Introduction
Trees add beauty and improve personal health. Trees are major capital assets in America's cities and towns. Just as streets, sidewalks, sewers, public buildings and recreational facilities are a part of a community's infrastructure, so are publicly owned trees. Trees—and, collectively, the urban forest—are important assets that require care and maintenance the same as other public property.
![[Photograph]: Trees along a sidewalk.](../art/sidewalks_intro.jpg)
Trees are on the job 24 hours every day working for all of us to improve
our environment and quality of life. Without trees, the city is a sterile landscape of concrete, brick, steel and asphalt. Picture your town without trees. Would it be a place where you would like to live? Trees make communities livable for people. Trees add beauty and create an environment beneficial to our mental health. Trees:
Add natural character to our cities and towns.
Provide us with colors, flowers, and beautiful shapes, forms and textures.
Screen harsh scenery.
Soften the outline of masonry, metal and glass.
Can be used architecturally to provide space definition and landscape continuity.
Trees impact deeply on our moods and emotions, providing psychological benefits impossible to measure. A healthy forest growing in places where people live and work is an essential element of the health of the people themselves. Trees:
Create feelings of relaxation and well-being.
Provide privacy and a sense of solitude and security.
Shorten post-operative hospital stays when patients are placed in rooms
with a view of trees and open spaces.
A well-managed urban forest contributes to a sense of community pride and ownership.
