New motto? 'Minneapolis, city of shade' - Minneapolis, MN

New motto? 'Minneapolis, city of shade' | StarTribune.com

If you're looking for the shadiest place in Minneapolis this summer, head to the Lynnhurst neighborhood off the southeast shore of Lake Harriet.

The neighborhood ranks first in the city in the proportion of urban tree cover that blankets its homes, businesses and parks. Nearly 49 percent of its area, which includes a portion of Minnehaha Creek, is covered, according to a first-of-its-kind study of the city's canopy that used high-resolution satellite technology.

The study, by a team of University of Minnesota researchers, put the overall city rate at 31.5 percent, higher than previous estimates that used less precise methods.

In St. Paul, the canopy cover rate was 32.5 percent, a recent study found. Researchers also studied Woodbury, where the tree cover is 21.5 percent; it's lower because large portions of the city still are cropland, and trees in newer residential developments are predominantly younger and smaller, said Marvin Bauer, lead researcher and professor of remote sensing at the university's Department of Forest Resources.