Washington DC and Sacramento, California-Twinning?
PART 1
Both cities deserve their own pages since both have enough assets to break down; however, the parallels within both cities-not even including the effect they both have by being capital cities.
Let us start with the tree canopy parallels of both cities. Sacramento-the California state capital and home to one of the nation's most active state EPA offices-has a proud history of hosting one of the largest urban tree canopies in the United States, according to MIT's Treepedia program. Treepedia with the help of Google's Earth program, tracks a city's canopy green index. While Sacramento claims to be the US's Tree City (actual nickname)-technically Tampa, FL would be quick to remind you that they come in at #1 according to this index. Sacramento is so proud of its Tree City standing that when one walks through downtown and midtown it is hard to miss the signs reminding them of this distinction. There is even a park in city center that has every native California tree planted within it-the Giant Redwood included.
At this point in our scientific age, we are all aware of the positives of having a large urban tree canopy, outside of the general bragging rights and aesthetics. The tree canopy can be especially beneficial in areas where concrete reigns like in Washington D.C. That being said, a non-profit in Washington D.C. called Casey Trees is paving the way for how cities can improve not only their tree canopy but also their citizens' own understanding of tree education. In numerous cities, one can find a non-profit or arborist that provides free or at cost trees to residents. Los Angeles has Tree People, for example. Yet, Casey Trees has the market in DC's tree system. Casey Trees was started in 2002 and made a goal of hitting 40% tree coverage by 2032 (close to the coverage rate of the 1950s, which was 50%). While Sacramento is historically blessed with canopy trees, PLUS a far less dense population, Washington DC has to overcome some of their more urban obstacles. It would be one thing to plant over 800,000 trees, but it's another to also provide education, advocacy, and 24/7 care to residents. Casey Trees decided that in order to make DC's tree canopy sustainable, they had to target the issue of declining tree cover from all sides.
THE HARDWARE OF TREE CITIES:
Physical aspects of community design:
- Cleaner air. At this point it has become common sense that the more trees in an area the cleaner the air is on average. Clean air means better health for all in the city.
- Shade. Tree canopies have the potential to cool a city's air and temperature by 10 degrees during the summer months.
- Property values. Having trees in residential zones increases the market value of land area. (Percentage dependent on the city property themselves.)
THE SOFTWARE OF TREE CITIES:
Subliminal messaging of community design:
- Let's look back at the shade concept. Keeping cities cooler can affect the overall temperament of the citizens themselves. When temperatures go up in cities, so does the crime rate. While this rise can also be connected with the free time of summer months, and also the ability for humans to be outside longer during the day, clinical studies prove that when you heat the temperature of a room, people are more likely to condone physical violence than condemn it. Heat stresses us out and makes us cranky. With more shade and lower temps, it could be deduced that citizens would more likely be less stressed.
- Trees have an even greater psychological effect on our moods than we think. A 17 year study from the University of Exeter showed that people living in cities and near greenery were more happy than those who were not. They even measured the change in mood among those who moved away from their initial green area. They ended up less happy. This is probably not surprising, but now there is scientific evidence that points to the happiness that greenery gives us.