It's a huge annual event and people flock there in great numbers to be delighted by the changing of the season.
The question asked on that blog post was why my hometown never made an effort to designate a specific street as the go-to place to see a specific species of flowering tree. The Dogwood is the state tree, but many other trees can be found in the St. Louis area that would look lovely in bunches. Perhaps the arch grounds will be the place to go in the future to see tulip trees.
How about the simple redbud tree? There are a few in the Delmar Loop, but there is no St. Louis street that especially stands out as having a lot of them bunched together in pink clouds.
Yet, up in the 21st Ward, we do have a Red Bud Street. Over time, street trees do get sick and die, or Ameren maims them, or residents top them, or some other terrible thing happens to them. What if as a simple matter of policy, every time a tree got replaced on Red Bud, it was replaced with a redbud? In less than a decade, the street's reputation would be cemented.
Walking down Magnolia Avenue today admiring all the flowering trees deep in Tower Grove Park and on the other side of Mobot's barb wire fence, I felt a little confused to see that pretty much none of the trees planted on Magnolia were actually magnolias.
This made me want to return to the Dogwood / Sakura issue. What if every time a tree died on Magnolia it was replaced with a magnolia? Well, eventually Magnolia Avenue might look like Boston's Commonweath Avenue, and people would be drawn to it every spring to stroll around with their mouths open.
It seems like a placemaking slam dunk. A city like St. Louis with so many streets named after trees should really be able to use them to help build the identities of the neighborhoods those tree streets go through. Diversity of the urban forest is important, but breaking that pattern on just a few streets could make a difference in the way people celebrate the season.
It's spring now, and I feel compelled to walk around outside. If I was in Boston or Seoul, I might have a specific street in mind to go to where I could walk around, buy stuff, sit, and wonder.
---------------update by request------------------
I've been asked to name every street in St. Louis named after a species of tree. I don't know every street, but I can name a few. There are many, especially in the Central Corridor and Downtown, but I don't know that all of them are appropriate as street trees. Luckily there are often subspecies and cultivars that might thrive better, but I'm not an arborist. With the Magnolia, for instance, there's a big difference between a Saucer Magnolia and a Southern Magnolia
Pine is an important street that connects downtown to the Central West End. There are many many kinds of pine trees, and surely many of them might fail to thrive as street trees. I can say from my time in Seoul, that pine trees can be beautiful in the right urban setting.
Spruce is an interesting street, but spruce trees are kind of rare in cities.
I assume Olive is named after the tree, but I have no idea if olive trees can grow in STL.
South Grand used to have a lot of honey locust that were poorly planted. Their roots turned in and didn't really fit the sidewalk. They have now been ripped out. The honey locusts in Clayton, however, appear to be just fine. I don't think it'd be a problem to plant locust trees all along Locust Street.
Obviously Walnut Street would be beautiful.
Chestnut Street is an interesting question. The American chestnut tree is slowly making a comeback. Is it a hardy choice for the Gateway Mall though?
There's a Holly Avenue up near Red Bud. A street lined with holly bushes and trees would be fantastic, especially in winter. There's be a lot of happy birds chirping about.
Would tree names matching street names improve property values? That's hard to say. If each tree street gained a reputation for its canopy, then I'm sure buzz would translate a little into dollars.
I've been asked to name every street in St. Louis named after a species of tree. I don't know every street, but I can name a few. There are many, especially in the Central Corridor and Downtown, but I don't know that all of them are appropriate as street trees. Luckily there are often subspecies and cultivars that might thrive better, but I'm not an arborist. With the Magnolia, for instance, there's a big difference between a Saucer Magnolia and a Southern Magnolia
Pine is an important street that connects downtown to the Central West End. There are many many kinds of pine trees, and surely many of them might fail to thrive as street trees. I can say from my time in Seoul, that pine trees can be beautiful in the right urban setting.
Spruce is an interesting street, but spruce trees are kind of rare in cities.
I assume Olive is named after the tree, but I have no idea if olive trees can grow in STL.
South Grand used to have a lot of honey locust that were poorly planted. Their roots turned in and didn't really fit the sidewalk. They have now been ripped out. The honey locusts in Clayton, however, appear to be just fine. I don't think it'd be a problem to plant locust trees all along Locust Street.
Obviously Walnut Street would be beautiful.
Chestnut Street is an interesting question. The American chestnut tree is slowly making a comeback. Is it a hardy choice for the Gateway Mall though?
There's a Holly Avenue up near Red Bud. A street lined with holly bushes and trees would be fantastic, especially in winter. There's be a lot of happy birds chirping about.
Would tree names matching street names improve property values? That's hard to say. If each tree street gained a reputation for its canopy, then I'm sure buzz would translate a little into dollars.
