74 SPRING 2022 | WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
The tree-lined streets
of Shaker Heights are
not just beautiful, they’re a
vital environmental asset.
The City’s street trees
— estimated to number
around 30,000 — make up
a substantial portion of the
community’s tree canopy.
They cool our neighborhoods,
help reduce stormwater
run-off, improve our air
quality, and so much more.
But growing street trees in an
urban setting like Shaker Heights is
not easy. The City’s tree lawns are
narrow, packed with infrastructure
(both underground and overhead) and
often on busy roadways. A changing
climate isn’t helping.
“Preserving and maintaining
our urban forest has a number of
challenges,” says Shaker Heights City
Council Member Nancy Moore, who
chairs the City’s Tree Advisory Board.
“In fact, the conditions for growing
street trees are increasingly hostile,
thanks to a warming environment and
encroaching infrastructure.”
In 2021, the Tree Advisory Board
spearheaded the development of
a new Street Tree Master Plan for
Shaker Heights, in collaboration with
the City’s Forestry Department. The
goal: To create a roadmap for the
City’s street tree program, based
on decades of research by the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources
(ODNR), which will ensure the
community’s tree canopy remains
vibrant for generations to come.
“This is a strategic plan for the
City’s urban forest,” explains Moore.
“The emphasis is on the science of
planting and maintaining trees in an
urban environment.”
Photograph by Karoline Pimplikar
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE