Phoenix, trees along the street are vital to encourage people walking. It turns out they might just be a good investment for the City as well, as Pittsburgh and increasing numbers of cities across the country are learning:

Pittsburgh spnds $0.85 million a year on its urban forest, and found according to the first cited article "After inputting raw data from the inventory in i-Tree, Tree Pittsburgh found that the city’s street trees — strictly those planted in sidewalks and medians — provided $2.4 million worth of environmental and aesthetic value every year. (A 2011 analysis of Pittsburgh’s total tree cover, which involved sampling more than 200 small plots throughout the city, showed a value of between $10 and $13 million in annual benefits based on the entire urban forest’s contributions to aesthetics, energy use and air quality.) The values take into account energy savings from shade, impact on the city’s air and water, and the boost in property values associated with leafy neighbors."

We can develop our own economic analysis by using a free tool downloaded over 10,000 times by cities and urbanists around the world, using i-Tree, ther second cited link.

We Phoenicians can get involved too and create our own non profit! See how the citizens of Pittsburgh did it, the third cited link.

And finally, we can calculate the value of carbon sequestration generated by our urban forest now and tomorrow. Published by the EPA, from the last cited link.