Comments
Necessary-Celery t1_ixsi5nq wrote
So much of famously walkable Boston has very narrow sidewalks, often with trees narrowing down the sidewalk even more.
And I think we're all just used to it, because despite that Boston is still one of the, if not the most walkable bigish cities in the US.
But my point is, it would be great to have a wider sidewalks, although I very much doubt we'll ever see the trees planted in the street. And it would be very odd to get that before we get physical barriers between traffic and bicyclists.
-yuergus t1_ixtzxiz wrote
What do you mean by walkable?
NightingalesEyes t1_ixua7sg wrote
it’s easier to get around boston on foot than by car most of the time (bar the mbta being non functional).
but generally when people say walkable they mean the city doesn’t prioritize cars over pedestrians. boston did that unintentionally bc it’s not a planned city, so the streets are a mess but walking around is pretty straightforward.
Budget-Celebration-1 t1_ixs66w7 wrote
Where would you put the snow piles?
mrlolloran t1_ixs6qsb wrote
Yeah I don’t want go full NIMBY but I see potential problems with this idea
calguy1955 t1_ixsdfo7 wrote
The sad truth to this is the city has to adopt standards for things like parking spaces. If the tree grows bigger and the space shrinks by an inch some lawyer will successfully sue the city for every dinged bumper because the public parking space maintained by the city does not conform to their specifications.
tycam01 t1_ixsmc4q wrote
Snow removal nightmare
BostonZest t1_ixuk0h2 wrote
And street cleaning. You can see the litter around those trees. I would love more trees and much better tree care. However, I would have to see more information on how this works in practice.
BDBostonian t1_ixsi8r2 wrote
That was actually fascinating. I’d never considered the idea before reading that.
brufleth t1_ixsleo2 wrote
How do those trees get enough water?
Otterfan t1_ixt6u1v wrote
Currently the city asks residents to water the trees. This is most necessary for young trees and during droughts. Mature trees in normal weather will generally get enough water to survive.
Towns with successful urban forests (e.g. Brookline) will make watering new trees a city service, but they still ask for neighbors to help. If you plan on living in a community a long time, it saves money in the long term to water trees. However areas that are poorer or with mostly short-term residents often have a harder time keeping young trees alive.
brufleth t1_ixt8x4a wrote
I'm talking about the ones in the picture. They're quite large but have almost no exposed dirt above them. So they're relying on roots to ground water. Trees that size struggle in Boston. See the larger trees that regularly fail on beacon Hill or the ones that die regularly in city hall plaza.
Boston actually waters new trees, but not nearly enough. We had a new tree put in out front mid summer. I watered it regularly in addition to Boston's contractor watering it every week or two and managed to get it to survive the dry as hell summer we had. The gallon of dog urine that it gets doused with daily doesn't help things either.
[deleted] t1_ixsrx2q wrote
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Itchy-Marionberry-62 t1_ixsu7hm wrote
They spent a fortune buying and planting trees constantly…and the vast majority are dead by a year. Our sidewalks are usually not wide enough for viable tree plantings…and the climate here sucks it raw.
Budget-Celebration-1 t1_ixuzk9j wrote
Good point and money itself doesn’t just appear out of no where there has to be a carbon footprint to generate revenue for tax dollars. Not to mention trimming the trees and replacing sidewalks.
realvladdiputtn t1_ixuglv3 wrote
Parking spot savers have gotten out of hand
BandwagonReaganfan t1_ixvtjyv wrote
Wait until the roots start growing through the pavement. Wonder how much people will love the idea then
dny6 t1_ixs3s4l wrote
That would be nice. But it will probably require a 20 year environmental review and 30 resident meetings and the sacrifice of a virgin first born.