Phoenix Looking To Trees — And Buildings — For More Shade To Cool The City

By Mark Brodie
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2018 - 2:43pm
Updated: Thursday, July 19, 2018 - 4:02pm

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ASU Beus Center for Law and Society Downtown Phoenix
Mark Brodie/KJZZ
Parts of Phoenix are made in the shade, both natural and constructed.

Climate has always been one of Arizona’s selling points, but this time of year, it can feel like more of a downside.

There are efforts to deal with the heat and, in some cases, reverse the warming trends. Over the next few weeks, The Show will look into some of them — starting with Phoenix’s new Tree and Shade and Urban Heat Island Subcommittee.

Among other tasks, it’ll look at how well the city’s tree and shade master plan is being implemented and whether they can benchmark progress on the plan — to get 25 percent of the city under natural or constructed shade.

Sarah Porter, the subcommittee’s chair, said the panel hopes to make recommendations to the City Council by next spring. The Show met Porter downtown, sitting underneath a building’s overhang, with lots of trees nearby.

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