The trees will stay!
Let's design a Greenway!
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The Issue
Roxbury is designated as an Environmental Justice neighborhood
The City of Boston and MassDOT's Lower Roxbury Melnea Cass Boulevard Reconstruction Project has slated over 120 mature shade trees to be removed. 249 more trees are going to have their roots cut, threatening their health and shortening their lives.
Removing these trees is an Environmental Justice concern.
Join us in saving these trees and the life-sustaining benefits they provide for the residents of Lower Roxbury, which include:
Air
Roxbury has some of the highest asthma rates in Boston with heavy traffic contributing to pollution. The trees lining the road clean the air by filtering out emissions from cars and produce oxygen for us to breathe.
Heat
Roxbury is an Urban Heat Island with some of the highest temperatures in Boston. With climate change, Roxbury will continue to face extreme heat and increased rates of heat-related illnesses. Trees provide shade and cool the neighborhood, reducing cooling costs and making the outdoors safer for residents in the summer.
Water
Trees improve water quality by filtering rain water and prevent flooding by reducing runoff. As climate change increases the intensity of storms, trees are vital to keeping Roxbury safe from flooding by capturing and slowing stormwater.
Mental Health
Being around trees is good for mental health and social well-being. They relieve stress, lower blood pressure, improve mood, and can provide a sense of calm. This is especially important in Roxbury, which has higher levels of stress-related health problems than other neighborhoods in Boston.
Community
Trees have been shown to have noticeable and lasting effects on the sense of community in neighborhoods. They make streets like Melnea Cass Boulevard more walkable by shading hot sidewalks, providing scenery, and buffering pedestrians from traffic, noise, and pollution. Trees foster interactions between people, and communities with high levels of resident interaction are shown to be safer overall.
As the planet’s climate becomes hotter and drier, trees will become increasingly important to people living in cities. It is vital to increase our urban canopy now to benefit the future generations of Roxbury- not reduce it. The neighborhood will maintain more climate resiliency by keeping these mature trees alive for many years to come.