04-11-2016, 11:01 AM
At the same time as this Caroline hydro burial initiative arises, there has been a huge and hustled initiative by Waterloo North Hydro (and its majority owner, the City of Waterloo) to replace existing above-ground infrastructure in the Uptown residential neighbourhoods with new and even higher above-ground infrastructure.
The tree canopy on the “hydro side” of the street will be further brutalized in those areas, but what people don’t realize is that when the present old growth canopy dies (which it is widely doing from natural old age alone), present hydro regulations / guidelines do not favour replacement trees of a canopy nature. So those “leafy” neighbourhoods in the fullness of time are going to look a lot different. Sad loss to the City, not only to the immediate residents, but to the office workers who like to stroll there at lunch, and to anyone who treasures a green city.
Nice to know that new development on Caroline will have a clean look, with taxpayers on the “above-ground” streets contributing to the funding. In time, maybe there will even be canopy trees on Caroline, so people can enjoy a stroll there instead.
The tree canopy on the “hydro side” of the street will be further brutalized in those areas, but what people don’t realize is that when the present old growth canopy dies (which it is widely doing from natural old age alone), present hydro regulations / guidelines do not favour replacement trees of a canopy nature. So those “leafy” neighbourhoods in the fullness of time are going to look a lot different. Sad loss to the City, not only to the immediate residents, but to the office workers who like to stroll there at lunch, and to anyone who treasures a green city.
Nice to know that new development on Caroline will have a clean look, with taxpayers on the “above-ground” streets contributing to the funding. In time, maybe there will even be canopy trees on Caroline, so people can enjoy a stroll there instead.