San Marcos, a small city in the North County region of San Diego County, now stands out as a distinct, regionally identifiable city with its own light rail public transit system and is home to several colleges and universities. Recently they’ve focused attention and resources on retrofitting select parts of the city to make them… More
Cities are generally both warmer and more polluted than non-urban areas, as paved surfaces absorb heat, leading to increased energy consumption, and vehicle and human activity produces waste and airborne particulate matter. These have huge negative consequences for human health, but a dense urban tree canopy can help reduce these risks. The role trees play… More
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is a coalition of America’s largest cities committed to building safe, sustainable transportation systems and active cities through better street design and transportation policy. NACTO has established itself as a leader in changing the way our streets operate for people regardless of transportation choice and has assembled… More
Starting July 1, 2017, the City of San Francisco will start doing something it hasn’t done since the 1970s: take responsibility for all the trees in the public right-of-way. San Francisco cut funding to urban forestry in the late 1970s, resulting in a handoff of responsibility to adjacent property owners for two thirds of the… More
Nearly eight years ago, we installed a large Silva Cell system along 48 blocks of downtown Minneapolis. Called Marquette and 2nd (MARQ2), this green stormwater infrastructure project is in an ultra-urban, mixed-use area that needed to accommodate mass transit, cars, and pedestrians. The designers (SEH and URS) specified Silva Cells for stormwater management in addition… More
Today’s landscapes are asked to perform much more than functional or aesthetic services: they filter and reduce stormwater runoff, provide wildlife habitat, reduce energy consumption, improve human health, and more. As projects become more complex, and clients aim higher to meet today’s climate challenges, the use of performance metrics is becoming increasingly prevalent.
This post is the third in a series of three sharing findings from research conducted on 10 Silva Cell projects across North America. Read part one about study design here and part two about our initial findings here. We’ve already shared some of the initial findings from this study in earlier posts. Today, we’ll discuss… More
We have a long and complex history in our relationship to trees in the built environment. As our ancestors congregated in the “New World” they wanted to open up the canopy to let the light filter down and to be able to grow food. Then, as more people arrived and cities formed, trees were cut… More
After months of design, calculations, and careful planning, construction is starting on your next project. You have spent hours selecting which tree varieties to use, where to place them, and how they will be maintained. Perhaps you have even invested extra time and resources to make sure those trees will have ample soil and water… More
When there are existing trees on a development site, moving the tree is often considered as a method of tree preservation. Often the tree is growing in an “inconvenient” location for the project and tree preservation is either desirable, politically expedient, or required by local ordinance. While trees can be moved, there are some realities… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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