The Fight To Keep Uptown Shady
Recently Approved Beautification Plan Proposes Replacing Iconic Ficus Trees
It’s a warm sunny Saturday afternoon and you’re in the mood for a coffee and a stroll around Uptown Whittier to clear your head and get some fresh air. Walking down the tree-lined streets, it doesn’t feel like it’s 85 degrees and sunny because the shade provided by the mature ficus trees keeps things cool. The trees, in concert with Uptown’s abundant small businesses and locally owned restaurants, provide an oasis-like ambiance of the sort that is usually associated with leafy, exclusive neighborhoods.
As climate change turns up the heat, many dense, built cities such as Whittier are trying to figure out how to cool things down. Tree canopy is becoming a catchphrase. Uptown Whittier is fortunate to have abundant canopy already in place. But this oasis may be in jeopardy, as the City of Whittier is proposing what some residents are calling a chainsaw massacre of its ficus trees.
Whittier City Council voted on December 12th, 2023, to approve the Streetscape Beautification Plan. According to the city, the plan is needed to remain competitive with other renovated shopping districts in the Southern California region. The Whittier Streetscape Beautification Plan says it has the goal of investing in the future of Uptown while promoting a walkable, safe, and enjoyable experience for visitors and residents. The plan includes upgrades to landscape and greenspace, outdoor dining spaces, and enhanced accessibility. But this plan has its detractors.
The main source of conflict is the proposla to replace the ficus trees with trees that have been approved by the Streetscape Beautification Plan. The plan says that ficus trees have created damage to sidewalks, including fruit dropping that stain concrete. Ficus trees, also known as the Indian Laurel Fig, can grow up to 40 feet with a tree canopy that spans 35 to 40 feet. Despite their obvious shade-providing qualities, Streetscape Beautification Plan does not see them in Uptown’s future. The plan places trees into two categories: street-canopy trees and street-accent trees. Approved street canopy trees include the london plane, thornless honey locust, camphor, canary island pine, and chinese elm. Being that the ficus trees lining the streets of uptown are fully mature, it could take more than 30 years to develop a canopy comparable to the one Uptown now enjoys if the ficus trees are replaced with approved trees.
This is not lost on a vocal contingent of residents who opposed the plan for those very reasons.
Whittier resident, Brenda, states in a letter written to the City of Whittier, that, “One of the reasons I purchased my home in Whittier three years ago was because of the abundance of trees in both the uptown and residential areas.” Uptown resident and graduating Whittier College student Ali Amaya also opposes the plan to cut down the ficus trees. “When I first came to visit Whittier College, I fell in love with the whole vibe of Uptown,” she says, “from the shady, tree-lined streets to numerous coffee shops, Uptown is what makes Whittier feel like a college town. I can’t imagine how it would look without the trees.”
Whittier’s tree-lined Uptown and college campus are not just a local attractions. The shady streets have served as the backdrop for numerous films including the 2021 psychological thriller The Little Things starring Denzel Washington.
“The Save our Trees In Uptown Whittier” petition on change.org, has gathered more than 3,000 signatures over the last two months. Conny McCormack, an organizer with the group Save Our Trees Whittier, is one of the campaign leaders. McCormack, a Whittier resident for 27 years, states in a letter written to the City Council that, “Whittier’s historic significance is inextricably linked to our mature canopy of trees.”
The City of Whittier has been designated as a Tree City, USA since 1984. Tree City USA provides communities with a framework to maintain and grow their tree cover. In documents released by the City of Whittier, there has been little to no mention of Tree City, USA guidelines or of any collaboration between the City of Whittier and Tree City, USA in the Streetscape Beautification Project.
Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri, has faced significant backlash regarding the proposed Greenleaf Promenade Project. Vinatieri has been the mayor of since 2016. He is also the owner of the popular uptown restaurant Aunties Bakery and Cafe. Born and raised in Whittier, Vinatieri’s roots in Whittier are as deep as the ficus trees along Philadelphia Avenue.
But Vinatieri’s is facing backlash over the beautification plan. An online forum post discussing the city council’s recent green light to remove the uptown ficus trees attracted plenty of comments directed at the mayor — some vicious, including a comment that called the mayor “a cancer.”
In an opinion piece for the Whittier Daily News, Vinatieri pushed back, arguing that aging trees are an issue with rising insurance premiums and claims. He claims that residents complain on social media regularly of broken pavement, and damaged plumbing because of the Ficus trees. According to Vinatieri, the city has a responsibility to safeguard taxpayer funds while maintaingin canopy by replacing ficus trees in a 2:1 ratio (for every ficus tree removed, 2 new trees will be planted). He says the city is taking preventative action to prevent financial strain on city resources.
But a major source of contention, that Vinatieri doesn’t mention, is that the promenade plan proposes removing all ficus trees at once, instead of allowing for a gradual removal of trees. A gradual removal of trees combined with the planting of new trees, some say, would allow for Whittier’s tree canopy to be compromised for a shorter amount of time. With a diminished tree canopy, comes a reduction in the benefits that urban trees provide.
Foremost among them is shade, which in turn allows for reduced building energy usage and a more tolerable temperatures. With climate change, the number of extreme heat events have increased in recent years, and trees provide a nature-based solution to making extremely hot days tolerable. Trees have also been proven to increase the likelihood of a community engaging in physical activity through walking and biking. Trees act as a multifaceted solution to numerous issues the urban environment faces, such as the urban heat island effect, decreased biodiversity, and poor air quality.
The upcoming summer months will continue to emphasize the importance of a dense tree canopy. With rising temperatures, dense tree canopy’s can act as a multifaceted solution to the numerous problems that come with climate change. With community activist facing off against the City of Whittier, it looks like those ficus trees are not going down without a fight.
