The Mayor has proclaimed April 25 to be Arbor Day in Northampton. Please enjoy these pictures as spring comes to our North Street woods...































See also:

Photo Essay: 10 Reasons People Like Trees Around Them; Will the Sustainable Northampton Plan Put Urban Trees at Risk?
The environment above faces threats from two directions. First, Kohl Construction proposes to replace a good chunk of the North Street woods with around two dozen cookie-cutter condos...

Second, trees around homes in Northampton's built-up areas (where perhaps half the population lives) may be threatened by proposals in the Sustainable Northampton Plan, which encourages city officials to "implement ideas for maximizing density on small lots" (p.14) and "consider amending zero lot line single family home to eliminate 30' side yard setback" (p.67).

If you walk down North Street, imagine most trees between houses gone and replaced with a near-solid wall of housing. See the articles below, and decide if that's growth that's smart, or growth that smarts...

Topographical Map Shows How Kohl Condo Proposal Will Eat Into a Rare Stand of Mature Trees in Downtown

Downtown house on "dead end street" in "rural setting" flies off market
...there are excellent reasons for many homebuyers to desire cul-de-sacs and leafy neighborhoods. Planners who ignore these strong (and logical) market preferences risk making sprawl worse, as some buyers may come to avoid downtown Northampton and seek these amenities in the outskirts or even out of town.

USA Today: "Push for urban parkland takes root" (4/13/08)
"We grew so rapidly in the '80s and '90s in the rate we were consuming land, people did become alarmed," says David Goldberg, spokesman for Smart Growth America, a national coalition promoting green space. "This desire for parkland and capitalizing on natural assets is really taking hold."

It is spurred by several factors, including mounting environmental concerns, improved property values for park-side real estate, increased demand for green space from health-conscious people moving back to cities and a greater availability of vacant industrial land...

Irony of Infill: You Have to Drive to Enjoy Nature

Greening Smart Growth: The Sustainable Sites Initiative

Rutherford Platt, "Regreening the Metropolis: Pathways to More Ecological Cities"

The Ecological Cities Project: Greenspace in "The Humane Metropolis"

UMass Press: "Natural Land: Preserving and Funding Open Space"

Terrain.org: The Breath of Trees Is Good for You

Scientists Assist Efforts to Build Urban Tree Canopy

Downstreet.net: "Despite Tree City USA Honor Northampton Planting Lags"

Community Tree Ordinances and Bylaws for Massachusetts Communities

Text of Springfield's Ordinance to Protect "Significant Trees"
A: Except as provided by Chapter 87 of General Laws, it is unlawful for any person other than the city forester, or his designees, to cut, trim or remove, in whole or in part, any significant tree, even if such person is the owner of the fee in the land on which such tree is situated, except upon a permit in writing from the city forester, and only to the extent of the terms and condition of such permit.

B: The city forester shall grant such permit only upon a showing by preponderance of the evidence that the continued present state of such tree endangers person, or, in his discretion, if such tree is diseased or damaged.

C: For purposes of this section, a “significant tree” is any tree which is seventy-five (75) years or older, or which is three (3) feet in diameter or more.

D: Each person is held responsible for ascertaining the age and diameter of any tree prior to such person cutting, trimming, or remove same, in whole or in part.

E: A person who is aggrieved by the provisions of this section and for cause shown may apply directly to the Board of Park Commissioners for a permit to cut, trim, or remove in whole or in part, any significant tree, which is otherwise protected under this section so long as such commission in the exercise of its discretion is satisfied that such applicant would sustain a hardship, financial or otherwise, which outweighs any detriment to public interest that would result in the application of this section. For purposes of this section, “hardship” is the loss of an advantage. It may include, but not be limited to, a monetary advantage or the advantage to put property to particular use. (Prior code § 13-25).

Calvin Coolidge: Forest Protection is a Sacred Trust
"We have too freely spent the rich and magnificent gift that Nature bestowed on us. In our eagerness to use that gift we have stripped our forests...

"Our children are dependent on our course. We are bound by a solemn obligation from which no evasion and no subterfuge will relieve us. Unless we fulfill our sacred responsibility to unborn generations, unless we use with gratitude and restraint the generous and kindly gifts of Divine Providence we shall prove ourselves unworthy guardians of a heritage we hold in trust.”