Dozens of Degrees and Reasons for More Street Trees Everywhere
Have you seen that image passed around social media showing the difference in temperature between areas with trees and areas in direct sun?
It’s been attributed to a few different sources though the first one I recall seeing was created by a person or company based in Krakow, but the name was mostly cropped from that image.
All the times I saw it, the image used numbers in Celsius, which works for almost the whole entire world — except for those in the United States who are very committed to Fahrenheit.
I’m from the US and grew up with Fahrenheit and even though I can do a quick calculation into Celsius (NBD, hair-flip), I know that it will just make a lot of people from the States give up before understanding the dramatic difference depicted in this image.
Fahrenheit Translation for the Celsius Challenged
So last year I “translated” the image into Fahrenheit so it can be interpreted at a glance by those from the United States as well.
Incredible, right?
That means you need to spend less money cooling your homes -- or vehicles in warmer months. Plus it's so much more comfortable for people and animals to walk or ride or just be.
That temperature difference alone seems like it could have the world clamoring for more trees but since that may not be enough, there are dozens of other benefits street trees provide us.
Street Trees Support Mental Health and Spread Joy
A (now elderly) report by researchers from the University of Chicago revealed that people living on streets with ten or more street trees experience the same sort of joy that might be associated with:
being seven years younger
making $10,000 more
having $10,000 more value in your house.
And the more trees available, the better it gets for people living there.
Living with eleven trees or more elicits the same feeling as earning an additional “$20,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $20,000 higher median income or being 1.4 years younger.”
Studies like this can only encourage the increase in planting of trees on a wide scale. Besides these quantified benefits, and the host of other well-known gifts trees give us (breathing!), trees also enhance our lives and neighborhoods by calming traffic on our streets.
"Trees Work for Us"
When trees flourish people and communities flourish in numerous ways. The Forest Service says "trees work for us" and that "properly cared for, they are valuable assets worth three times your initial investment."
Not too bad, right?
And it just gets better and better.
Here are a few of the other benefits of street trees from the US Forest Service:
Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year.
Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable.
Healthy environment: One hundred mature trees catch about 139,000 gallons of rainwater per year.
Homeowner savings: Strategically placed trees save up to 56 percent on annual air-conditioning costs. Evergreens that block winter winds can save 3 percent on heating.
Better business: Consumers shop more frequently and longer in tree-lined commercial areas and are willing to spend more.
Higher property values: Each large front yard tree adds to a home’s sale price."
(It's a bit disconcerting how high on the list they list domestic violence as something trees help reduce but I'm happy to hear trees are able to have benefits even in private spheres).
Cooling, Calming, Money
Sometimes people will say it's not worth it to invest in trees, or that it's annoying that their leaves fall.
But we need to do everything possible to start planting as many trees as possible as soon as possible in as many places as possible.
Trees keep us cool
As you can tell from the image showing the temperatures in shaded and sunny areas, trees keep us cool.
Although if trees just cooled people or animals or homes, streets, vehicles, and cities, MAYBE it wouldn't be worth the dollar amount. But trees do so much more than cool us & reduce the need for AC.
Beauty & calming
If trees just provided a sense of calm and beauty: I get it why we wouldn't act on that in the US.
That's not the sort of thing that's prioritized and funded, so that's definitely not enough on its own.
Trees provide traffic calming by “by forming and framing visual walls and providing distinct edges to sidewalks so that motorists better distinguish between their environment and one shared with people.”
So tree-lined streets are safer for people walking, biking, or just existing because people in cars are driven to drive more carefully and slowly.
But trees do so much more for us.
Increased property value and building generational wealth
If trees just increased the property value for homeowners, that wouldn't be worth it for everyone.
But trees add anywhere from 3%-15% to the value of a home - and that means trees help create generational wealth as well.
The website Moneysense claims "A property with healthy, mature trees could easily sell in excess of 5% more—$19,350 on average—and that’s a conservative figure."
And even still, trees do so much more for us.
Stormwater management
If trees just provided reliable & unbeatable stormwater management… Actually if trees only helped us "weather the storm" -- the money spent on trees might make up for that alone already.
Storms are getting more intense everywhere and that is extraordinarily expensive -- and will continue to become more so -- for individuals, businesses, insurance industry, governments, etc. Anything we can do to help lessen the devastation caused by these storms would save everyone money.
22 Benefits of Street Trees
Want to learn more?
Dan Burden from Walkable Communities has created this list of 22 Benefits of Street Trees and there’s even more detail in his document.
1. Reduced and more appropriate urban traffic speeds
2. Create safer walking environments, by forming and framing visual walls and providing distinct edges to sidewalks so that motorists better distinguish between their environment and one shared with people
3. Trees call for planting strips, which further separate motorists from pedestrians, buildings and other urban fabric
4. Increased security
5. Improved business
6. Less drainage infrastructure
7. Rain, sun, heat and skin protection
8. Reduced harm from tailpipe emissions
9. Gas transformation efficiency
10. Lower urban air temperatures
11. Lower ozone
12. Convert streets, parking and walls into more aesthetically pleasing environments
13. Soften and screen necessary street features such as utility poles, light poles and other needed stree furniture
14. Reduced blood pressure, improved overall emotional and psychological health
15. Time in travel perception
16. Reduced road rage
17. Improved operations potential
18. Added value to adjacent homes, businesses and tax base
19. Provides a lawn for a splash and spray zone, storage of snow, driveway elevation transition and more
20. Filtering and screening agent
21. Longer pavement life
22. Connection to nature and the human senses
Tips for the Future
Plant trees that make sense for the local area
Don't cut down trees unless they are going to be a danger
