I live in a town that is land wise the second in the state. Problem is that it is about only 3 miles wide where you can build. To the west is a million acre Pineland forest, and to the east of us is the Barnegat Bay and ocean.
With the Real Estate boom homes that 2 years ago sold for an average of $275,000 for a 3 bedroom ranch. Now they sell for $400,000 to $500,000. I can't blame my neighbors for selling out and getting out of this state. We will most likely get out within 2 years once my wife has her pension.
3 houses on my block just sold and I have introduced myself to my new neighbors. All have fled North Jersey to come live here at the shore. But, all 3 have brought in tree services and had all the tress on their lots taken down. I understand you take down dying trees and prune back some trees, but to take them all down? Crazy city people!

they fear the liability of the limbs falling on them or, the tree falling on their homes.

Around here it is a concern for fire but, I am totally on your side with this. Prune, lace and otherwise take care of the tree so its healthy and won't cause issues

They probably don't want to rake leaves, or they could be like my neighbor who did the same thing.
He's anal about having a perfect lawn and trees make that more difficult.

My yard is loaded with trees. I love having them.

rtquig......I appreciate where you are coming from sir. Developers try to squeeze every nickel out of property these days beginning with removing the trees, selling off the topsoil, grading with less than ideal soil materials from off-site. As a civil engineer I have seen this hundreds, if not thousands, of times over where the scalping of the land leaves us with tough options on stormwater management and little to know infiltration capability.

I witness this growing up first hand in Cobb County, GA back in the 80's when everyone decided that ATL was the place to be and cut down darn near everything. Will say down south though we have to deal with tornadoes more than the NE so I could see use removing trees close to the house or within fall distance to eliminate potential structural damage.

One might also wonder if this effort is being driven by the insurance companies well....but cant say for sure.

In my view...save the trees as they promote rainwater infiltration, help to reduce flooding, provide shade and keep your power bill down.

They need room to park their extra SUVs, the 5th Wheel and the boat!

We pissed our builder off by requiring him to keep a lot of trees that were very close to the foundation of our house. We cut the ones that were in the driveway, a tiny front yard (very tiny), and the back yard was whatever was needed to fit our septic field. 20 years later and none have ever threatened the house or cars. We did just take out two large oaks because they had grown so tall they blocked our internet and directv dishes view of the sky. I now have firewood for 2 or 3 more years.

We like the shade, the leaves in fall, the birds, etc. When I go out west or up to corn country in the midwest it feels weird to have no trees and be able to see for miles and miles. We had some friends that had moved to TN from South Dakota and they felt claustrophobic here - too many trees and valleys. They were so used to being able to see miles in every direction...

It's not just in the city . I live in a suburb . The property that butts up to the back of mine was thick woods . There were some Oak trees that were too big to reach around . Some local TV Minister bought the property ( Eleven acres ) and completely clear cut the property . NOTHING left . Then he proceeded to build a massive two story house with an elevator , four AC units , detached three car brick garage and a separate covered parking for his motor home . Probably all at the expense of his flock .. And it's just him and his wife living there . He doesn't even mow his own lawn . I do see him fishing in the nice pond he has in the front though . Yeah , I digress . But he disgusts me .

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
It's not just in the city . I live in a suburb . The property that butts up to the back of mine was thick woods . There were some Oak trees that were too big to reach around . Some local TV Minister bought the property ( Eleven acres ) and completely clear cut the property . NOTHING left . Then he proceeded to build a massive two story house with an elevator , four AC units , detached three car brick garage and a separate covered parking for his motor home . Probably all at the expense of his flock .. And it's just him and his wife living there . He doesn't even mow his own lawn . I do see him fishing in the nice pond he has in the front though . Yeah , I digress . But he disgusts me .

Yeah - I'm sortof sure that isn't "what Jesus would do." I believe the pastor should live a lifestyle similar to or slightly below his flock. At the very least, if they are going to pay him a shitload - he should put it in a Roth or some other account; NOT spend it on a fancy house. Best would be for that money to be used to help those in need...

There have been reports recently about the lack of trees in urban areas, creating an underserved community that needs money thrown at it to rectify their deprivation.

And this is why we can’t have a nice place to live

The same people who clear cut their own properties because they want a magazine cover lawn howl like mad against the logging industry who are actually practicing good forestry management.

I understand what the OP is saying and I’m in the camp of pruning and thinning is better on an existing home.

6 years ago, my neighborhood used to be hundreds of acres of mostly scrub pines with a few oaks. Since it was unmanaged forrest only tall trees got light. The few pines that people had the builders save looked like shit as they’re all tall, narrow, no low branches, and have a scary amount of sway in a strong storm. The few oaks that people had the builders save looked good at first but every case I can think of have died. The trees that the builder and homeowners put in look way better than the pines and every year look better and better.

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
They probably don't want to rake leaves, or they could be like my neighbor who did the same thing.
He's anal about having a perfect lawn and trees make that more difficult.

My yard is loaded with trees. I love having them.

We bought this place in 1985 when I was transferred to Manassas. 4.3 acres, other than the driveway and septic field it is all in old growth trees. The house had a fireplace when we moved in and we wanted to burn wood in it for the aesthetics. Which developed into heating the house with wood. Starting with year 2, we have been heating with wood, all harvested from out property. And the tree count on our place has not been reduced. Selective harvesting provides all the wood we need without stripping the place of its trees.

We have at least 6 large trees that should come down, and I am waiting until all the leaves are down before dropping and turning them into firewood.

I am literally all the way across the country from you in a little liberal town with a population under 15,000 folks.

Sucks being one of the few conservatives.

As such, this is a super tree hugging community ... however, if a homeowner needs to cut down a tree no matter the reason (dead, safety, whatever) it is an act of congress to do so.

BUT if it is a developer ... hack and cut down away !

I don't get it.

Frankly, I love all the trees we have around us, but sometimes bad trees must fall for the good of other trees and safety.

Why favor the developers over the rest of us ?

I don't know.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Why favor the developers over the rest of us ?

I don't know.

They have more money.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Why favor the developers over the rest of us ?

I don't know.

They have more money.

flashguy

Yup. They're increasing the town's tax base and therefore revenue by building more houses.

We had a new neighbor move in about 5-6 years ago fleeing NJ. The first things he did was cut down all the trees near his house. His reasoning was that he hated the sappy residue getting on his cars. I guess he never heard of "wind" as his upwind neighbor across the street has a ton of trees including Tulip Poplar that are notorious for their sticky sap

[QUOTE]Originally posted by old dino:
I am literally all the way across the country from you in a little liberal town with a population under 15,000 folks.

Sucks being one of the few conservatives.

As such, this is a super tree hugging community ... however, if a homeowner needs to cut down a tree no matter the reason (dead, safety, whatever) it is an act of congress to do so.

BUT if it is a developer ... hack and cut down away !

I don't get it.

Frankly, I love all the trees we have around us, but sometimes bad trees must fall for the good of other trees and safety.

Why favor the developers over the rest of us ?

I don't know.[/QUOTE

This describes the previous city we lived in. Developers could do no wrong with tree removal but a resident had a whole different playbook.

Our neighborhood had a proliferation of Box Elder trees, our 80x100 lot had three on it and in the fifteen years we lived there all were removed.

One we removed clandestinely and the other two, well because one was very obvious and the other one had power, telephone and cable lines in it,for that reason they garnered a visit from the city’s Arborist to get a permit to remove per city ordinance.

Both were obviously half dead but initially my request to remove was met with a “no”, the official response was to have a commercial Arborist “save” them. Both cases I finally out-argued and got the permit to remove them. Upon removal both were dead in the middle and carpenter ant infested, saving would have been a futile effort.

As the city’s Arborist was leaving he made an off the record comment that the Box Elders were “weed” trees and not desirable but his job was to try and convince property owners to save any and all trees in the city.

Up here we get the people that clear off their lot, because they "like to look at the trees, not live in them", but then they are the first to whine and moan when their neighbor clears the next lot and all of a sudden there are no more trees to look a period.

I'm in the opposite mood, I'm adding trees to my edges to create more of a block between my acreage and my neighbors... just in case he decides to clear more on his side I still won't have to see it.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
The same people who clear cut their own properties because they want a magazine cover lawn howl like mad against the logging industry who are actually practicing good forestry management.

Good point- by now we should just assume the hypocrisy from these types on everything.