This walk was an uneventful expedition into the quiet neighborhood of Pinebrook. Despite being wedged between busy thoroughfares (County Road 125 aka Weaver Street; Quaker Ridge Road; Pine Brook Boulevard; and the Hutchinson River Parkway) and providing a cut through between Weaver and Pine Brook Boulevard, the neighborhood was very quiet. Almost disturbingly so for a middle of summer Saturday although it may have been because it was a hot day. No children out playing, not even in the playground which was partially shaded by trees and just a few people out walking dogs. Most in evidence were landscapers hard at work.
No sidewalks! Not a great surprise. From what I have been able to find out this area was built in the 1950s, a time when cars were on the increase and shared use neighborhoods were still a thing of the future. This is very clearly a single use residential area of single family homes of moderate size, now with some new much bigger homes pushing up against its Southern boundary. It does have a playground, and trees although some were not looking happy.
No sidewalks! Not a great surprise. From what I have been able to find out this area was built in the 1950s, a time when cars were on the increase and shared use neighborhoods were still a thing of the future. This is very clearly a single use residential area of single family homes of moderate size, now with some new much bigger homes pushing up against its Southern boundary. It does have a playground, and trees although some were not looking happy.
Split canopies caused by utility pruning were very obvious.
The pruning work is contracted by the utility companies to standard clearance specifications. Interestingly, some years ago in Los Angeles we saw many wires in sleeves allowing trees to grow more naturally and in closer proximity to utility lines. For some reason this has not caught on here in New York. Looking at all these divided canopies naturally led to discussion about putting utilities underground. Not an easy task considering how rocky much of Westchester is as can be seen by the rooting of the tree below.
If you can't go down...go out!
The point of this entry however was not supposed to be about trees, but rather what would happen to our informal noticeboards if utilities went underground? Take a look around your local neighborhood and check out all the ways utility poles are used.
I don't yet know who owns the utility poles in New Rochelle and what agreements are made between utility companies and councils but it seems that whoever owns these poles could be missing an opportunity to rent them as advertising space.
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