Re: ratios of green to developed space

S* M*

Philadelphia, the original "Greene Countrie Towne," was founded under
William Penn's Charter that required one acre of green space for every four
acres of development, which makes for a very pretty city.

It lasted for many years, until developers found a loophole and annexed the
surrounding farmland into the city limits. When you bought a parcel
downtown you got a corresponding chunk of open space out in the
hinterlands. We've been fighting to get the original regulations back ever
since.

Sally McCabe
Philadelphia Green

At 8:07 PM -0400 7/22/01, Dboek@aol.com wrote:
>Hi, Anna and everyone,
>
>I've got exactly the same question. We're trying to strengthen our existing
>tree ordinance in Charlotte, where a 'stakeholder group' now debating how to
>proceed. One school of thought is to use the 'canopy' of mature trees as the
>way to measure impact (of course, developers are fine with this - if you give
>them 'credit' for a mature tree canopy when they leave a 2 inch sapling).
>Another approach is to look at the problem ecologically, and set aside a
>percentage of the land area of a new development for habitat, trees and open
>space.
>
>For the record, our current required canopy is 10%. The city, where trees
>thrive, probably has a cover ranging from over 60% in some neighborhoods
>(high income) to less than 20 in others, and zip in new developments that
>have been clear-cut.
>
>Ideas from other cities would really help.
>
>Also, I'm wondering if community gardening can help with tree and habitat
>preservation and stewardship. I recently learned about Philadelphia's tree
>steward program (from this list) - do other communities have experience with
>that? What about tree nursery projects, especially for native trees?
>
>Thanks a lot,
>
>if you were closer, I'd give you all some tomatoes. The new paste tomato,
>Juliette, is very pretty but not super-tasty, glad I've got my Celebrities
>and Brandywines.
>
>Don
>Charlotte NC
>
>In a message dated 7/22/01 1:35:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ariel@tc.umn.edu
>writes:
>
>> Apart from Seattle, are there any cities out there that you all know about
>>  that have established acceptable ratios or desirable ratios of green to
>>  developed space?  I'd appreciate any and all help.
>>
>>  Anna
>>
>>  Anna Wasescha
>>  Farm in the City
>>  1312 Dayton Avenue
>>  St. Paul, Minnesota  55104-6440
>>  651.646.8733 (phone)
>>  651.646.0034 (fax)
>>  ariel@tc.umn.edu
>
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