By Antonio R. Harvey | OBSERVER Staff Writer
The Sacramento Tree Foundation (STF), the City of Sacramento, and Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), collaborated on the north side of the city last weekend to show why trees are vital to a new community.
Two dozen volunteers hosted a tree planting event to place 28 trees at Mirasol Village, Sacramento’s largest new affordable housing development in the River District.
At what was once the location of Dos Rios/Twin River public housing, the new trees are expected to produce shade, reduce energy bills, provide cleaner air and water, and “make it a loveable and liveable” place, according to Kimmy Boyle, STF’s NeighborWoods Project Coordinator.
“We’re bringing all our efforts on tree planting in these areas, specifically, to bring all the benefits of trees,” Boyle said. “And we wanted to focus on areas that have been traditionally underinvested or do not have tree canopies. So our job is to focus our resources and time in those areas such as (Mirasol Village).”
Mirasol Village is the replacement for Twin Rivers (formerly known as Dos Rios), a 218-unit housing development that sat on 22 acres. It was built in the 1940s on 12th Street, just south of Richards Boulevard. A new affordable 1-2-3 bedroom and market-rate rental apartment community, Mirasol Village will be a central part of the River District with 427 units, the addition of a 1.2 acre city park, community garden, fruit tree orchard and garden learning center.
The tree planting at Mirasol Village, along with Urban Greening Portion, is under the umbrella of Transformative Climate Communities (TCC), funded by California Climate Investments (CCI) and the Strategic Growth Council (SGC). The TCC program empowers California communities, mostly impacted by pollution, to choose their own goals, strategies, and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. SGC coordinates and works collaboratively with public agencies, communities, and stakeholders to achieve sustainability, equity, economic prosperity, and quality of life for all Californians.
The Urban Greening Portion is part of CCI, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment. All three entities combine funds for development and infrastructure projects that achieve major environmental, health, and economic benefits in California’s most disadvantaged communities, Boyle said.
For information about the Sacramento Tree Foundation and planting trees in Sacramento’s urban areas, contact Kimmy Boyle at kimmy@sactree.com