Quote:
Originally Posted by Obadno
Mass subsidizing of grass (real) and broad leafy trees for shade, and shade structures and misters wherever possible.
- "BUT WHAT ABOUT WATER" - some idiot probably
1. Those things are not the big water users or wasters in the state
2. Furthermore, I wouldn't care if they were.
Making the city cooler, prettier, more livable is a GOOD use of water.
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Remember pictures from the olden days of all of the canals and the giant shade trees everywhere? I think they were cottonwoods. At some point way back when someone got the idea that they drank up/wasted too much water and they ripped them all out. I think there are still one or two legacy trees around Central Phoenix. Too bad.
Now adays... adding a bunch of trees is easier said than done. Sure, there are a ton of programs out there and landscaping requirements that try to beef up the trees. But there are usually restrictions on what you can plant (i.e. desert types that are low water usage and drought resistant). The problems are that you still have to irrigate and maintain (easier said than done), these trees don't provide tremendous amounts of shade compared to others, and they get crummily maintained or have shallow root systems and eventually fall in summer thunderstorm wind events. Up kind of near where I live, the City's roadway improvement project about 20 years ago planted a ton of Palo Verdes along the road. They grew fine for a while, but I bet at least 50% - 75% of them have either died or blown over in storms at this point.