Centennial has lots of trees. Some of them are happy, and some of them are sad. And some of them don’t exist, either because they were taken out or because they were promised but never planted.
Why should we care about trees? They are important for human health, directly or through their impacts on our environments. Trees help shape our spaces, and the benefits they provide are truly magical: placed appropriately, trees can help cool spaces in the summer and provide evergreen barriers to protect from cold winter winds. And that’s just the beginning of the list of their virtues!
- Trees reduce the excessive heat island effect of urban streets, sidewalks and rooftops.
- They are places of shelters and respite for birds and other wildlife, not to mention humans (think of a bus shelter with/without shade…).
- Studies have shown that trees reduce blood pressure, stress, depression, anxiety, and can improve concentration levels of children with ADHD.
- Trees help reduce stormwater runoff by absorbing winter rains in their canopies and through their roots.
- Trees filter and purify the air and the water.
- They even add financial value to the property on which they sit.
- Studies show that neighborhoods with trees are safer than those without trees.
Trees are crucial pieces of urban infrastructure, whose absence we mourn — especially here in East Portland, where we have recently lost 570 mature trees to an ODOT project on SE Powell Blvd. and been denied the promised 200+ trees in the median on a PBOT project on SE Division St. (and even in the neighborhoods surrounding that project, at least thus far), and are facing development pressures that all but ensure that the mature tree canopy in our neighborhoods will be decimated in the near future. This, in one of the areas in the region at greatest risk of overheating under increasingly extreme weather conditions.
Zoning codes and other infrastructure project guidelines currently discourage development styles that provide space for trees that grow large enough at maturity to provide many health, climate and environmental benefits. Climate smart design leaves room for both urban infrastructure and large trees, where we can have healthier residents while growing our resilience.
So, let’s celebrate our happy trees, help our sad trees, honor our disappeared trees, protect others from going away, and imagine a future where people and trees in Centennial live in healthy harmony.
Do you have a favorite Centennial tree, a place that needs a tree, etc.? Send a picture… And in the meantime, check out the Thrive East PDX Shade Equity Report for more information about trees in the area!
Happy Trees
Sad Trees
Disappearing Trees – Powell Blvd.
Absent Trees – Division St.
