The Benefits of Street Trees: An Earth Day from a Philadelphia Sidewalk
- viridianls
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
We think about the planet a lot around here. Every day we think about landscapes as systems: soil, water, plants — and the people who live with the results. Once a year, there’s a reminder that we should all be thinking about these things: Earth Day.
Earth Day started in 1970, at a time when air and water pollution were largely treated as the cost of modern life. It was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist Denis Hayes to educate and mobilize college students, which explains why it’s held on April 22: it falls between spring break and final exams, when students could show up.
More than 50 years later, it’s still doing what it was designed to do: reminding people to pay attention, then take action. It’s also a good reminder that “the environment” isn’t just parks and forests — it’s also the city. The blocks around our homes, schools, and hospitals—the sidewalks that feel cool in early April but boiling in late July.
That’s why we’re spending Earth Day talking about street trees—not as decoration, but as infrastructure.
Street Trees as Green Infrastructure
Street trees are one of those rare pieces of urban landscape infrastructure that improve multiple parts of that system at once. Those benefits fall into three major categories: environmental, economic, and social—with a lot of overlap between them.
Street trees cool streets and sidewalks.
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation have found a 22-degree difference between the hottest and coolest places in the city. Trees can help bridge that with shade that lowers surface temperatures.
They help manage stormwater where it falls.
Tree canopies intercept rain. Their roots create structure in soil that helps water infiltrate instead of running straight across pavement into storm drains. In a city, that matters. It reduces runoff, eases pressure on drainage systems and supports healthier waterways.
Trees improve air quality and support urban habitat.
Leaves capture particulates. As noted in the Philly Tree Plan, neighborhoods with fewer trees have higher rates of asthma and COPD.
They support urban habitats.
Branches and canopy provide cover and nesting opportunities. And when street trees are part of a bigger planting strategy, they become corridors for birds and pollinators moving through the city, bringing additional benefits to a neighborhood.
Streets feel cared for
This benefit is harder to measure, but it’s real. A planted street feels different than a concrete one. It signals attention. It signals stewardship. And over time, that changes how people relate to a place; it can inspire them to become stewards.
Increased real Estate values
For better and worse, all these benefits add up to increase the value of nearby real estate. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission found that one tree within 50 ft. of a house increases home value by 9%.
Where Philly Falls Short — And How You Can Help
According to the Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS), a healthy city canopy covers about 30% of a city’s land area. Philadelphia’s is closer to 20%, and in some neighborhoods that number is as low as 2.5%. So, there’s still a lot of room to grow.
That’s why we support PHS’s Tree Tenders program with planning, planting, and advocacy. The Tree Tenders program helps volunteer-based community groups plant trees across the city, providing workshops and organizing events. In 2025, they planted 2,017 trees.
We’re proud to have played a part in that effort through a project in Roxborough: a tree planting plan on Rector/Houghton Street, around Roxborough Memorial Hospital. The project is part of a broader effort to make Ridge Avenue—Roxborough’s main thoroughfare—a better walking and pedestrian experience.
We created renderings to help Roxborough Memorial Hospital visualize the change and sign off. With their support, sidewalks were torn up and replaced with trees, including Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis), which, beyond all the benefits above, add a splash of color in early April. And come late July, the sidewalk won’t be radiating heat, the air will feel lighter, and when storms roll through, the water doesn’t overflow sewers.
It’s a small change, but that’s how the canopy grows—one block at a time. Over the next few years, these trees will get taller, the shade will get deeper, and this stretch of sidewalk will feel more comfortable and more walkable. That’s the kind of progress that compounds.
This Earth Day—or any day, really—here are a few ways you can help make Philadelphia greener:
Volunteer with a local planting effort
Advocate for street trees where they're needed most
And if you’re responsible for a site—design, construction, maintenance—treat trees like the infrastructure they are.
