Plea to save ficus trees from removal plans; Pasadena, CA; 1/29/09

In defense of Pasadena's trees Pasadena Weekly - Pasadena,CA,USA
It would be a mistake to remove the ficus trees from Colorado Boulevard in favor of replacing them with ginkgo trees. The ginkgo species set to replace them would grow straight up in the air and would not provide much of a canopy, and frankly, the palm trees are not much different from telephone poles to a pedestrian walking beneath them.
While this tree-replacement scheme may seem advantageous for the audience seated in the grandstands at the Rose Parade in that their view of the floats would not be obstructed, ginkgo and palm trees provide very little shade and overhead cover to our streets for the other 364 days of the year. These ginkgo trees grow slowly and are deciduous, losing their leaves from November to March.