Trees. They are such a critical element in a downtown streetscape, given all the concrete, asphalt, brick, and other hard and heat-radiating surfaces found in urban centers. In Denver, our Downtown treescape is in poor shape. The trees along 16th Street are generally in good condition and have grown over the past 25 years to create a relatively nice canopy along the Mall. But venture down just about any other Downtown Denver street, and you’ll find plenty of frail specimens looking all battered and abused, jagged stumps poking up from the sidewalk like broken-off toothpicks, and empty tree grates harboring weeds. Given the ubiquitous sunshine in Denver and our increasingly scorching summers, we need all the Downtown trees we can get.

In Portland, Oregon, most streets in the Downtown area are lined with a generous dose of leafy cover. It made a huge difference in enjoying the two days–hot and sunny days–I recently spent wandering around their Downtown. Take a look:



Granted, Portland’s climate is much more conducive to growing trees than is Denver’s, but that just means we have to try a little harder. The few mature trees scattered here and there around Downtown Denver demonstrate that we can grow healthy trees in Downtown, we just have to give them some extra TLC. Mayor Hickenlooper wants to plant one million trees in metro Denver over the next decade or so. Several thousand of those should end up in Downtown. But planting new trees isn’t the problem–it’s maintaining the trees after they’re planted. As part of the implementation of the new Downtown Area Plan and its call for green and pedestrian-friendly streets, we need to develop a long-term strategy for planting and taking care of our Downtown trees. The current system of requiring property owners to care for the trees adjacent to their property isn’t working–at least not in the Downtown area. With the way that most of the surface parking lot owners maintain their property, is it any surprise so many of our Downtown trees are poorly maintained too?

Downtown Denver has a lot going for it, but the quality and quantity of our Downtown treescape is lacking. We can do better. I hope we will follow Portland’s example and, despite our hot and dry climate, line our Downtown streets with lush greenery. If you agree, I hope you’ll take the time to let our public officials know that we need a comprehensive Downtown tree and streetscape maintenance program.