Comment by Kodiack

17 hours ago

I love seeing trees in more places, but for parking lots in particular they do have some downsides compared to solar panels. They often require more space; they attract birds that that poo on vehicles; and there’s a higher risk of collateral damage during windstorms. Not to mention that solar panels directly produce electricity, of course.

We absolutely should see more trees in many cities, but they introduce their own challenges in parking lots, especially if they’re placed retroactively.

9 comments

Kodiack

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markerz  14 hours ago

> they attract birds that that poo on vehicles

I think this is a tree density problem. Most cities have a small number of trees, and they’re almost always over cars. These are trees that line streets and parking lots. Without trees, birds just have telephone poles and wires, which are also over the cars.

In San Francisco, we have a lot of trees on most of our streets, and many parks small and big, all full of trees. This means birds spread themselves out everywhere, not just over cars.

I think the true barrier to getting more trees is that individuals tend not to want to pay for and maintain trees. This includes caring for the tree, trimming it when it gets bigger, and cleaning the pollen, leaves, fruits, and branches that fall.

  • fhdkweig  1 hour ago

    They also have the annoying habit of pushing concrete out of their way as they grow, and not just sidewalks. At my house we developed a water leak because the main waterline was 1 foot away from a tree. I don't know which came first, the tree or the waterline, but surely someone realized they were too close together, but they put them there anyway. Fast forward 50-100 years and the tree roots got bigger and ripped up the line.

  • nehal3m  5 hours ago

    > Without trees, birds just have telephone poles and wires, which are also over the cars.

    In the US, maybe? Here in Western Europe the vast majority of this type of infrastructure is underground.

adrianN  14 hours ago

If you don’t want trees near parking cars that essentially prevents trees in cities, since cities are practically one big parking lot.