Appreciation post: the city planner at a Boise town hall who showed me my block has zero shade trees
Went to a town hall in Boise last month about new bike lanes and stayed late to ask a city planner why my street felt 10 degrees hotter than the one two blocks over. He pulled up a shade map on his laptop and showed me my whole block has 3 trees total, while the street next door has 40, and he said that gap is worth 8 to 10 degrees on a summer afternoon. I planted two maples in my yard that weekend, so what's the cheapest way you all have found to get more trees into a neighborhood that has almost none?
Have you ever stood on a black asphalt street with no trees at 3pm in July and then walked one block over into shade? The difference hits you right away, it is not some small thing. Those shade maps come from actual temperature readings, so 8 to 10 degrees is real, not made up.