Street Tree Canopy

Access to tree canopy cover or "tree equity" has become a popular topic with outlets like The New York Times and National Geographic publishing articles outlining disparities in green-ness based on socioeconomic status and/or racial composition. This wonderful Tree Equity Tool by American Forests examines tree canopy coverage by census block group with all the related demographic data. In contrast, this study focuses on tree canopy cover over public right-of-way (streets and sidewalks) by subdivision. Since the public right-of-way is the means through which one navigates a particular area, canopy cover over streets and sidewalks contributes more to how a neighborhood "feels." This methodology also uses a high resolution (one-meter) land cover map to determine tree canopy rather than the 30 meter land cover map available through the National Land Cover Database.