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City Terrace/East L.A. II: Guide for Tree Planting Decisions
10 steps to equitably grow the urban forest in City Terrace & East L.A.
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Our Approach
The USC Urban Trees Initiative (USC Trees) seeks to increase urban tree cover and ensure the equitable distribution of green infrastructure throughout Los Angeles.
This interactive StoryMap, focusing on City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas, provides tools and data for city planners, residents and urban forestry organizations. The following strategies to increase tree coverage are guided by data and community needs, with special attention to equity, cooling and the goals and aspirations of residents.
We will look at the following:
Step 1: Community Engagement Step 2: Tree Inventory Step 3: Equity Analysis Step 4: Elementary School Route Analysis Step 5: Transit Stop Route Analysis Step 6: Utilities and Parkway Constraint Analysis Step 7: Overall Analysis Step 8: Field Verification Step 9: Design Scenarios for Tree Planting Step 10: Communicating Findings
How do you plant trees in the areas where people need them most?
USC Trees analyzed data and prioritized community input to identify areas that are in greatest need and recommend increasing tree coverage on those streets first. The goal of additional tree planting is to reduce exposures to extreme heat and air pollution and produce lasting benefits for generations to come.
1. Community Engagement
Community input is foundational to the success of any tree planting project. This starts with an open dialogue between city officials, researchers and residents.
USC Trees spoke with City Terrace residents over several Zoom meetings and community events across all stages of development. Multiple rounds of feedback helped guide our analyses and designs, including decisions to prioritize the Whiteside area of City Terrace, along with school and transit routes.
Thank you to those who offered their time and shared their visions for their streets and neighborhoods. USC Trees strives to provide effective urban greening strategies that elevate your ideas and reflect your priorities.
Figure 1: Residents engaging with the project team and providing feedback at the City Terrace Park community event in November 2022.
2. Tree Inventory
USC Trees compiled an inventory of existing trees in City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas included in the map boundary.
By the Numbers
Three out of every four trees in the area are found on private property.
- Total number of trees: 14,958
- The majority of trees — 11,666 total — are located on private property
- There are more than two residents for every tree
Figure 2 shows our comprehensive tree inventory as of 2022. The map includes data from the 2021 County of Los Angeles parkway tree inventory and counts of trees on private property conducted by USC Urban Trees researchers. We are happy to share these data upon request.
Figure 2: Map showing trees throughout the area by location as of November 2021
3. Equity Analysis
USC Trees divided this area into blocks the same way that the U.S. Census does to determine priority locations for increased tree cover. The major factors considered included areas with low tree cover, high urban heat and poor air quality, as well as high percentages of youth and seniors, public transit users and low-income households. These groups of people are more vulnerable to the health problems associated with extreme heat and air pollution.
Interpreting the Map
In Figure 3, the dark red areas are those that satisfy most of the equity criteria found in the legend. The dark red sites to the south and west met most of the criteria and were given higher priority for planting new trees. Drag and zoom to navigate the map.
Figure 3: Equity map for City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas
Legend for equity map
4. Elementary School Route Analysis
Following community suggestions to prioritize schools, USC Trees compared foot traffic to tree coverage on routes to elementary schools. With 19 schools in the area, sidewalks are important walking routes for children and their guardians. USC Trees used the LA Unified School District’s (LAUSD) maps showing school enrollment areas to match neighborhoods to the schools that serve them and then compared the estimated number of pedestrians along routes to these schools with the number of trees per 100 feet. The result is the model you see in Figure 4. Navigate the interactive map to explore pedestrian traffic on specific streets.
Interpreting the Map
Tree plantings should be prioritized in zones that are the darkest shade of blue, which indicates heavier foot traffic. Children currently using these routes likely experience higher levels of heat and sun exposure due to lack of shade. The orange dots indicate schools. This model uses elementary schools within LAUSD.
Legend for the map of pedestrian traffic to and from schools. The shading represents the predicted number of children and guardians that use a given route to school. The darker shades of blue indicate more heavily trafficked pedestrian routes.
Figure 4: Predicted foot traffic to and from elementary schools compared to tree frequency in City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas
5. Transit Stop Route Analysis
USC Trees also estimated the foot traffic to and from train and bus stops to determine priority routes for those who walk to transit. Nearly one in ten households in the area do not own a personal vehicle and community members expressed great interest in prioritizing transit stops during our meetings.
Interpreting the Map
Dark red indicates routes with high pedestrian use and should be considered of higher priority for tree plantings. Blue dots indicate transit stops.
Legend for the map of pedestrian traffic to and from transit stops. The darker shades represent heavier pedestrian traffic.
Figure 5: Map of pedestrian traffic to and from transit stops in City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas
6. Utilities and Parkway Constraint Analysis
USC Trees determined the location of overhead utility lines and the size of public parkways, which are the spaces between the curb and sidewalk under city jurisdiction. These measurements are important for defining the height and size of the tree species that can be planted as well as other factors that could constrain tree growth. For instance, it is not possible for the County and nonprofit planting partners to place a tree in the public parkway with less than 3 feet of space available.
Legend for the utilities and parkways map
Interpreting the Map
In Figure 6, areas with green dots represent sites with fewer constraints and purple dots represent sites with more constraints. Each dot shows a potential site for tree planting where there already is a tree or the County inventory has located where there could be a tree.
Figure 6: City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas utilities and parkways map
7. Overall Analysis
USC Trees overlaid the maps above to identify the highest priority streets for planting trees. These areas include streets with higher foot traffic, fewer trees and higher scores meeting the equity criteria (as shown on the equity map). Overall, 58 street segments (equating to 3.8 miles) were identified as high priority in this area based on the criteria met. The streets identified are examples and they do not represent the only opportunities for new tree plantings.
Interpreting the Map
The map identifies streets with high pedestrian foot traffic to and from elementary schools and transit stops, as well as streets with few trees per 100 ft. The yellow shading indicates street segments that met two or more criteria, and thus where new tree plantings would be most valuable. These suggestions do not reflect the only opportunities for additional tree canopy.
Figure 7: Map showing 58 street segments that could benefit from additional trees based on the number of criteria met.
8. Field Verification
USC Trees toured the field to verify the conditions of several high-priority streets and look for any unforeseen constraints. The reconnaissance confirmed that several of the selected street segments shown in the prior map were strong candidates, with minimal tree cover and few additional constraints. The slideshow below shows the three streets that were selected for further investigation by the USC Trees design team: East Cesar Chavez Avenue, Snow Drive, and Adkisson Avenue.
9. Design Scenarios for Tree Planting
USC Trees created numerous design scenarios for how the County and nonprofit partners can thoughtfully plant trees on these high-priority streets. These designs can also be used by community members to advocate for improved urban greening in their neighborhoods and pursue more competitive funding opportunities.
City Terrace & East LA Storymap III expands on the designs for the sample streets shown in this StoryMap.
For next steps, USC Trees has been meeting with planners and engineers from the County to ensure our designs meet current regulations. These meetings are also encouraging us to think about how regulations could be changed to promote a more expansive and vibrant urban tree canopy.
Figure 8: Rendering of a prospective design on Cesar Chavez Avenue before and after tree plantings for more shade. Move the slider back and forth to see the difference.
10. Communicating Findings
USC Trees aims to inform the public and decision-makers about our research findings and subsequent recommendations. We are holding in-person and virtual meetings with community members and city officials, and welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your organization to share our data, methods and findings. Please reach out to project manager Marianna Babboni at babboni@usc.edu with any questions or to request more information.
A Green Future Ahead
Today, the warming planet poses serious risks to Angelenos. The streets of L.A. can — and should — evolve to meet the needs of residents. The goal of the USC Urban Trees Initiative is to strategically and equitably expand tree cover to mitigate the harm that accompanies excessive heat and air pollution in City Terrace and surrounding East L.A. areas, provide ecosystem services, and improve the health and well-being of residents. Research and design guided by community input can help to determine how best to increase the urban tree cover, and thereby create benefits that will last for decades to come.
Parties involved with the USC Urban Trees Initiative
StoryMap Author: Jillian Gorman
Contributors: Dulce Acosta, Marianna Babboni, Will Berelson, Naman Casas, Eileen Chen, Tarana Chordia, Charlie Curtain, Monica Dean, Jackson FitzGerald, David Galaviz, Emma Johnson, Runzi Kang, Jinsol Kim, Carolyn Koh, Joan Lee, Yixuan Li, Beau MacDonald, Esther Margulies, Alyssa Ng, Eliana Ramirez, Melinda Ramos-Alatorre, Coleman Reardon, Nick Rollins, Katie Vega, Steve Wesson, John Wilson, Aviva Wolf-Jacobs