspect. Garcetti is a clever politician and got himself a headline by spinning the issue. Last year tree planting in LA was about climate change. Not mentioned is prettifying LA for the '28 Olympics, which is probably a factor.
Large shade trees have a more limited lifespan and a higher maintenance cost when their large root systems are forced to grow in a narrow parkway strip between the street and the sidewalk. Tree roots grow out, not down.
Their roots buckle the sidewalks (trip-and-fall lawsuits! ADA violations!), crack the curbs, and large trees under such stress fall over in Santa Ana winds or drop big branches on homes and vehicles. They grow too tall and begin to encroach on power lines (fire danger) and must be topped. Big trees need regular checking and care, money municipalities, including LA, have directed elsewhere for decades.
Note that palm trees are not only iconic, they are cheap to buy and have modest root systems that don't damage pavement which is why they were and are so widely planted in the first place.
10
Very good points. It is very important that the factors mentioned by this writer be considered when deciding which tree to plant in each spot. But with good planning and a knowledgeable city work force that includes trained arborists a good tree canopy can be achieved.
4
@The Poet McTeagle -- you have raised a valid point about large trees growing in very narrow strips next to the road. These trees are really not suited for city life. It stresses them. Trees will have to be planted that can live and perhaps even thrive in such a restrictive environment.
1
@The Poet McTeagle you are ignoring the fact that there are trees that grow well between parking strip and street.
1
While the withering heat of LA brings to light (pun intended) on this inequity, it is true of most cities.
I am always struck by the lack of trees while driving through large swaths of Baltimore. I leave the highway, wend my way through downtown on my way to Johns Hopkins Hospital. I then travel for several miles through poor neighborhood after poor neighborhood to get to my final destination. And there are so few trees. Those that do exist are small and knobby.
2
@Kelly -- it costs money to maintain a tree. In poor neighborhoods there is neither the will nor the money to plant and maintain trees.
2
I suspect more than a few folks living in the cloud zones of the north and northeast (especially the rust belt) find this talk about too much sun rather amusing. I joke that I lose my sunglasses each year because I put them away in November and don't need them again until May. Perhaps this article would have been more suitable in July?
And do plant appropriate trees- nature, even in small doses, is helpful for everyone.
2
I believe the phrase "made in the shade" comes from LA. On the other hand, in England, you have "your day in the sun." I guess it depends on what you need to achieve the right balance for comfort.
Trees are good. Plant more trees. City trees do require some maintenance though: They need to be watered when they are being established, they need to be trimmed when they interfere with utility wires, and they do fall over occasionally.
5
I was recently in SoCal for the 2nd time in 26 years and was thrilled by the trees. More, more, more. Our world is starved for urban trees. As the richest nation, I hope we can make the urban canopy an increasing - and non-partisan - priority.
9
The most meaningful option in the short term is shade structures for every bus stop. We have a long way to go toward a valuable canopy. Urban planning wasn't a strong suit here; influence and money determined development. The auto industry made sure we had all the highways, freeways and streets, in effect as much asphalt as possible to push auto sales, and quietly dismantled several useful means of public transportation along the way (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). So why palm trees which have little to no value except as ornament: doubtless a leisure class status symbol, considered good for tourism, to create the illusion of endless economic opportunity, you name it. No surprise then that the palm tree was THE tree of choice as part of a 1931 unemployment relief project: the city planted more than 25,000. Now we live with the results of delusional planning. I pray los angeles can green up by tenfold.
5
@Josie McCausland When we were visiting Curacao, every bus stop -- called bus hate -- had a cover to protect from sun and the elements. Perhaps Holland is paying for this but surely in our "first-class" world country we can find the money to equip every bus stop with an overhead protection to provide shade.
In my neighborhood there are people when moving in, uproot anything green and replace it with white rocks so they don’t have to pay for water...Yes, it’s “ruined” the neighborhood.....
7
@Sonja
The water required for this leafy indulgence in the desert has been diverted from its natural source far, far away, ruining countless Mexican communities on the Colorado River.
4
@Sonja I own a rental house in the center of the San Fernando Valley in a neighborhood that has seen better days. So I was pleased to see a neighbor across the street working on their yard, assuming that they were replacing their dead, weedy, "lawn" with a water-wise garden. Well, the replacement certainly is "water-wise." They have literally covered their entire front yard, from property line to property line, in concrete. I can't imagine what they are thinking.
1
@Rena I can. More parking for the multiple vehicles they own.
1
“Maybe you haven’t thought about it this way, but shade is an equity issue,”
You gotta be kidding me.
9
It is in Los Angeles where wealthy neighborhoods can afford to put utilities underground and poor neighborhoods can’t....therefore no trees can be planted as they grow into wires overhead and Los Angeles won’t pay for upkeep.
5
@Jim T. Anything that costs money is an equity issue.
9
It's gratifying to hear that 'officials" anywhere are interested in doing something for the public good...it seems altruism is dying in the US under the most virulent president o ever hold office and the Party which eagerly reflects his hatreed of actual human beings.
5
Too many people. Too little rain. Too much sunshine. Too hot.
California, Nevada, Arizona, nearly all of Mexico
Also, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, etc.
Also, India, China, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa, South America, and now - according to a friend in Nicaragua - Central America as well.
12
I am terrified that my neighbors will continue to cut down the magnificent 50 year old oaks that line my suburban street, because they're "messy". Yes, they drop leaves, twigs and acorns ... but they shade my south facing house so that I didn't turn on the AC once this past summer.
5
@Cleo D. This is exactly what our neighbors did when they bought the McMansion across the street: They clear-cut! Each and every tree. The city who supposedly protects trees that are planted on the public strip next to the sidewalk simply looked the other way.
1
Claremont, a suburb east of LA, is known as the “city of trees and PhDs” because of its shady streets and the presence of the Claremont Colleges with their faculty. I happen to live here myself. And it’s true: far less affluent towns nearby have fewer trees. Money matters, but let’s not forget the oft-vilified PhDs.. our trees are here because we Claremont residents prioritize them, vote to tax ourselves to pay for them, and organize to protect them when they’re threatened by drought, development, etc. And believe me, a fiestier group of senior citizens you will not find than the crew that makes up Claremont’s Tree Action Group. What I mean is: yes it has to do with money but it also has to do with community organizing. There are equally wealthy but right-leaning towns and cities nearby us that have very few mature trees but lots and lots of strip malls, big box stores, and concrete.
101
@Keef In cucamonga -- yes, it takes community commitment to plant and then to preserve trees. Btw, I gladly admit that I am a tree-hugger.
12
As someone who grew up a four-season New Yorker, I've never understood how anyone could live under eternally blazing blue skies and think it was a good, comfortable, healthy thing. Different strokes, I guess.
2
@Steve As a native NY'er who's lived in California for 4 decades, there isn't enough money in the world to entice me to move back. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and too gray too often. The cure for too much sun is a little shade, not a freezing winter.
8
I have lived in Los Angeles for 69 years. I drive through poor and privileged neighborhoods every day. I love trees, but the story told in the article leaves out a ton of pertinent facts and smacks of something fed to the reporter for political purposes. Many if not most bus stops already feature shelters that provide both shade and cover from rain. They require no maintenance and no water. A tree is not an effective way to achieve the same result. The vast majority of bus stops are surrounded by pavement. So planting a tree requires blasting open the concrete, an expensive and messy proposition. The tree better be mature or it will will take years for it to produce meaningful shade. That means it will be expensive, both to purchase and install. Even if it is mature, it provides shade only from one direction, which means it is effective only at certain times of the day. Trees require care and water. Los Angeles has little water, but care is an even bigger problem. One reason poor parts of the city lack trees is that the ones planted decades ago by developers died of neglect in a city stretched for resources. Look for the trees planted in this campaign to go the same way. This story sounds like something generated by the mayor and city council to make it look like they care about the poor sections of town. They are not looking for shade so much as camouflage.
34
Trees will cool the area far more than a small bus shelter ever could. This is a long term plan for climate resistance. I am a Los Angeles native and can assure you the temps in the ‘shade’ of a protected bus stop, while better, won’t compare to the true cooling of added trees in the environment as they cool larger areas of concrete. Getting rid of concrete a good thing in LA. We have too much and when you are outside and sitting near all that said asphalt you absorb extra heat from it.
46
@Nadia Conners -- of course there should be lots of trees in every neighborhood, but does every neighborhood value and take care of these trees? It is not inexpensive to care for a tree. Annual checkups by the arborist, professional trimming by the arborist (not some inept lawn crew), bi-annual fertilization; prodigious watering when Mother Nature does not provide the rain.....do you really believe in a disadvantaged area the trees have a chance? As I wrote on the onset, it costs money to maintain a tree. Some communities are unwilling/unable to spend the money to nurse the trees so they can become beautiful, mature specimen.. Go ahead, call me tree hugger. I don't mind.
2
@Victor James -- planting a "mature" tree is (a) very expensive and (b) very hard on the tree. Best to plant a very young tree and give it time. In this country we are too quick to cut down trees and then anxious for trees to grow. Please remember that the trees that are worth having (hardwood trees) take a life-time to grow to a respectable size!
I listened to an entire KCRW segment on this issue. This article fails to mention that the ADA and its sidewalk width requirements were responsible for the removal of some trees. And the same sidewalk width requirements are currently preventing the city from planting many of the 90,000 trees they are eager to install.
26
I'm trying not to be too cynical, but isn't LA really a desert or near desert with an aquaduct? It's water is brought in from miles away. Per National Weather Service, average annual rainfall is 15.1 inches. New York by comparison is 45.
IS it any wonder there are scant natural trees and those transplanted (eg palm trees) are problematic for shade?
With a strained water source, are trees really the best option?
After all, Not much shade in the Mojave, right?
Artificial/man made 'solar' shelters ought to be both water sparing and more rapid implementation than trees.
9
@Michael The Los Angeles basin is not a desert. It is a Mediterranean climate, similar to parts of Italy, Greece, the south of France and South Africa - defined as a dry subtropical climate with a dry season and a (hopefully) rainy season. As I am sure you are aware, it is being adversely impacted by climate change and becoming hotter and drier. Natural plant types include chaparral, oak trees, sycamores, aspens, buckeye, numerous wildflowers... very very different from the Mojave.
1
@Rena Thanks for the head up. I stand corrected. I guess I am unduly influenced by the film China Town. That being said, the relatively low rain fall coupled with population growth (and by the way who can blame one as this is being written from a snow and ice covered Connecticut,) are the lower levels of water best spent on trees or perhaps a greener alternative, eg solar powered/solar energy collecting 'shade shacks' as another option?
Thanks again
1
Where lack of shade is the problem, trees are not always the answer. There are better approaches. To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Hence, Los Angeles might be better served by a full-time shade officer than a full-time forestry officer to support the mayor's fledgling Cool Streets LA initiative.
6
"Income inequality" the new political construct based on jealousy and envy. And I thought envy was one of the seven deadly sins.
8
@James So our real problem in present day America is not income inequality, it is jealousy. Got it.
I’m all for rethinking ways to provide shade but until enough trees are planted and they grow tall enough to actually create enough shade, there’s the umbrella. There’s even an umbrella on the market that provides UV protection. It stumps me why this hasn’t been turned into a trend yet.
5
@JennyK212: I was wondering that, too! It's a cheap fix. I see many people from SE Asia walking down the street here with umbrellas on a hot day. As they become more popular, I'm sure that someone would go into business making more stylish and sun-oriented ones (parasols, I guess?).
3
It is 5 Degrees cooler at my house than in town no matter how hot it is ,even when it is 95 degrees in town it is only 90 in my heavily wooded neighborhood.
Just imagine how much power Los Angeles would save if they planted trees everywhere and mature trees also increase the humidity.
Save the planet, plant trees, millions of them!
4
@Chelsea Trees are great, but they require water, something LA does not have a surfeit of.
3
@Chelsea No matter how many trees they plant, LA will never be "heavily wooded."
1
Excuse me but this is another income inequality outage piece. At any time over the last century LA’s city and county politicians could have added bus shelters or shade at a minor cost. They just didn’t think to do it. Call it political indifference.
10
LA's native flora is "Coastal Sage Scrub", a largely tree-less landscape with aromatic shrubs designed to withstand the summer drought which is the defining characteristic of Mediterranean climates throughout the world. The few trees present in this landscape were hardy oaks designed to withstand the summer drought.
Any trees planted should work with this unique climate. Instead of trying to replicate the unnatural tropical landscapes of Bel Air in miniature, look to cities with similar climates, such as Málaga, Spain and Athens, Greece and see what they've been doing for the last 2000 years.
14
Interesting that the article didn't even mention the environmental impact of planting trees on rates of asthma, respiratory disease, stress and anxiety. Environmental racism is glaring in a number of ways, not just the lack of shade.
2
Missing from this article is that the company contracted 15 years ago to build bus shelters in exchange for advertising revenue from posters in them, never built the shelters. They built about half of them. Where were city lawyers all that time, to force the company to comply?
10
"...as the crises of climate change and inequality converge."
This is such an enlightening article.
I had always thought that a lack of trees in urban areas was the result of decades of non-stop urban development. I believed that as the development took place, these urban cities became covered in concrete, steel and pavement (at the expense of trees).
I also believed that an abundance of concrete and pavement in a confined area (an urban city for example) absorbs and holds heat...making these areas feel much warmer than areas that are not covered in concrete and pavement.
Thanks to this article, I now understand that cities constructed of concrete, steel and pavement are feeling warmer now due to "climate change" (as opposed to their construction materials)....and that the lack of trees in these cities is due to "income inequality".
Thank you NYTimes for clearing this all up.
5
A likely side effect of planting trees would be a chnge in the local climate: more trees mean more rain. If L.A. manages to make itself into a forest city, it will definitely be a more comfortable place to live. And the airconditioing bills should fall, too.
4
Back when I lived in socal, the city of LA planted about a dozen trees on our street near MacArthur Park. They were dead within a month or so due to a lack of water/care. Our landlord cut down all the trees on his property - guessing it was a maintenance issue. Like many promises made to poor neighborhoods, most don't amount to much more than poorly executed temporary window dressing.
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@Don Jr That and the fact that dog owners love to take their dog to the nearest tree to do it's business!
On the "sunny side of the street" there should be an array of elevated solar panels that feed electricity into the grid. Decorate the opposite side the the iconic tall (skinny) palm trees. In the past this country was built on the automobile. We need to spin this model and build an infrastructure that provides universal solar energy.
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How about a campaign to involve citizens in planting and caring for trees if they have yards or open spaces? Being educated about our conditions is always a first step to solutions. Planting trees is always a good thing, but will trees be able to survive climate change in these heat islands is anyone's guess. There are so many questions and obstacles in this unfolding and conveniently ignored challenge that climate change will be presenting to us. Making small steps is certainly better than just hoping it will magically disappear.
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Some of the commenters point out some of the obstacles to planting trees that the average person might not realize.
Maybe it would be less expensive in the long run to just provide nice big portable umbrellas for people to carry. Easier to wait at a bus stop with your own shade umbrella.
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The article fails to mention the water demands of most shade trees, and the conflict of supplying this water in an area that is virtually a desert and relies on water from other states.
Environmentally, neither Los Angeles nor its twin sister city of Las Vegas can support their populations. If people can't water their laws, how can they water their trees? The real issue here is that we are rapidly exhausting our resources to the detriment of our environment.
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@Michael 80% of water in California goes to irrigate crops. Including crops like rice and alfalfa that can easily be grown elsewhere. There is enough water in CA to support many, many more urban trees.
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@Michael There are drought-tolerant trees, beautiful ones too like the purple orchid tree, silk floss tree, Japanese Blueberry, and the Mexican Ebony. Palm Springs is an area thatL.A. could copy for abundant foliage.
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@Michael
What if the city puts a limit on water use for lawns or taxes them at a higher rate (based on lawn area of each property) and encourages homeowners to plant more native plants that require little water and rock gardens?
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I grew up in a working class community in South-Central LA in the 50s and 60s. There were no street trees and the city park was nearly treeless. I don’t recall thinking about how barren it was because I had nothing to compare it to. I didn’t have access to affluent neighborhoods in other parts of LA.
I went to UC Berkeley at the age of 17 and learned for the first time that trees beautify our communities. Returning to LA to visit family, the absence of trees was now evident. Although I had many reasons to remain in Northern California when I finished school, the beauty of our urban forests was certainly a factor.
Ironically, our urban forests in Northern California are now being destroyed because they are not native. Coastal California was nearly treeless prior to settlement because native trees are not tolerant of salty wind and long dry spells of a Mediterranean climate.
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@Yellow Dog It's also worth pointing out that Berkeley gets literally twice as much rain as Los Angeles and has a shorter dry season. You can plant a wider variety of trees at much higher density in NorCal than you can in SoCal.
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I love trees and I want American cities to have more of them. However, I'm concerned that most of these newly planted trees are going to quickly die, either due to neglect or the climate change they are meant to mitigate. I visit LA pretty frequently and the trees I see there almost always look distressed, with dry leaves and a thick coating of dust. People in the rich, green areas don't just water their grass, they also water their trees.
Parts of Los Angeles County are literally desert. LA, the city, officially gets 14-15 inches of rain per year. Long Beach only gets about 12 inches of rain, putting it on par with Tucson, Arizona. There is a 6-8 month period of the year where LA gets practically no rain. This forestry official is going to have to be very careful about what trees she plants where. Unfortunately, I think she will find that most of the trees that can survive unmaintained in South LA's environment don't grow very big or provide much shade.
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Every cloud, in this case - too much sunshine, has a silver lining: future trees!
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As a former land-use planner I am cheered by the talk of planting more trees, not just for shade and climate but also for the human spirit. Trees have sustained humanity for hundreds of thousands of years. We have such a close relationship to these noble beings. They offer us shelter from the elements, warmth from their wood, prevent soil erosion from wind and storms. They absorb groundwater and prevent flooding. We use their nuts for food and their bark for medicines.
Plant trees in poorer neighborhoods by the thousands. Help educate residents about them. Care for them and the rewards will be returned for generations.
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@Just visiting Look at the opening picture for this article. Do you see even a spot of dirt where a tree could be planted? L.A. is an asphalt jungle with the whole place covered with asphalt and concrete. It's also a desert where there wasn't much besides scrub oak and manzanita when the Spaniards arrived. The quality of life there has been overrated, and the Boosterism to which the article refers still exists. I didn't realize this until we left for the East Coast eleven years ago. The kind and number of trees we have here (MA) couldn't exist in California.
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@Garth That's true Garth. The kind of trees will be different. But that's okay. Different trees for different kinds of climates. Just like people. They're all good.
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@Just visiting
Yet, the push is on in California to convert single-family homes to large apartment blocks: human warehouses, really. Which single-family neighborhoods are going to be sacrificed first? The poor ones, of course.
An ever-growing human population leaves no room for something as frivolous as thousands of beautiful oxygen producing, carbon-absorbing, songbird-sheltering, shade-giving trees.
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A couple years ago, while living in Oakland, another California city with equity issues, I volunteered a number of times with a group that was planting trees in low income neighborhoods. It turned out that oftentimes home owners did NOT want trees planted on the land between the sidewalk and the road. They feared that the resulting shade would attract an undesired crowd of loiterers in the front of their houses. A surprise complication to our plans.
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@James I also worked with the tree planting initiative in my city. I just left a comment about the biggest roadblock we faced, homeowners who didn't want tree roots growing into the cracks in their aging pipes. But your comment reminded me we also had many complaints like the one you pointed out. We got a lot of resistance from a group of homeowners who spent years lobbying for police cameras in their neighborhoods to deter drug activity, and didn't want trees that might block those hard won cameras. And even as I type this, I remember the homeowners who didn't want to park under these trees and have their cars destroyed with sap and acidic berries. (Poorer neighborhoods are more likely to rely on street parking.) So I guess the takeaway here is that for tree planting projects to be successful, and we NEED them to be successful, we need them to be part of a larger initiative that addresses a broad array of interconnected urban issues.
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@Revelwoodie yes, and plant drought tolerant, deep rooting trees. Every city in the los angeles basin has a list of preferred trees for planting, which usually have smaller footprint and are more curb friendly species. You are right that a successful effort will engage the community.
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@James
Exactly! As much as I like trees, unless they're native they're overrated.
I used to live in Albuquerque. Talk about a town with not many trees! If one chooses to live somewhere they should be willing to adjust to the environment.
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During the four miserable years I lived in LA, I often felt like the only one in that whole city who had ever heard of skin cancer and cataracts. For four years, everyone I met told me how fulfilled they felt by the weather, how the regularity of sunny days with 80 degrees validated them as humans and met their emotional needs. And every time I heard someone nattering on about the glory of sunshine or how today's 81 degrees feels so much different from yesterday's 83 degrees, I wondered anew about the terrible life choices that had led me to this juncture.
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@Locho Life there is really over-rated. The booster-ism lives on through the media, which is the main industry.
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@Garth I note both of your LA grousing and generally would agree with you even though I am an Angeleno, but as
I type this as the outside temp is 71F and I believe the East Coast is under something called a blizzard.
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@Locho is this satire? complaining about 80 degrees and sunny?
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The escalating crisis of lead in urban water supplies should be reason enough to embark on an ambitious, publicly funded project to replace aging pipes in our cities. But the desperate need to green our cities is another.
I participated in a tree planting project in my city. Many of those trees were later cut down by angry homeowners who didn't want the roots growing into their aging pipes. Because as it stands now, much of our aging water infrastructure is considered the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain, repair, or replace. Few homeowners have the $10k or more such projects can cost.
We need a publicly funded infrastructure initiative that covers not only city owned pipes, but serves to at least defray the costs of the miles of pipes left to homeowners who cannot afford to maintain them. Only then can we fully address our growing water quality crisis, and realize green city initiatives by planting trees that won't be cut down by beleaguered homeowners.
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@Revelwoodie properly planted trees include root barriers to prevent your imagined problem. The City of LA requires them.
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If you need shade or relief from earthquakes and hurricanes, come to Michigan. Stable climate, relatively mild winters, and water is abundant. Heck, we won't even SEE the sun for another couple of months--its the grey season.
I just find it hysterical that people in a sunny, hot, and dry state are complaining because its...sunny, hot and dry.
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@Jeff K The people here who are grousing about life in LA all seem to live in other places. If they spent time in LA and left, it is surely because they are better-suited to the miserable climes in which they were raised.
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What about the water that the trees need? Is there enough?
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@Larry Israel
You nailed it.
Shade is nice. Water is life itself.
We have been embarked on a decades-long campaign to privatize every drop in America, to gift or sell it to corporate interests that, when the time comes, will not care whether you live or die. And many will die. And the corporations will be supported by our doctrinaire courts , because business.
Just as we are busily selling farmland to China, this loss of public control over water resources will become a tragic and deadly feature of life in corporate Americas.
We could stop this tomorrow. We know the problem, where it comes from, how to avoid it. But we don't want to.
You see all those picturesque scenes of India featured here? People with colorful plastic jugs lining up three, four times every single day to get enough water for tea?
That's gonna be us. About five years after that the poor will overrun the fastnesses of the rich and America, at long last , will have the chance to begin anew, and maybe get it right.
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Seems that old real estate joke about swampland in Florida is fast becoming West Coast compatible. In this case, hubris is nothing to laugh at.
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This is what Late Progressivism looks like.
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It's not news that it gets hot in L.A. Only now the politicians are realizing it? I have plenty of memories of baking hot days, summer and otherwise, when I was a kid in the San Fernando Valley. It was also a lot smoggier back then when cars had no smog controls. This article is devoid of facts showing that global warming has had any measurable or meaningful effect on summertime temperatures. There is mention of seven extreme heat days downtown; this is not different from my recollections of decades ago. We had no air conditioning in school (LA Unified) when I was a kid, and I attended summer school. It was hot. (Although the hottest days are in September and October when regular school session is in). Also, there is no discussion of the fact that L.A. is nearly completely covered with asphalt and concrete. There is very little open space, few urban parks, with most land occupied by stucco-covered buildings. The palm trees don't provide any meaningful shade. I have referred to these overgrown icons as telephone poles with a shag on top. Less people are riding the buses every year (find the LA Times articles on the subject). New immigrants are buying cars as soon as they can. Still, shady bus shelters would be welcome. But nobody walks on L.A. sidewalks. Besides the unbearable heat in summer, the vast distances keep people off the sidewalks. Only urban adventurers from out of town venture on foot from place to place.
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@Garth
The fact of climate change due to anthropogenic global warming has already been shown conclusively. There is no need for every article to prove it again. 'Climate' is defined as 'average weather over time' (simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change), and we know climate is changing because weather statistics are changing. The increasing number of extreme heat days in LA is documented in the public record. Your recollection of decades ago is an anecdote, not a fact. If you want facts, they are easy to obtain from credible sources. For example, I googled "climate heat waves los angeles", which led me to publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/climatechange/ExtremeHeatNClimateChange.htm.
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@Garth Not true. I'm a former Westsider that had to move to the much less desirable Hawthorne area due to job loss. It is shocking how much hotter it is here because there are no trees. I laugh when I compare the so-called AccuWeather temperature which is much lower than the actual temperature on the streets. I would love to see a tree-planting initiative here but it will never happen because of 1. corruption and greed at the city level (elected and municipal employees) 2. the vast number of renters (rather than homeowners) 3. the sheer amount of garbage (including human and animal feces, needles, fast food debris, furniture) left on the street. 4. The slumlords who don't provide even minimal maintenance to their properties. 5. Many empty storefronts in the so-called business district included an entire deserted mall inhabited by dangerous people. In summary, no one cares and nothing will change. This "effort" is just yet another empty political gesture.
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It is excellent that LA is going to plant more trees.
But please, NYT, instead of just framing everything in terms of haves and have nots, please do actual research to figure out why some neighborhoods don't have trees and some do, and tell us about that more interesting story.
The arguments given- the city didn't maintain trees, and the cops didn't want them in poor neighborhoods- are really not convincing enough to explain the giant difference. LA's new tree guru will need to do her own research if her project is to have lasting impact.
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@carol LA's new tree guru has no experience or education as a forester. Just experience as a non-profit organizer with a degree in liberal arts.
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@carol A big part of the story here is that in wealthier neighborhoods, people can afford to maintain their pipes, or replace them if needed. In poorer neighborhoods, working class homeowners, or landlords renting out low value properties, aren't exactly rushing to spend $10k to replace aging pipes. They see tree roots as a threat, and will cut down trees on or near their properties. (If your pipes are cracked, tree roots will enter those cracks in search of water, clogging the pipes and eventually widening the cracks as well.) Without an infrastructure initiative that assists homeowners with these costs, trees in poor neighborhoods will continue to be a rare sight. And as the escalating lead crisis in urban water supplies should be telling us, we need to be replacing these pipes anyway.
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@Garth Looking through her linkedin account, that doesn't seem to be entirely true. She spent 10 years working for a group called Tree People. I assume Tree People is an advocacy group, but it's not like she has zero experience with trees.
That said, the fact that she needs to "[draw] on several books and resources, such as 'A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us,'" instead of relying on her personal expertise is concerning.
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Wherever you travel around the world, the green places in cities are the more affluent ones.
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Free umbrellas or the Urban Sombrero should also be distributed!
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Geez, who would have known that shade is an elitist's symbol.
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Looks like CA will have to balance the need for trees with that for denying wildfires, fuel! Not necessarily a game that can be won.
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Well, I lived in the LA area from 66-71 and in the city remember the tall palm trees and the crews climbing to the tops to thin out the fronds and supposedly rats as I was told.
A little high to stash alleged guns from the then notorious LAPD.
At the beach cities of LA there were 'tree' sections and the treeless seaside. Manhattan Beach and Hermosa where I lived were divided by the latter areas. Here in Asheville much smaller than LA bus shelters have been erected by volunteers and they are everwhere thoughout the city.
Maybe LA can take a hint from us and get out and put up these shelters created of wood and plastic as trees take years to grow to any size promoting shade but who is against trees.
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Shade, but also trees. Not just in LA, but across US cities, tree density corresponds with affluence. One might likely find other wealth-related correlations, quality healthcare, higher-quality food, better subways and mass transit, etc. Some are related to simple desirability, more attractive areas cost more, and some are related to bias in government, whereby higher-income areas both request and receive better services.
Yes, it is a problem, but this is simply an isolated issue, and responding to it does not deal with the US's underlying grotesque inequality and unfairness...
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Only 50 days by the end of the Century? I think you may be surprised. You are only 4° north of us and you do have the ocean, but it is going to be hotter and more often than you think. You had also better give more thought to water, too.
Trump's government is only going to make it worse.
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@Ken Sayers
True dat. Every updated prediction based on better and more recent data with ever more powerful computing power is worse than prior ones regarding climate change. It's always coming sooner and harder than the outdated forecasts. And no sign that the trend is slowing down. Most of the scientists err on the side of caution, not wanting to be labeled as alarmists giving us worst case scenarios ala Chicken Little.
But the sky is falling, and it will crash sooner and with more gravity than anyone is willing to tell us.
2
Two thoughts: LA should talk to Chicago. After the heat wave of 1995 where 100's died, Chicago started a massive, very successful tree planting program, Second, it they don't also have a tree maintaining program, then they will lost many (most?) of the trees they plan. Saplings are fragile
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It would have been interesting to read about what type of trees will be planted. Long periods of drought can stress trees, especially newly planted ones, so tree selection and care are essential to keeping them healthy.
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@Lmw I would imagine native trees would do the best. But given the extra stressor of climate change and asphalt, perhaps that isn't true.
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@Lmw
Plus climate change is introducing new insect pests everywhere that trees often lack defenses against and can't evolve fast enough to survive. A huge percentage of trees everywhere are dying, which is a contributing factor to our incessant and seemingly omnipresent wildfires. I don't think the situation improves anytime soon as insects travel and evolve far too fast for trees to keep pace with.
Goodness does everything have to be an “equity” issue? If there’s an issue address it, there is no need to pigeon hole it into the inequality movement.
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@Ed
Right. I guess its just chance that rich places in cities have lots of trees and the poor places don't. Funny how that worked out.
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@Ed Both of you are correct. It is an equality issue - green space is something you do not find in poor areas. But also the way you raise an issue will impact whether or not people listen.
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@Ed I'm pretty sure that equality shouldn't be a "movement," just a goal for how we live.
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