Joe Brucia: No more strips of lawn between sidewalks, street

I wonder why Merced’s city planners have approved so many parking strips? These are the 4- to 6-foot wide strips of lawn between the sidewalk and street. There must be an advantage, but I cannot think of one. When walking along Merced’s sidewalks, it’s easy to see the disadvantages of parking strips:

▪ They are difficult to water. With the slightest breeze, water blows onto the street. Homeowners in some cities fill this space with pebbles or bark due to the cost of water.

▪ Parking strips contain trees with having roots that grow toward the sidewalk and curb (some within two years of planting). Neither the homeowner nor the city deep-waters these trees. Eventually the city must replace the curbs and/or sidewalks due to intruding roots. Some of the trees might even be cut down and replaced. The process then begins all over again. It would be interesting to see how much the city budgets for these ongoing efforts.

The solution is simple. The city must not approve any more subdivisions with parking strips. Less water will be used and costly future repairs will be reduced. Trees? Plant them in landscaped front yards within a deep hole drilled through the clay, then put a drip line!

This story was originally published June 15, 2015 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Joe Brucia: No more strips of lawn between sidewalks, street."