Leaf Blowers Damage Belmont’s Environment

 Air Quality, Newsletter, September 2021  Comments Off on Leaf Blowers Damage Belmont’s Environment
Aug 232021
 
Leaf Blowers Damage Belmont’s Environment

By Barry N. Kaye and Brian Kopperl Have you ever been in your backyard on a beautiful day when the noise of the leaf blowers next door was so loud that you could not have a quiet conversation, you were dodging the flying debris, and the smell was enough to make you go indoors? Most of us agree that leaf blowers are annoying, but some of us may not know just how harmful they really are.    Gas-powered leaf blowers typically have noise levels of 80 decibels (dB) or higher, which the Centers for Disease Control states can damage hearing. [READ MORE]

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Shared Street has More Space for Trees

 Newsletter, November 2015, Parking, Traffic  Comments Off on Shared Street has More Space for Trees
Nov 062015
 
Shared Street has More Space for Trees

by Meg Muckenhoupt In October 2014, the city of Cambridge finished building its first “shared street” on Longfellow Road, a dead-end street across from Mount Auburn Hospital. One year later, the paving and plantings looked as if they’d always been there. . . and as if it is perfectly natural to have cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and dogs all in the same space. The project began in 2012, when Longfellow Road residents started considering how to repair their street and sidewalk. Several street trees were unhealthy, and needed to be removed—but new trees couldn’t be planted on Longfellow Road because the [READ MORE]

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