Houston thoughts from someone who lives in DFW (Dallas, Sugar Land: suburbs, yard)

[spacecitytx]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

Its the government pushing trees though.
I have noticed , especially in poorer areas, as soon as someone moves into a house the first thing they do is chop down the tree in the front yard.

If there is no HOA or no ordinance protecting the tree either the flipper or the new homeowner immediately chops down the tree. Then they complain that it's hard to cool that side of the house.

I know that trees falling is a genuine concern, but I see people cutting down Live Oaks that are more than 6 feet in circumference. Those trees must be over 50 years. If they have lasted that long without falling, why would they all of a sudden fall?

My cousin lives on the east side, there used to be trees lining the street all the way to a park. It was really nice taking a walk because there was shade ask the way through. In the last 5 years a ton of houses have been flipped and all but about 5 of the massive trees have been felled and its pure hell walking the same streets now. Really sad because the trees look like they came with the neighborhood

Yeah, that is sad. And while it happens quite often in Houston, the city at least does a better job of preserving trees than DFW...which is weird, since you'd think that because Dallas already has far less trees than Houston, they would do more to keep the ones they have

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by spacecitytx

Yeah, that is sad. And while it happens quite often in Houston, the city at least does a better job of preserving trees than DFW...which is weird, since you'd think that because Dallas already has far less trees than Houston, they would do more to keep the ones they have

Houston is going to look very different when all those highway trees grow up.

I don't think Highways are sexy, and Texas has massive ones scaring the landscape. But all those trees are at least going to add a lot of green.

What would be nice would be more trees in medians of surface streets. They make a huge difference.

I'm happy that Houston has realized that there are trees other than Live Oak that do well in our area. I see so many mixed plantings now. Sycamores, Shumard Red Oak, Bald Cypress, Pine, Southern Magnolia, Sweet Bay Magnolia. All beautiful and stately trees.

I'm thinking it will give Houston a more classic Southern Look, like New Orleans.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

Houston is going to look very different when all those highway trees grow up.

I don't think Highways are sexy, and Texas has massive ones scaring the landscape. But all those trees are at least going to add a lot of green.

What would be nice would be more trees in medians of surface streets. They make a huge difference.

I'm happy that Houston has realized that there are trees other than Live Oak that do well in our area. I see so many mixed plantings now. Sycamores, Shumard Red Oak, Bald Cypress, Pine, Southern Magnolia, Sweet Bay Magnolia. All beautiful and stately trees.

I'm thinking it will give Houston a more classic Southern Look, like New Orleans.

Agree with you, except I'd rather see the trees behind the curb to shade the sidewalks. I think planted medians are over-emphasized on many streets at the expense of space and comfort for pedestrians (and bicycles sometimes).

[crone]

Houston has Trees for Houston. That's who puts in much of the trees in public spaces.

Many Houston subdivisions have the number of trees required per lot in the CCRs. Mine does. Two per lot. And corner lots must have 4. There are days when I think they should also pay for sidewalk leveling. And then there is the cleaning of the storm sewers drains needed so the rain water can drain.

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Agree with you, except I'd rather see the trees behind the curb to shade the sidewalks. I think planted medians are over-emphasized on many streets at the expense of space and comfort for pedestrians (and bicycles sometimes).

True. But I'm not advocating for medians, just for adding trees to those medians that are already there.

There are those huge medians that are just strips of grass or concrete.

If need be, they should be narrowed for bike lanes and best case scenario there is still room for trees in the median and behind the curb.

Crone, I have heard of trees for Houston. They give away native trees just about every month. So they cater to private spaces also.

[SanJac]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

True. But I'm not advocating for medians, just for adding trees to those medians that are already there.

There are those huge medians that are just strips of grass or concrete.

If need be, they should be narrowed for bike lanes and best case scenario there is still room for trees in the median and behind the curb.

Crone, I have heard of trees for Houston. They give away native trees just about every month. So they cater to private spaces also.

Speaking of “Trees for Houston,” drove in on the Hardy toll road the other day. That stretch could use some beautification…trees and flowering shrubs would do wonders.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by SanJac

Speaking of “Trees for Houston,” drove in on the Hardy toll road the other day. That stretch could use some beautification…trees and flowering shrubs would do wonders.

The Hardy is tough, with the railroad that runs alongside or in the middle, and the string of beautiful junk yards and such.

[HeadedWest2020]

My little brother spent a summer completing an internship in Dallas, and has the opportunity to move to either Houston or Dallas after graduating in December, however he is leaning Houston as a early 20s professional for some of the reasons the OP mentioned.

He did not like how spread out DFW was, nor the diversity that was lacking in some of the nicer areas near his internship downtown.

[DaBears02]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest2020

My little brother spent a summer completing an internship in Dallas, and has the opportunity to move to either Houston or Dallas after graduating in December, however he is leaning Houston as a early 20s professional for some of the reasons the OP mentioned.

He did not like how spread out DFW was, nor the diversity that was lacking in some of the nicer areas near his internship downtown.

They both suffer from being spread out. Granted Houston is more centralized than Dallas but I couldn’t imagine one feeling super spread out and the other being super compact.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by DaBears02

They both suffer from being spread out. Granted Houston is more centralized than Dallas but I couldn’t imagine one feeling super spread out and the other being super compact.

Yeah. That's how I feel as well