By Paul Bergman
In response to the many letters attacking the plan to remove and replace the ficus trees on Second and Fourth streets: I pedaled my bike up and down those streets for a personal and, I hope, neutral assessment. The trees’ merits (maturity, shade) and drawbacks (expensive to maintain, roots lifting the sidewalks) are readily apparent. However, an additional factor is that the trees seem far too large for the narrow sidewalks. Second and Fourth streets suffer from more than the problems caused by the trees. Though the car-parks along Fourth may be hopelessly ugly, if the city really wants to make those streets more inviting, it could widen the sidewalks and prune and move the existing ficus trees farther away from the buildings.
If that’s not feasible, the plan to replace the ficus trees with ones that are more in proportion to the surroundings seems a reasonable option.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.