1. Good looking street trees with natural canopies increase the value of nearby properties
  2. Street trees provide ‘kerb appeal’ which is used as a selling point for Real Estate Agents
  3. Trees, including street trees, increase property values up to 25%

  4. Petersham Gum - home to 2 nesting Currawongs

    A property with good-looking trees will sell for more than the same property which is devoid of trees

  5. A tree’s Leaf Surface Area increases each growing season so the financial benefit to your property that trees bring increases annually
  6. Trees stimulate spending as shoppers are attracted to commercial retail areas which have numerous large & leafy trees
  7. Shoppers spend more time & around 11% more money in shopping areas which have many trees with a significant Leaf Surface Area
  8. Trees increase community pride
  9. An avenue of tall street trees with a canopy which overhangs the road is held in high esteem by most members of the community
  10. Streets which have many large & leafy trees tend to have more friendly interaction, stronger ties & more concern for their neighbours than do areas with few or no trees
  11. Areas which have many large, leafy trees have less litter, less dumping & less graffiti
  12. Areas with a high tree canopy ratio have less crime. Property owners are more likely to care for their front gardens in streets where there are many tall & beautiful street trees
  13. Properties which have good looking trees rent faster
  14. Tenants stay longer when the property has leafy trees
  15. Tenants are prepared to pay higher rents for properties which have trees
  16. Street trees can give a suburb an identity especially if there are mass plantings ie. the Town of the Jacarandas
  17. Trees provide shade & shelter for people & their belongings
  18. Trees cool the air as it passes through the leaves lowering the ambient air temperature
  19. The shade of a tree can be up to 10 degrees cooler than in the direct sun

  20. Trees around a natural urban creek

    Research by the US Department of Agriculture found that a young, healthy tree cools the air equivalent to 20 single room air-conditioners operating for 20 hours a day

  21. Strategic planting of 4 trees on your property can lower energy costs by up to 50%
  22. Trees around the property allow for windows to be opened for cooling rather than relying on air conditioning to lower the indoor temperature
  23. Planting large deciduous trees on the western & northern sides of your property will keep your home cooler during the summer months & will let the sun warm your home in winter when they lose their leaves.
  24. Trees lower heating bills by protecting the building from wind
  25. Trees lower the temperature of footpaths & roads, which stops heat built up & deflection making cities more pleasant to live in.  This is called the Urban Heat Island Effect
  26. Street trees help buffer & deflect traffic noise thereby reducing noise pollution
  27. Only a very small percentage of trees fall during severe storms
  28. Many people develop an emotional attachment to individual or a group of trees & associate them with meaningful events within their lifetime
  29. This is often shared with family members & other close people forming continuity between the generations

  30. Palms in Petersham shopping strip

    Trees can be ‘place-makers’ & whole areas can be defined & recognised by their trees

  31. Trees can help people navigate their way around an area as they act as landmarks
  32. Urban planners consider trees to be the most important factor in the design of urban landscapes
  33. Trees provide visual interest within a landscape in terms of their species, height, leaf & bark colour & patterns, their shape & their sense of movement
  34. Trees are considered ‘green infrastructure’ rather than the ‘grey infrastructure’ of development such as pipes, buildings & roads
  35. Green Infrastructure is assessed in economic terms, meaning public trees are worth money & often in significant amounts which may surprise us
  36. Urban Planning experts believe that planting of appropriate street trees is the most effective expenditure of funds to improve an area because street trees transform a street into something beautiful
  37. When assessing what makes a good street most people rate highly the presence of good looking & tall street trees
  38. Street trees bring a sense of order & beauty to a street as they draw the eye away from any differences and disarray in the buildings & bring a unifying element
  39. Street trees can make an area more human-scale, people-friendly & less dominating, particularly in industrial areas & streets with heavy traffic with lots of associated noise
  40. Street trees provide spatial definition to the observer & are important to overall design to a locality
  41. Street trees provide amenity to pedestrians
  42. People are more likely to choose to walk along a street which has many street large trees
  43. Street trees provide a physical & psychological buffer between passing vehicles & pedestrians
  44. Street trees with large canopies give drivers the impression of narrower streets, which results in reduced speed & less associated traffic accidents & danger to pedestrians
  45. Street trees assist drivers by indicating curves in the road.
  46. Drivers experience less road rage & driving stress when driving through areas with a large tree canopy
  47. Street trees which are integrated into street design can bring tangible engineering benefits to Local Councils thereby saving the community money
  48. Street trees collect rain though their leaves & roots reducing storm-water runoff
  49. This reduction of storm-water runoff results in lower amounts of chemicals, particulate matter & other pollutants on the ground entering our drains & ultimately in our river systems
  50. Trees feed off many of the nutrients that are byproducts of urban living such as nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium.  These nutrients can destabilize the health of rivers & lakes
  51. These days Urban Planners plant trees to collect as much storm-water runoff as possible because it is such a valuable resource
  52. Trees act as natural pollution filters

  53. People go to the graveyard in St Stevens Newtown to experience green space & quiet

    Trees are termed ‘multiple purpose infrastructure’ by Urban Planners because of the numerous benefits they bring to urban areas & the Councils that manage the area

  54. Pavements & other cemented areas generally have a longer life when they are shaded by a street tree saving the community money
  55. Trees provide habitat for birds & animals
  56. If planted in sufficient numbers, trees can provide a corridor for animals to travel safely
  57. Trees provide much needed food (if they are natives) for birds, small animals & insects
  58. An abundance of bird-friendly food bearing trees allow birds to eat natural food in a natural way. If birds do not have enough food from trees & plants, they have to forage for scraps on the ground which is common in city areas which have more cement than trees
  59. An abundance of tree species variety encourages more birds & native animals into the area as the wildlife can find sufficient food & housing
  60. Older trees generally develop natural holes in their trunk providing a welcome & safe home for wildlife
  61. Trees provide free leaf litter that can be composted to improve the condition of soil
  62. Community parks with many trees are used more by the community than parks that have only a few trees or no trees
  63. Trees sequester Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere & store it as Carbon in their leaves, roots, branches & trunk for the duration of their life & in the wood after it has been harvested
  64. Half of a tree’s dry weight is carbon
  65. Older, larger trees with wide trunks have more capacity to capture & store CO2 than small trees do & are more beneficial to the community.
  66. A tree with a 76 cm-diameter removes 70 times more pollution per year than does a tree with a 7.5 cm trunk
  67. Around 1.5 tons of CO2 are sequestered from the air & stored for every ton of new wood that grows
  68. Trees are seen as the cheapest, most efficient & natural way to reduce the excessive CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere
  69. The Victorian Mountain Ash is the most efficient tree at absorbing CO2 in the world

  70. Palms in Macquarie St Sydney

  71. Large trees provide the most benefit, such as greater shading & temperature control, greater CO2 sequestration & storage, greater impact on lessening storm water runoff, great absorption of air-born pollutants & irritants, habitat for native fauna & streetscape presence as examples.
  72. Small stature trees do not solve tree problems, they just lessen the overall benefit & have far less financial benefit to the community
  73. Trees also absorb other pollutants such as Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide & Sulfur Dioxide through their leaves
  74. Trees reduce air temperature ground-level ozone, which contributes to greenhouse gas creation & global warming
  75. The temperature of cities is around 5 – 9 degrees hotter than country areas. Trees lower this ‘heat island’ temperature.  The more trees planted, the less heat is generated.
  76. Trees remove up to 60% of street level particulate matter such as dust, smoke, ash & the sooty bi-product from car & truck exhausts that we would generally filter through our lungs & which cause asthma & other respiratory illnesses.
  77. Trees dramatically improve air quality which is why their presence is so important in high traffic areas
  78. The more trees in an area, the better the air quality
  79. A street tree removes 9 times the amount of air-born pollution from passing traffic than does a tree on a nearby property
  80. Street trees improve the air that enters people’s homes
  81. It has been estimated that the remaining trees on Earth absorb around 120 billion tons of CO2 each year, which is why deforestation is causing grave concern.
  82. Trees produce Oxygen (O2)
  83. One acre of trees produces 4 tons of oxygen which is enough to meet the needs of 18 people for a year
  84. A mature tree will produce enough oxygen to support 2 human beings

  85. Lovely Fig-lined street in Camperdown

    Trees reduce soil erosion

  86. Hospital patients placed in rooms with windows facing trees heal significantly faster, spend fewer days in hospital & require far less pain-killing drugs than those in rooms without such a view.
  87. A view of trees reduces high blood pressure in most people within 5 minutes
  88. Trees even have a role in domestic violence.  Research has shown that people who have trees around their property & in view have significantly less violence in their homes than people who live in places without trees
  89. People who suffer from dementia are less agitated & confused when they can see trees or sit beneath a tree
  90. Mental Health hospitals traditionally had large gardens with many tall trees because hospital workers noticed that patients were calmer, less violent & responded better to treatment when in a green leafy environment
  91. Trees reduce what is termed ‘chronic mental fatigue’ which makes people irritable, impulsive & more prone to outbursts of anger by relaxing them
  92. Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are more responsive, calmer & have better concentration when they are near trees
  93. Girls who can see trees from home have better concentration levels than those who can’t.  They study more successfully, make better choices and are more likely to succeed

  94. Trees give us history

    Workers who have a view of trees take less sick leave

  95. Trees make even crowded areas more pleasant by reducing noise & heat
  96. The presence of trees reduces the chance of violent behaviour in crowded areas by making the environment ‘softer’
  97. Tall growing trees live for much longer, around 200 years plus, than short growing trees which live up to 30 years on average
  98. Trees bring happiness to many people.
  99. Trees create privacy which is important in heavily populated areas
  100. Many trees provide food for people.
  101. An Amazon Indian tribe believes that the forest trees hold up the sky.  When the trees fall, so will life on Earth.  Interesting message in these days of climate change where trees are needed more than any other time in the known history of humankind.