More weeping for Greensboro’s “disasterous” loss of trees in today’s N&R.
For starters, Judith Moore has a good idea: Let’s be like Berlin:
Every time I drive down Friendly Avenue and see the disastrous result of “progress,” I am reminded of the two years that I lived in Berlin. I noticed that, along all the sidewalks in that beautiful city, every tree had a numbered metal disk. It seems that Berlin’s history caused this. During World War II, the residents had to cut down trees to use as fuel. By the end of the war, hardly any trees remained.
Today, Berlin’s city authorities have the force of law behind them to require anyone who wants to cut down a tree, whether on public or private property, to replace those trees. This includes property within city or utility rights-of-way. In advance of any tree-cutting, the city’s inspectors visit the site and make recommendations as to the type and number of trees to be planted to replace those being cut down.
Then there’s Jim Prevatt, who says we need more trees, not more stores:
My second thought is that cutting all those trees on West Friendly Avenue between Holden Road and Westridge Road was a terrible and foolish mistake that cannot be undone. Traffic engineers are capable of designing other ways of making streets safe and passable without having sacred old trees cut. I wonder how many other trees will eventually die from damage done to their roots.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but one big reason those trees lost their lives was so sidewalks could be installed along Friendly Avenue. That way, people could walk along one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares and not get fat and die. If the poor air quality from all the cars on the road didn’t get them first, that is.
Again, I ‘m not sure where these people live. Everywhere I look in Greesnboro, I see trees. Lots of them. Just so happens I’ll be driving down Friendly Avenue between Holden and Westridge later this afternoon, and I’ll enjoy the view. I’ll also note just how many people are walking down Friendly.
