{"id":32447,"date":"2023-08-09t10:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09t10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=32447"},"modified":"2023-08-22t16:12:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22t16:12:54","slug":"evanston-tree-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/evanston-tree-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"justice takes root: evanston, illinois, activists tackle disparities in tree coverage across the city"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
planting the tip of her shovel into the earth, leslie shad pushed down with her full weight and began to dig. the hole needs to be twice as wide as the sapling\u2019s root, she instructed the group of volunteers behind her as she worked.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n this past april and may, shad led volunteers around the town of evanston, illinois in an annual spring planting event organized by natural habitat evanston, or nhe, a branch of climate action evanston that she co-leads.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n the spring planting event aims to sustain evanston\u2019s tree canopy, which shad said is declining every year.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cgenerally, we lose 600 trees a year and we plant 400 trees a year,\u201d shad said. \u201cso we’ve just been in a loss of trees for years and years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n shad added that newly planted street trees have an average lifespan of six years. salt and sidewalk and sewer construction can disturb the trees\u2019 roots, contributing to the city\u2019s loss of trees. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n the group added 85 trees to the city this year, most of them on school grounds. but shad also planted three trees in homes in evanston\u2019s 5th ward \u2014 part of nhe\u2019s continued effort to increase tree coverage in the city\u2019s historically redlined, predominantly black neighborhood, which falls below the city average of tree coverage. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n any residents or businesses in the 5th ward can apply for free trees on their properties, shad said. volunteers from nhe would then plant those trees and provide care instructions. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n but trees aren\u2019t the only environmental resource that the 5th ward lacks, according to city data. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n every three years, the city\u2019s health and human services department releases the evanston project for the local assessment of needs, or eplan. in the past, the eplan has focused on tracking individual health behaviors and outcomes. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n however, in 2022, under the new leadership of community health specialist kristin meyer, the project took a different approach. it examined the systemic factors that affected residents\u2019 ability to be healthy, taking into account metrics including air quality, walkability and tree canopy coverage. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cwe\u2019re going beyond this overly simplistic understanding of individual choice and how they impact health, and instead looking at the systems and environments around us and understanding how they limit or expand our ability to be healthy,\u201d meyer said. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n the report found that across evanston, a resident\u2019s life expectancy can vary up to 13 years depending on the neighborhood they live in. the census tract roughly representing the 7th ward, an 81% white area with a median household income of $144,853, has the highest life expectancy in the city of nearly 89 years. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n on the other hand, another tract that corresponds with the predominantly black 5th ward, with a median household income of $44,458, has a life expectancy of 75.5, 6.5 years shorter than the city\u2019s average life expectancy of 82. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n the report also highlights the correlation between life expectancy and the city\u2019s history of redlining. a 1935 home owners\u2019 loan corporation risk map racially segregated the city by outlining neighborhoods from most desirable to least, with the northern 6th and 7th wards deemed most desirable, while the 5th ward, where the city segregated black residents in western evanston, was labeled \u201chazardous.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n in the following years, the areas described as desirable on the map would receive the most investment from the city, while the 5th ward would receive the least, according to the report. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n today, evanston is still segregated along those same lines. a map from the 2022 eplan shows that the areas deemed most desirable in 1935 are still 81% to 91% white. a side-by-side comparison of the eplan\u2019s life expectancy map and the 1935 redlining map also reveals stark parallels. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\nmapping by a new metric<\/h2>\n\n\n\n