Dedicated to Empowering and Informing the Burlingame Community

Money Grows on Trees

The Friday Wall Street Journal carried an interesting piece by Amy Gamerman that profiled people's efforts to protect and import mature trees when they were remodelling homes.  I can't link to it since it is behind the paywall, but I found this paragraph particularly insightful

A 2010 study by the U.S. Forest Service conducted in Portland, Ore., found that the presence of a single “street tree” in front of the home added over $7,000 to its sale price. The street-tree effect spilled over to neighboring houses, increasing property values as well as helping the homes sell faster.

Now that is Portland and this is B'game.  I'm guessing you could double or triple that premium for a street tree in front of your B'game digs.  The second sentence also goes to why there is a heritage tree ordinance in town for non-street trees.  Since it is not the easiest thing to find on the city website, here is the link (click on Title 11) and the definition:

     (1)    Any tree with a circumference of forty-eight (48) inches or more when measured fifty-four (54) inches above natural grade; or

     (2)    A tree or stand of trees so designated by the city council based upon findings that it is unique and of importance to the public due to its unusual appearance, location, historical significance or other factor; or

     (3)    A stand of trees in which the director has determined each tree is dependent upon the others for survival.

I'll bet our trees are enjoying today's real rain as much as we are–or more!  Now if we can just get Caltrans to pay attention………

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17 responses to “Money Grows on Trees”

  1. resident

    All Hail Tom the Tree. We miss Thee!

  2. Bruce Dickinson

    Funny, Joe, was just talking to my real estate guy about this issue the other day. Maybe you instead should be nicknamed “the prescient one”, but alas, I digress.
    My guy made a very interesting observation about trees. He stated that the most valuable neighborhoods in Burlingame have older growth/ large old trees. Burlingame Park, Easton, and the Hills, namely. He also said the streets on Ray Park that have older/larger trees also have higher values. Also, the Baywood area in San Mateo, same thing.
    Folks, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that you are crazy if you think that trees don’t add value. They give a nice ecological and aesthetic respite from the urban jungle that we confront every day and something that we relate to on a primal level, if you will. So when Bruce Dickinson all the beautiful trees on my grounds and then thinks about HSR, Cal Train, and Cal Trans decimating these treasures with no regard to their positive impacts (not to mention some questionable decisions by the City Council to give dead-ending transit oriented high density housing any consideration), Bruce Dickinson gets a little worked up, to say the least.
    Getting rid of trees hits both your pocketbook and mine in terms of real estate value; actually yours a lot more than mine, but still, it’s the principle of it! Bottom line is all these public transportation minions don’t live here and if you told them that taking out the trees in their yards/neighborhoods wherever they live will cost them $100 thousand dollars, they’d be fighting tooth and nail to preserve that value. Let’s not let these people take money out of our pockets and make our lives less enjoyable, even if it means taking out just one tree unnecessarily! Remember folks, its our tax dollars that are supporting these employees, make sure you remind them that they are working for us and not vice-versa!

  3. Jennifer

    Excellent points, BD. When we purchased our house 25 or so years ago (heck of a wreck that needed lots of TLC), the best thing about it were the two large trees in the backyard. The realtor actually mentioned even then, that the big trees had added 10K to the appraisal.
    The passage if time, the seasons of plentiful rainfall necessary to successfully grow a sapling to a mature tree, not to mention any supplemental watering needed, is priceless. One cannot accelerate (or buy) the time it takes for a tree to mature.

  4. Peter Garrison

    You can sometimes glimpse Jennifer tending to the trees along El Camino Real; El Camino de Jennifer.. .

  5. Make-Work At The Expense of Heavier and Heavier Public Debt and Buildings Things that The Public Doesn’t Want or Need.

    The labor unions of the city staffs and the labor unions of Caltrans combined with the labor unions of construction company owners and their buddies in Sac and from their heavy political contributions to bolster the union-controlled state of California->
    …all agree that this massive “make-work” project makes sense for their personal bank accounts…

  6. Joe

    Thanks, Bruce. One of my realtor buddies also commented (off-line) on the post. It seems they all get it which is nice.

  7. Russ

    I had the opportunity to have the tree in front of my house, a large mature Sycamore, appraised a few years back…$11K!!

  8. hollyroller@hotwire.com

    There is no downside to having a tree in front of your house.
    Especially when we have such a great Public Works Tree Dept.
    It’s free-sort of.
    I have been seeing some trees being planted by Public Works crews recently and spoke to them about my tree.
    Very nice people and very educated.

  9. Jennifer

    If only more property owners would understand that connection and be a bit more conscientious about watering their saplings now and then, we’d be in great shape. The tree is not just an ornament, it’s going to help the homeowner and the neighborhood in so many ways down the line, not the least of which is monetary.

  10. Russ

    If you’d like to learn more about the fascinating history of the trees in Burlingame visit: http://www.burlingametrees.org

  11. hollyroller@hotwire.com

    In todays Post I read about Cities of Hillsborough& Burlingame have put their heads together and approved the removal of multiple Eucalyptus trees @Howard/Ralston/ECR. 11 trees to be exact.
    The reason?
    Bringing out the ol’catchall phrases again
    -“hazard to pedestrians, and passing motorist.”
    -“they are either diseased, already dead,or dying.”
    If that is so show me.
    Show me the reports, who did the reports, when were the reports done, and why are we just finding out about this project now.
    Please contact your City Elders and ask them why this is hidden away from the people.
    The City Managers have become the biggest threat to their communities since they were hired.

  12. Jennifer

    I haven’t seen any papers today, but in the case this was misreported, the removals are definitely health related. 10 of the 11 trees (elms) are Dutch Elm Disease infected. One is a gorgeous eucalyptus near Howard Avenue that has problem area on the bottom (perhaps fungal) — it was looked at by an independent arborist (paid for by Caltrans), at the request of Burlingame Parks Dept., just to be sure.
    These removals were planned several months ago, so the timing is unfortunate (for Caltrans) but it is good to know people are keeping their eyes open, including you. I can assure you that these WILL all be replaced by Caltrans (believe me, there are many eyes on this).

  13. hollyroller@hotwire.com

    Thank you Jennifer

  14. BurlingameBetty

    Thank you Jennifer for clarifying the removals on ElCamino – I feel slightly better that they are, sadly, infected trees.

  15. hollyroller@hotwire.com

    Hi Jennifer,
    The article I was referring to was in The Post.

  16. Jennifer

    Okay, thanks. I unfortunately didn’t see it and it is not offered online, as far as I know…

  17. BMW

    http://twitter.com/thereaIbanksy/status/540204204334125056/photo/1
    This doesn’t even count all the other positive externalities like traffic calming and property values.

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