TAKING ROOT
There has been a tree-planting spree in downtown Oklahoma City in recent years
When Scissortail Park opens in September, it will be one of just a few places that is home to a clone of the Survivor Tree. It's a symbol of survival, of life, and also represents a years-long effort to
green up our city. When people talk about downtown having been dead in the late 1980s, their memories might also reflect a time when streets were barren of any real color. The opening of Myriad Gardens in 1989 marked the start of a years-long effort to reverse that trend. The trees planted in those early years are now the large oaks and other shade trees that have turned the gardens into an urban oasis. More extensive plantings took place with the original MAPS program with hundreds of trees added along the Bricktown Canal and the Oklahoma River. Jim Tolbert, added to the Urban Renewal
Authority early in this shift, has been a constant advocate for proper landscaping with all new developments proposed on public land. Project 180, the reconstruction of downtown streets and public spaces, accelerated the greening of downtown with even more plantings. For younger residents, it's probably difficult to picture a time when these streetscapes were not loved by city leaders, or that they once endangered a planning director's job. I also remember when the public works director repeatedly, and in my presence, told the public “people don't like trees.” Those voices have faded, and their legacy of barren streets and public spaces are disappearing as well. The original plantings along the Oklahoma River as part of the original MAPS were not as well thought out as one might have hoped, and it was not an overwhelming success. The second try is underway along a 3.5 mile section of the Oklahoma River where the Oklahoma City Community Foundation is planting 1,000 trees in celebration of the organization's 50th anniversary. Another 1,000 trees are being planted at Scissortail Park. And several hundred trees are being planted along Oklahoma City Boulevard. According to The Nature Conservancy, the payoff of this investment goes far beyond community appearance. Studies cited by the conservancy show urban trees help manage storm water by keeping pollutants out of waterways and reducing flooding, they cool city streets by up to 4 degrees and they protect biodiversity. Urban trees also are seen as a key to reducing stress, increasing neighborhood property values, reducing obesity levels by making walking and cycling more attractive, and also reducing cardiac disease, strokes and asthma through improved air quality. So yeah, people like trees. And if planted properly with irrigation and nurturing, these trees will continue to play an important role in transforming our downtown and city for decades to come.