Toppled Street Trees Lead to Long Waits for Replacement
Ken C
A delivery truck toppled this street tree on Hope early Friday morning.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Early this morning, a delivery truck collided with a tree outside Library Bar at 6th and Hope, toppling the ficus into the street.
City crews were quickly on hand to clean up the mess and reopen the street to traffic, but past history shows that much less haste will be put into restoring Downtown's tree count.
On July 27, 2005, an unmanned Fedex delivery van rolled through the intersection of 5th and Grand, glancing off the wall of the Central Library before running over a street tree and coming to a stop on Grand. Almost four years later, the well that tree came out of remains empty.
On April 12, 2007, high winds felled a large ficus on 6th street between Grand and Hope. Over two years later, that planter too remains vacant.
A supervisor with the city's Urban Forestry Division said this morning that those sort of wait times for tree replantings aren't uncommon, noting that the team responsible for Downtown also has to cover territory from East L.A. to the Hollywood Hills.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kicked off his Million Trees L.A. program in 2006, but a recent L.A. Weekly story said the program had planted less than 200,000 trees in the time since. Perhaps Downtown's empty tree wells could provide a little padding for that count?
Urban Forestry encouraged Downtowners who note empty tree wells to submit a service request to 800-996-CITY (2489). Sometimes all replacement takes is the right request showing up at the right time.
Thanks to reader Ken C for noting the toppled tree and providing the top-down photos.
Rich Alossi on May 01, 2009, at 09:19AM – #1
Eric, thanks for reporting on this issue. It's one I have a lot of concern for.
Is there any way we might be able to spearhead some kind of tree-planting program in Downtown? I'm tired of seeing barren sidewalks, empty tree planters and long blocks with no trees.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on May 01, 2009, at 09:28AM – #2
Rich: Blocks that don't have trees are likely to be a lot tougher. You've got basements that extend under the sidewalk, etc. I think the first goal would just be to locate everywhere we have empty tree wells and work to get them filled. Then tackle the tougher streets.
D on May 01, 2009, at 10:34AM – #3
for some reason, i just dont like the ficus trees. i would rather have trees that have color and a smaller canopy. Obviously no palm trees, but a variety wouldnt hurt.
Oscar on May 01, 2009, at 01:55PM – #4
I know some people at Fedex and let me tell you that the city DID charge for that tree, if it wasn't replaced I wonder were the money go?
Wouldn't be really cool to have "REAL" trees, like mangos, or almonds, or something like that? I imagine would be a little tough on cleaning crews... But it would be so awesome anyway...
Tornadoes28 on May 01, 2009, at 03:55PM – #5
I hope to God they replace the trees with something other then those terrible ficus trees that destroy sidewalks.
Bert Green on May 01, 2009, at 10:07PM – #6
It's illegal in Los Angeles to plant fruit trees on public sidewalks. Flowering trees are nice, and there are a few of them on Main near 6th Street.
I know a lot of people don't like the ficus trees, but I prefer them because they provide a large, dense canopy which is an excellent shade in the hot months. Walking in LA can be oppressive in the summer without that type of tree canopy, and the ficus is hardy, grows fast, and replenishes itself quickly after pruning. As for destroying the sidewalk, that only happens when the trees are not properly maintained. Don't blame the tree.
There are a lot of streets downtown that have mature ficus canopies (Spring between 4th & 6th, Olive between 9th and 7th, Olive between 11th and Olympic, and many others) which are verdant and alive. Without those trees those streets would be ugly and uninviting.
Scott Mercer on May 05, 2009, at 12:38AM – #7
I'd rather they remove the trees to be able to see the architecture. The giant canopy provided by the ficus trees is just oppressively huge.
They don't need to do that along streets where the architecture is not all that impressive, but along Spring, is certainly is noteworthy. So, it's a little hotter in summer. We've got 8 months out of the year when it doesn't matter. On the flip side, it's a lot nicer in January to get direct sunlight instead of shade. At night time, they block light from streetlights, which make it less safe to walk around the area. You do want safe streets during Art Walk, don't you???