March 04, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Palo Alto's money trees

by Jocelyn Dong

T rees -- the heart and fiber of Palo Alto. Trees create the famed character of the city's residential boulevards and serve as the symbol of Palo Alto. At Christmas, there's a whole lane dedicated to them.

Palo Alto's love affair with trees goes back to the founding of the city, so it's no wonder that Palo Alto's No. 1 tree group, Canopy, has invited a renowned expert to extol the virtues of the foliage this Saturday as the kickoff to Arbor Month in Palo Alto.

But hers will be no poetic reading, nor botanical lecture. Instead, research social scientist Kathy Wolf of the University of Washington will present research that goes beyond the beauty -- exploring how trees stimulate the economy.

According to Wolf, money really does grow on trees.

Wolf's research has shown a connection between shoppers' attitudes and tree-lined business districts. She and her colleagues in the field of urban forestry surveyed people in large and small cities and found they were willing to travel farther and spend a longer time in shopping districts lined with large trees and a full canopy.

Not only that, but shoppers perceive merchants to be friendlier and more knowledgeable and the quality of products higher in centers with trees. Most intriguing, they also claimed to be willing to spend about 9 to 12 percent more of their precious disposable income.

The research was conducted by showing people photographs of business districts they'd never visited, Wolf said. No other information was provided to the subjects.

The reason for their preferences, she believes, stems in part from past experiences and stereotypes.

"I think we're seeing assumptions," said Wolf, who is now trying to document the trend with actual statistics from tree-lined and sparsely vegetated districts.

The news is no surprise to Dave Dockter, Palo Alto's landscape guru and author of the city's ground-breaking "Tree Technical Manual."

"Businesses do better where people slow down," he said, explaining that an environment of dappled sun and shade has that effect on people and traffic. By providing shade, trees also encourage people to linger. "It's just darn cooler."

Comparing University to California avenues, for example, there's a tremendous difference in the environments created by landscaping, Dockter said. University boasts leafy 30-year-old London Planes, whereas California features "little bonsai trees" planted in 4-by-4-foot pots and spaced farther apart along the street. The economics of the two areas reflect that difference, he said.

Businesses are one targeted audience for this Saturday's talk, according to Catherine Martineau, executive director of Canopy. Historically, merchants have opposed having trees in front of their shops because greenery could block their signs. Martineau hopes that Wolf's research will persuade them otherwise. Dockter said that properly pruned trees could offer the canopy that improves the shopping environment while not interfering with visibility.

Besides research into retail, other studies have shown that trees add to residential property values, improving them as much as 6 percent. In the realm of children's psychology, studies have shown that girls concentrate better and their creativity is higher when their neighborhoods are full of trees.

Scientists explain part of this phenomenon by correlating the presence of trees with the willingness of people to come together. And that greater social environment contributes to a more robust sense of safety and community, researchers concluded.

The issue of the urban forest is likely to become more important as cities become more densely developed, a trend toward which the California state government is moving.

"The higher density is going to create creative thinking as far as site planning," Dockter said. From rooftop gardens to maximizing opportunities for trellises, landscape design will have to become more intelligent as housing density increases, he said.

Already, Dockter said, competing development requirements - from parking spaces to concrete transformer pads -- sometimes leave trees at the bottom of the list. Thus a lecture like Wolf's is important in advocating for urban forest, he said.

There will be a reception for Wolf at Gamble Garden on Friday, March 4 from 5:30 - 7 p.m.) at the Main House at 1431 Waverley St. Wolf's talk will be on Saturday, March 5 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Palo Alto art Center auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto. The cost is free. A schedule of Arbor Month events can be found at www.canopy.org. Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

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