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We were very pleased to see this poignant editorial by Mr. Greenberg in the New York Times. As we begin the process of cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy we have an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with the natural environment.
In reading Mr. Greenberg’s account of the historic oyster habitat around the New York & New Jersey Estuary, one can’t help but to make a connection to the grandeur and fragility of our own coastal cities. His description of the great “kingdom” that formed as “generation after generation of oyster larvae rooted themselves on layers of mature oyster shells [...] until enormous underwater reefs were built up around nearly every shore of greater New York” is reminiscent of the long and deliberate processes which built New York City. It is reassuring to think that the native oyster populations, which were decimated in a relatively short amount of time, can serve not only as a warning but as part of the solution.
In learning from the difficult lesson of Hurricane Sandy, hopefully we will take stock of our many resources and continue to grow cities (and oyster reefs) with a greater understanding of what is necessary to form resilient communities.
Thanks so much for the link to this NYTimes editorial by Paul Greenberg about the need for ecological restoration/environmental protection to address storms like Sandy. Love his ending: ” We’d better start planting a lot more oysters.”
It’s hard to get much news here in the PNW about places in the mid-Atlantic other than New York City and the New Jersey shore. How did Baltimore do in general and Biohabitats in specific?
I hope that Biohabitats can help to lead the push to re-integrate ecosystem services into the landscape and the seascape after Sandy. Or let your readers know who else may be leading that charge. This seems to be a teachable moment with Charlie Rose discussing the role of global warming in storms like Sandy with Paul Barrett of Bloomberg Businessweek, Bryan Walsh of Time Magazine and Steve Coll of the New Yorker.
Tom Low of Civic by Design sent me this e-mail with regard to trees earlier this week. The great photos in his email do not show up below, but they sure do make his case.
“Apparently one of the people being interviewed on the Nightly News last night suggested that the best precaution against downed power lines was to start cutting down all street trees in advance of future storms, which they do see as coming more often and more violently.
However let’s suggest another strategy — to do the exact opposite and create more CONTINUOUS tree canopies. A continuous tree canopy buffers the wind acting like a helmet protecting the neighborhood below. This was demonstrated with John Nolen’s design for Myers Park during Hurricane Hugo. Where the street tree plantings extend through the private lots LESS damage occurred compared to other vintage neighborhoods where trees were planted only along streets allowing wind to dip down into open pockets inside the block and topple them and inflict more structural damage to homes. Other neighborhoods demonstrating this include Habersham (see images below)
And planting/preserving trees is beneficial for many other reasons (and of course put the power lines underground where economically feasible.)”
Myers Park
Light Imprint – Habersham
Thomas E. Low
AIA CNU LEED AICP ASLA
Chair
The Civic By Design Center
119 Huntley Place
Charlotte | North Carolina | 28207
T: 704 948-8141 | C: 704 996-0349
info@civicbydesign.com
http://www.civicbydesign.com
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http://www.dpzcharlotte.com
http://www.lightimprint.org
http://www.learningcottages.com