ROUNDTABLES
Street Trees: Super Heroes of Main Street — PART 1
Thursday, August 1, 2024
View the meeting’s zoom chat HERE.
Presenters:
Jim Vandermillen, Director of Planning and Economic Development, City of Central Falls
Jacq Hall, Special Projects Coordinator, Groundwork RI
They sure look nice, but we’re told they’re expensive to maintain and ruin the sidewalks. However, the benefits of street trees more than make up for any challenges! In commercial districts, trees provide shade for walkability, reduce the temperature on hot days, slow traffic, and have even been correlated with lower stress as well as higher sales for nearby businesses! In our Street Trees Part 1 Roundtable we discussed how to plan for and finance tree planting, as well as how to plant and care for trees in urban areas, what needs to be considered, and options for your Main Street to benefit from these super heroes.
Street Trees: The Super Heroes of Main Street — Part 2!
Presenter:
Cassie Tharinger, Executive Director of the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program
“Trees are truly the “super heroes of Main Streets” – as we heard all about in last summer’s roundtable: Street Trees Part 1. There’s also a LOT to consider about planting and maintaining trees in commercial corridors – and we’re not going “out on a limb” to say it was too much for just one discussion!
We were thrilled to welcome Cassie Tharinger, Executive Director of the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program (PNPP) to get more “in the weeds” with us about their community-based approach to tree planting. Cassie shared about the street tree planting & stewardship programs PNPP co-administers with the City of Providence across residential and commercial neighborhoods, the challenges and imperatives of young tree maintenance, and about a current initiative to help green, clean and beautify the full length of the Broad Street corridor in Providence. PNPP engages community members and other stakeholders in planning, planting, maintaining, and advocating for an equitable and robust urban forest. They recently led the development of the PVD Tree Plan, and are widely regarded as a model of excellence. If you’re curious about how they do things, bring all of your questions and join us for another “fruitful” conversation!”