There’s always been a rule of thumb in my circles that the more greenery you see in a neighborhood, the more affluent it is. Interesting enough, you can also link heat to violent crime even when controlling for socioeconomic status.
In other words, a lack of trees exacerbates an already high crime rate in low income areas. But good luck convincing people to pay for green when you’ve got dozens of other problems.
I’ve noticed an increase in the trend of local governments just clear cutting their expensive decades old shade trees.
They turn entire main/arterial streets full of beautiful green canopies and pedestrian/micromobility activity into a baking wasteland of 150 degree concrete and asphalt. With predictable results for the retail businesses.
All to save a few dollars on maintenance.
Man humanity really is cooked. How does any of this shit even matter when we will all die or have our lives ruined by climate change in our lifetimes?
Write your your representative in the city
A tree is not only beautiful but super helpful in a city. Provides cover from sun, rain and other elements. Regenerates air.
Yet I hear people in the streets wanting to cut them down. What do they want? Asphalted cities or what?
Do you have an example?
I live in Austria and most local governments start doing the opposite. They plant trees all around the city even if it takes away some parking spots for cars. And as the trees grow, the shading area gets bigger and it get’s cooler.
How does any of this shit even matter when we will all die or have our lives ruined by climate change in our lifetimes?
This is pretty much how I see things:
I think we’re fucked for a variety of reasons, and it’s looking uncomfortably probable that billions are going to die and if things really go pear-shaped it’ll possibly happen in my lifetime, but realistically I can do fuck-all about any of it (I was more of an activist for years but now I’m middle-aged and tired) and in the past maybe year or so I’ve found myself more and more just refusing to stress about any of this. I’m going to try and live my life the best I can, do good by the people in my life, and just… I don’t know, “stop caring” would maybe be too strong because I do care, but I guess I sort of accept what the situation is.
Doesn’t mean I’m a nihilist or that I’m now clubbing baby seals and heating my apartment with a burning barrel of crude, but more like I’ve started to accept how much power – ie. how little power – I have over any of this and just want to live the latter half of my life in as much peace as is going to be possible.
Chicago is a perfect example of what happens with a lack of trees, colder winters and hot summers. In NYC and other places they doing natural water absorption areas (forgot what it’s called) to prevent flooding by using trees and so on because the concrete helps with flooding. I think I saw it on Weathered on PBS. I hate it in my neighborhood when people just cut down trees for no reason other that they don’t want to deal with it. Other than the environmental benefits I feel it makes my neighborhood beautiful.
