The other day I was driving past the remodeled Ralph’s Market at the intersection of Bellflower Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway when I noticed that something seemed out of place. It took me a few moments to realize that the large trees that until now had shaded the large parking lot Ralph’s shares with some adjoining shops had been replaced with adolescent palm trees. The absence of that green cloud over the otherwise nondescript parking left the shopping center feeling naked, generic: nothing more than a commercial strip that could have been plopped down anywhere in California. The old trees were almost certainly replaced with the palms to make the newly re-minted “Ralph’s Freshfare Market” more visible for those driving along Pacific Coast Highway. Indeed, “visibility” is the argument developers often use to justify planting many of the palms that line some of our dominant commercial streets.
Though there is only one species of palm tree native to Western North America (Washingtonia filifera, the “California Fan Palm”), Southern California has had a long history with a diverse range of palm trees. From the introduction of date palms by Spanish Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries for a fledgling fruit industry, to the nearly thirty thousand Mexican palms planted in Los Angeles under the auspices of a 1932 Olympic beautification plan, palms have become ingrained in the urban fabric of Southern California. Palm trees, along with beaches and Hollywood, are key symbols of Los Angeles itself. By default, Long Beach shares this place of the palm tree as a cornerstone of the urban landscape.
Recently, however, palms have come under scrutiny in local urban forestry programs. In November, the City of Los Angeles declared that it will not plant palm trees anywhere save the most famous tourist attractions. It costs significantly more to maintain palm trees than most other street trees. This is particularly the case for palm trees more than 50 years old. If not maintained, palm trees drop large fronds that can damage cars and even injure pedestrians. In addition, a widespread fungal epidemic has afflicted several species of palms, killing off entire blocks of street trees. Los Angeles City policy is to replace dead palms with other trees such as oaks, sycamores, and other indigenous shade-making trees. Thus, for instance, Los Angeles’s Million Tree LA program does not include palms.
While trees soften gritty cityscapes and provide neighborhood beautification, their primary urban role is to improve the environment. Palms, however, provide little in the way of such environmental benefits. They have a relatively small canopy, which coupled with their height means that they provide only modest shade. As a result, palm trees contribute little to reducing the urban heat island effect. Palm trees do little to clean pollution from the air in comparison to their more leafy counterparts. They are also inferior with respect to natural stormwater management. Finally, compared to just about any other genus of tree, palms provide minimal habitat for urban wildlife.
It should be clear that outside of certain special cases, palms are inappropriate for the urban context. They provide little shade for those strolling along our commercial and neighborhood streets. They are out of scale on all but the broadest of boulevards. I cringe every time I see a new palm planted along a residential street. The grandeur many desire when planting palms can be accomplished just as effectively by sycamores and live oaks. Recall the large, leafy street trees flanking and running down the middle of Lakewood Boulevard between Del Amo Boulevard and Candlewood Street. In place of such trees, in Long Beach we find palms along nearly every major corridor, in most of our expansive parking lots, and in many of our most intimate residential neighborhoods. Palms do not serve any of these environments well.
Palm trees add little to Long Beach’s urban fabric, and it is only commercial interests’ desire to maintain “visibility” for their businesses—as well as those holding onto a specific Hollywood nostalgia—that continue this illogical love affair with palms. However, such palm enthusiasts cannot see the forest for the trees. Enhancing “visibility” makes the city less livable and shopping less attractive. It will take a combination of city policy and the agreement of residents and businesses owners to move toward trees that provide a more beneficial urban forest for Long Beach.
