200 Trees for an Urban Forest on Masonic

Panhandle trees looking east from Masonic Avenue

A new urban forest along Masonic with as many trees as the east-end Panhandle

Image: SF Planning Department, SF Municipal Transportation Agency

The Masonic corridor will become a linear forest with 200 additional street trees if the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) proceeds with the Boulevard design proposal. What do 200 trees look like? Imagine the east end of Panhandle Park, starting at Masonic Avenue and continuing east along the north or south trail. Strollers will be in the midst of the 100-year-old Eucalyptus trees, the redwoods, and cypress as they walk toward Central Avenue, then to Lyon Street, and finally to Baker Street at the McKinley Monument. How many trees stand in that large and lush green space three blocks long and a block wide? About 200. Consider transplanting that urban forest to a new landscaped median for the eight Masonic blocks between Fell and Geary. Step back and appreciate how a loud speedway gets transformed into a smooth travelling roadway that is greener, calmer and an antidote to air and noise pollution.

Of course the new Masonic median will not feature enormous 100 year old Eucalyptus trees of the kind that tower in the Panhandle. Instead, young trees of various types will define this new urban forest. Shrubs and grasses, pebbles and boulders will contribute to the mix. The street trees and the landscaping alone -- just one element of the Boulevard design -- will transform Masonic, much as the re-designed Divisadero now looks greener, more attractive and more to scale as a neighborhood thoroughfare.

Street trees function as more than a green softening of the urban environment. A less prosaic notion touted by green advocates is to think of them as "carbon sinks," living organisms that drain carbon dioxide from the air. One tree might remove a ton of CO2 from the atmosphere every year, depending on the size and age of the tree, the amount of pollution, and the length of the leafy season. But even a 1/2 ton removal is impressive.

Critics may argue that a re-designed Masonic will result in more traffic congestion with more frequent stop-and-go vehicles spewing more pollution than while speeding along, but the SFMTA has studied that possibility and thinks that won't be the case. BIKE NOPA will look at the concerns about congestion in an upcoming article. For now, 200 more trees -- equivalent to that half of the Panhandle's forest -- makes a persuasive argument for a better Masonic.

Check here for more stories in the A Better Masonic series.

Seen While Walking: Sidewalk Safety Repair

Tree roots buckled this sidewalk of Baker at Fell but no longer

The North Panhandle's mature trees often buckle the sidewalks, creating hazards for the unwary or distracted stroller. One property owner on Baker Street at Fell decided to not risk liability for injuries and replaced the concrete surrounding two of the large street trees fronting the building.

It's always an improvement to have smoother, safer sidewalks, but the neighborhood would benefit from more permeable sidewalks to absorb storm water runoff. Using the sidewalk replacement in these photos as examples, several feet on either side of the trees could have been opened for additional planting or filled with loose materials instead. One recent example of a new formulation for sidewalks can be seen at the Zygmunt Arendt House at Broderick and Golden Gate (previously reported here). A residential model of open sidewalk space is in place at Broderick and Hayes.

Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) will be sponsoring a street-tree planting in NOPA on July 31st, and all the new trees will be welcome. Property owners will get the benefit of a subsidy to cover cutting and removing the concrete for the new trees and for the trees, but the city currently levies an additional fee for anyone who wants enlarged basins. A fee waiver here could greatly increase green space and return rainwater to the aquifer at relatively small cost.

Five More Days to Get a Street Tree: July 6 Deadline for Friends of the Urban Forest Planting in NOPA

How about a New Zealand Christmas Tree to make your block greener?

Photo: Friends of the Urban Forest

This empty spot all ready for a tree

Prime sites for greener sidewalks (and no more liability)

On July 31st Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) staff and North Panhandle neighbors will continue a much-appreciated tradition: they'll plant street trees along neighborhood streets.

Soon after I first moved to NOPA thirteen years ago, I got involved with one of the recurring campaigns to get more trees planted. It was a lengthy process of recruitment and what seemed like tons of paperwork -- all hard copies to collect and copy and mail -- to reach the point where we had enough interested residents to qualify for a community planting. Once thirty-some sites were verified and prepared, a group of neighbors and other volunteers moved from one open spot to another planting the selected trees. Today when I walk or bike down Grove Street near Baker I appreciate how large the trees have grown alongside the Pacific Primary School (the new "Orange Sun" building) that I helped plant. And I know neighbors throughout NOPA have those same connections to the greening of our streets.

Today a great many of NOPA's blocks have empty spots where trees could be, and several have open holes where trees once stood. Most of these are eligible for new trees, and neighbors have until Tuesday evening, July 6th to apply* for a tree and be part of the July 31st planting. The time has seldom been better, at least as far as the cost involved. FUF has obtained enough funding to subsidize more than 80% of the planting costs, including permits, cutting out the concrete areas, selecting the type of tree, and planting it.

Greg Harrell-Edge, FUF Community Outreach Coordinator, told BIKE NOPA that he and other staff are doing their best to get as many people enrolled in the planting as possible. He added that trees can also be planted in front yards if within three feet of the sidewalk. They were able to reach the required minimum number of confirmed plantings once Trader Joe's agreed to plant trees along the store's Masonic Avenue sidewalk.

For more information on planting street trees in the NOPA area:

• Friends of the Urban Forest website
• Greg Harrell-Edge, greg@fuf.net or call 415 561-6890, ext. 101

Seen While Biking: Fewer Street Trees

Sometimes it's a win some, lose some proposition. With the happy prospect of new trees along the Divisadero Corridor, NOPA nevertheless lost five on Fell one block away. Seems sewer replacement work is required on the north side of Fell just west of Broderick, and the towering Ficus made the job too difficult.

Divisadero doesn't have anything over Fell when it comes to skinny sidewalks, and these five trees did appear awfully cramped in the little space allowed them. And now they're gone; only stumps remain as evidence of their once leafy presence.

The city is responsible for trees planted along Fell, and perhaps new street trees will be planted once the below-ground work is completed. Seems awfully empty there now....and perhaps noisier without their buffering effect.