Over the last couple of days, during my walks with my dog, I have come across a couple of tree plots that have been filled in with asphalt. The ones that were most noticeable were in front of Mineo & Sapio on Connecticut Street. It appears as if someone cut down a tree to the stump, and then filled the tree bed in with asphalt. The other treeless bed was also filled in with asphalt. I wonder if this is an issue that the City should be addressing – knowing the City, if they don’t see a tree plot/bed, then they probably just pass it by when they are planting trees in the fall.
I’m not sure why anyone would fill a tree bed with asphalt in the first place. Who wouldn’t want a couple of nice trees in front of their business? Especially on Connecticut Street, where the street is lined with spectacular cherry trees that blossom in the spring (towards Richmond Avenue). With so much emphasis being directed towards reforesting the city, while attempting to rebound from the detriments of the October Storm and the Emerald Ash Borer, this is not the time to fill in tree plots with asphalt, no matter the reason.
What is especially painful about the missing tree beds on Connecticut Street is that there is already a lack of trees on that particular block. Mineo and Sapio is located in a fabulous brick building that deserves to be flanked by a tree or two. Not only are trees aesthetically pretty to look at, they offer shade in the summer, and protect us from rain. Trees are known to raise property values and attract business. They also clean our air, and save water. There are myriad reasons why trees are important (see more reasons), which is why we need more tree beds and more trees planted in the fall. I wonder if the person who filled in these two tree beds were concerned with the city’s state of its trees? After all, Buffalo was once known as The City of Trees.