"What does a city look like drawn in trees?" Cambridge, Massachusetts recently released an exhaustive database of all the trees on public property around the city.
The Boston Globe shares insights into the data contained in the Camridge Tree Map. For instance, "[the] most common are maple, honeylocust, and oak, with a healthy scattering of ornamental fruit and berry trees." The article includes a very colorful map, among other infographics, of the "density of blossoms" around the city.
"The map doesn’t include every tree in the city: It skips the many in private yards and on university property. But what remains is an intriguing snapshot of how a bird, a bee, or an ambitious grain of pollen might experience the city."
The database, released to the public in April, follows a seven-year effort by the Cambridge Department of Public Works.
FULL STORY: A tree map of Cambridge
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
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