SHADY SIDE OF LIVABILITY

Tue Aug 29 21:25:00 PDT 2006

I know people don't care for palm trees.  There are actually 4 large native
stands in the state, and numerous more in the Sonoran desert south of the
boarder.  I have landscaped my rentals with palms, sunlight rarely reached
the ground, all of the walls and roofs are shaded during daytime hours, and
the cooler air is trapped under the trees during the day.  We trim twice a
year to keep the birds out, and the dead off.  This costs less than a weekly
yard service, or monthly water bills.  But a little more than dead grass and
parked cars. Palms need water once a month in the summer and I turn the
systems off in the winter, no water, low sewer charges (figured on a percent
of the winter bill).

W

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From: central-city-discuss-bounces at gcna.info
[mailto:central-city-discuss-bounces at gcna.info] On Behalf Of Dennis Mac Leod
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 3:19 PM
To: NorthGlenSquareNeighborhood; Coronado
Subject: SHADY SIDE OF LIVABILITY 

infoweb at newsbank.com wrote:

Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:25:26 -0400
Subject: Requested NewsBank Article
From: infoweb at newsbank.com
To: dennismacleod at yahoo.com

Paper: Arizona Republic, The (Phoenix, AZ)
Title: SHADY SIDE OF LIVABILITY - TO SURVIVE HEAT ISLAND, WE MUST LOOK BACK,
LEARN FROM OASIS WE ONCE WERE
Author: Jon Talton, The Arizona Republic
Date: July 9, 2006
Section: Opinions
Page: V5

Drive south on 15th Avenue from Indian School Road some hot evening. Roll
the windows down. A little south of Thomas, you'll feel a dramatic
cooling.It comes from being enveloped in Encanto Park, with its old shade
trees and grass. The experience is more illuminating than any binder full of
consultants' reports on the urban heat island.

The need for shade held center stage at the recent Orpheum Theatre meeting
on downtown priorities. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon sees it as essential to
making the center city a livable neighborhood. But, as he told me, "when we
do this we can learn things that can be applied around the city."

Don't stop there. Every city in the region needs a cooling strategy.

I know some of our newcomers are traumatized Midwesterners who claim to like
it the hotter the better. In reality, the increasing temperatures present a
clear and present danger to Greater Phoenix's future. We can't get started
soon enough in taking action.

Phoenix as it existed around 1955 was, almost by accident, a model desert
city. It was smaller and sustainable, with a population of about 300,000 and
the federally funded Salt and Verde river dam system in place.

The core of the city was an oasis of shade trees, grass and landscaping.
Moving out, one found places such as my great aunt's acreage near Seventh
and Glendale avenues, a sanctuary guarded by huge trees. Next were rings of
citrus groves and, on Baseline, the magical Japanese Flower Gardens.
Surrounding all this were miles of farm fields.

Outside the Salt River Project service area were low-density villages in the
desert. Sunnyslope was one example. They were not so much self-consciously
desert landscaped as living with the desert, as yet another buffer for the
oasis city.

Not surprisingly, the city was cooler for longer periods in the year, and it
cooled down at night in the summer. Monsoon storms came through with far
less violence and more rain. The air was much cleaner.

Unfortunately, this city design was purely accidental and did not survive
sprawl and misguided efforts at water conservation and desert authenticity.

As a result, the average low temperature in Phoenix has risen 10 degrees
over the past 50 years. The city is getting hotter and staying hotter
longer. (We also lost the hard frosts that once helped keep down the
mosquito population).

This means more than a summer surface temperature of 140 degrees. Heat
islands cause greater energy use, air pollution, heat illness and mortality.
Things could get much worse thanks to global warming, drought and sustained
higher energy prices.

We're going to need all the right moves to avoid trouble: new technology for
cool paving, cool roofs and green buildings. We're going to need buildings
with real awnings.

We're also going to need grass and shade trees (and I don't mean just
paloverdes).

I know this sounds odd if you just rolled in from Dayton and look forward to
never having to mow the rocks in your yard. But a solid rock lawn is
terrible for the heat island, as well as being inauthentic.

There's no single way for a large city to exist in this inhospitable
wilderness. So many parts of town can benefit from north Scottsdale-like
desert landscaping -- if they can afford it. Dirt ground with desert plants
can also work.

At the same time, we need to establish "oasis zones" in the older parts of
our cities, especially central Phoenix. Here water should be used to
maintain grass and shade trees. This investment goes hand-in-hand with water
conservation technologies and techniques elsewhere.

It will not only help ease the heat island and cut energy use but also
reduce carbon dioxide levels.

Encanto Park could be expanded onto the current paved wasteland of the state
fairgrounds, with a land swap to send the fair elsewhere in Phoenix. Large,
ugly swaths of banked private land could be leased for trees, including the
property surrounding Steele Indian School Park.

But more people than Gordon will need to get it. The city recently
landscaped part of Second Avenue downtown with rocks and paloverdes. This is
not only ahistorical to this street but guarantees it is not inviting to
walkers.

Across Central Avenue, the city is clear cutting the blocks between Fillmore
and Roosevelt streets as efficiently as a carpet-bombing campaign, even
though the land may sit empty for years. This ensures a ghastly no man's
land between Roosevelt Row and downtown -- and yes, it will be hot.

One more thing: The city's existing shade is at risk from the drought.
Please water your trees this week.

Reach Talton at jon.talton at arizonarepublic.com.

Author: Jon Talton, The Arizona Republic
Section: Opinions
Page: V5

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