Local climate influences what kind of tree coverage you’ll find in any given region.
Delaware County is part of the eastern United States where large forests have historically existed and trees tend to grow here wherever they can find room, writes Niko Kommenda for The Washington Post.
A look at five random communities in Delaware County shows tree coverage varies between 24.9 percent in Sharon Hill, 32.8 percent in Springfield, 45.4 percent in Lansdowne, 54.9 percent in Swarthmore, and 55.7 percent in Upper Darby.
The city of Philadelphia, by comparison, has 31.1 percent tree coverage, up 1.9 percent from five years ago, but still below the national average of 34.1 percent for similar cities.
The further west you go in the United States, the fewer trees you’ll see in urban areas as forests give way to grasslands and finally, deserts.
Conservation organizations like American Forests recommend a tree cover goal of 40 to 60 percent for communities in forested areas.
“Density has a lot of benefits,” said Rob McDonald, lead scientist at the Nature Conservancy, an advocacy group. “It makes our cities generally lower-carbon as we use less energy, especially for transportation.”
Discover which towns in Delaware County and across the U.S. are the most tree-friendly — and explore The Washington Post’s interactive map showing tree density by ZIP code.
