A bus leaves the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-06-0719-1.jpg\")
\nA man and child run to catch a bus at the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-04-0719.jpg\")
\nA man makes his way to the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-01-0719.jpg\")
\nPeople at the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-03-0719.jpg\")
\nA man makes his way to the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-02-0719.jpg\")
\nPeople at the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-05-0719.jpg\")
\nPeople at the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Show Caption<\/p>\n
1 of 7<\/p>\n
A bus leaves the Sepulveda Station G Line station in Van Nuys on Friday, July 18, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n A new initiative, ShadeLA, launched by researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, aims to change that. The program brings together city, county, Metro and Olympics officials in an effort to expand the tree canopy<\/a> and other forms of shade where it\u2019s needed the most\u2014especially in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods and public spaces like sidewalks, schoolyards and transit corridors.<\/p>\n It is framed as a long-term investment in climate resilience, one that is timed to high-profile global events like the 2028 Olympics and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but designed to leave a legacy long after they\u2019re over.<\/p>\n But the barriers are steep\u2013and familiar. L.A. has no formal urban forestry plan. Tree planting is governed by strict spacing rules and fragmented oversight across city agencies. And while advocates welcome the attention ShadeLA brings, they caution that lasting change will require more than vision, it will require commitment.<\/p>\n ShadeLA, launched on July 16, is not a centrally funded program but a coalition. It\u2019s led by researchers at USC\u2019s Dornsife Public Exchange<\/a> and UCLA\u2019s Luskin Center for Innovation, with participation from the City and County of Los Angeles, LA Metro and the LA28 Olympics organizing committee.<\/p>\n The initiative also partners with a growing list of community-based organizations already working on shade projects across the region. Each entity is expected to fund and implement its own work, but the goal is to share data, avoid duplication and stretch limited resources, said Monica Dean, climate and sustainability practice director at USC Dornsife Public Exchange.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWhat we\u2019re trying to do is focus on quality, not quantity,\u201d Dean said. \u201c\u200aAnd what that means from our perspective is making sure the right type of shade is showing up in the place that it\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n In some locations, that means planting trees, Dean said. In others, where narrow sidewalks or dense infrastructure make that difficult, it could mean adding awnings, canopies or shade sails. \u201c\u200aIt\u2019s about using the right tool in the toolbox to add shade in that space,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The program\u2019s focus is fourfold: to expand shade in high-need public spaces, support long-term maintenance of both trees and structures, use data to target the most heat-exposed areas, and help residents and agencies act more easily by providing tools and technical guidance.<\/p>\n Researchers say they\u2019ll spend the next three years identifying priority sites, with a focus on hotter neighborhoods like Pacoima and Sun Valley in the San Fernando Valley, as well as South LA and East LA.<\/p>\n The goal is to deliver some shade improvements before the Games begin\u2014and keep building after they end.<\/p>\n Heat, Dean said, is often underestimated as a public health threat. While wildfires get more attention for their visible destruction, heatwaves are deadlier.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aIt\u2019s sort of this silent, invisible threat,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of our goals through ShadeLA is to help really bring shade planning to the forefront of how we think about infrastructure in Los Angeles. How can we make shade as common as a streetlight or as a fire hydrant? How do we make it available everywhere it\u2019s needed to keep people safe?\u201d<\/p>\n Making shade \u201cas common as a streetlight,\u201d however, may be easier said than done.<\/p>\n On the ground in the San Fernando Valley, where Olympic events will be held for the first time, some residents and advocates are skeptical\u2014not of the vision, but of whether the city can overcome long-standing challenges that have undermined past efforts.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThe idea of trying to plant anything now in time for the \u201928 Olympics, it\u2019s just too late,\u201d said Joanne D\u2019Antonio, chair of the Community Forest Advisory Committee, or CFAC, volunteers who advise the City Council on tree-related policies. \u201cI mean, trees here just aren\u2019t going to shoot up into shade that quickly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It typically takes at least a decade or more for trees in Southern California to grow large enough to cool a sidewalk or shelter a bus stop, she said. In the meantime, the existing canopy is still being lost\u2014to development, infrastructure upgrades and sidewalk repair.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aIt\u2019s a good thing to do, to plant trees, and it\u2019s certainly an even better thing to do right now \u2014 is to preserve trees,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re still cutting down trees.\u201d<\/p>\n One example, D\u2019Antonio said, is Metro\u2019s East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project, which is expected to remove 500 to 600 street and median trees along a 6.7-mile stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard\u2013a corridor identified as a tree equity area for its limited shade and high heat exposure. Advocates said replanting won\u2019t happen until the 2030s.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just Metro. Across Los Angeles, mature trees are routinely lost to development and street upgrades\u2014often without plans for immediate replacement.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThe city prioritizes development over tree preservation,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the majority of our trees get removed to build apartment buildings and other construction.\u201d<\/p>\n In parts of the Valley like Tarzana and Valley Glen, she added, longtime trees are vanishing as older homes are torn down and replaced with larger, higher-value developments.<\/p>\n That loss is happening across income levels, she said\u2014not just in neighborhoods typically flagged for low canopy coverage.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThere\u2019s parts of Van Nuys that are tree poor, but the whole Valley is sweltering,\u201d D\u2019Antonio said.<\/p>\n Even when there\u2019s space to add trees, city regulations often stand in the way. L.A.\u2019s spacing guidelines require significant clearance between trees and infrastructure like bus shelters, streetlights, driveways and alley entrances\u2014rules that are stricter than those in many other cities, researchers found.<\/p>\n For example, the City of L.A. recommends<\/a> 10 feet between a tree and a transit shelter.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe have rules that say you can\u2019t plant a tree near a bus stop, a bus shelter,\u201d D\u2019Antonio said. \u201c\u200aWe need to change those guidelines, so this project is more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n The distance required between street trees is also unusually large: 25 to 40 feet for small, medium, and large trees\u2014compared to a national minimum of 15 to 20 feet. According to a recent study by USC Dornsife researchers<\/a>, these are internal guidelines, not city law, and they could be updated.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-0719.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-005-0717.jpg\")
\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-004-0717.jpg\")
\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-003-0717.jpg\")
\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LDN-L-SHADELA-TREES-001-0717.jpg\")
\n