Neighborhoods as stands in the urban forest

Abstract

To date, urban forestry has not developed a management approach that is suited to both the capacities of foresters and the realities of the urban context. Neighborhood stands are proposed as the organizing unit for such an approach. A neighborhood stand is defined as a component of the urban forest composed of contiguous trees, along with associated vegetative and environmental components that have relatively homogenous physical, biological, social and perceived characteristics. This paper reports the results of a study investigating the neighborhood stand concept by describing the variation in the character and perceptions of the urban forest in three neighborhoods identified by 22 community service workers in Syracuse, NY. A total of 261 interviews were completed in these neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are investigated for patterns with respect to: (1) household demographics; (2) evaluations of city-wide issues; (3) perceived neighborhood characteristics; (4) desired house and yard qualities; and (5) the physical condition of structures and vegetation. Several neighborhood-related patterns are found to exist. In particular, the perception of neighborhood quality is more related to neighborhood location than respondent characteristics and most related to the physical condition of the immediate surrounding environment.