Former Milwaukee Mayor Advocates For Urban Tree Development

Mayor Speaks At Arborists' Conference

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John Norquist, left, says the U.S. is making progress in acknowledging the importance of trees in urban environments. Photo: Michigan Municipal League (CC-BY-NC-ND).

Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, who is also an advocate for urban trees, says the U.S. is making progress on recognizing the value greenery and shade in urban areas, though road developments continue to pose a problem.

Norquist now lives in Chicago, and is a professor at Florida Atlantic University and at DePaul University. He remains an advocate for cities, including urban tree development.

Norquist, who recently spoke at a convention of arborists, said that over the last decade, real estate developers have realized that trees can be an asset.

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“They attribute more value to houses that have trees,” said Norquist. “There’s programs … to put trees in neighborhoods where people don’t have a lot of resources.”

Norquist said the biggest shortcoming is road projects that make it hard to plant trees.

“You have overbuilding of large roads in urban environments, which doesn’t do any good,” said Norquist. “It ruins atmosphere, it ruins how a community develops.”

Norquist said if more developers and citizens planted trees it would help slow climate change.