The City of Jeffersonville’s Planning Department was thrilled to be a partner with Louisville Grows on their first-ever tree planting project in Indiana.
Volunteers and staff of Louisville Grows gathered in small groups to plant 110 new trees in three designated areas of central Jeffersonville. Over the years, these trees will grow and help to replenish a diminishing urban tree canopy in these neighborhoods thereby reducing the urban heat island effect, improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, and beautifying our streets.
In recent years, Jeffersonville’s central neighborhoods have started seeing significant tree canopy loss as many of the trees that were planted when these neighborhoods were first built have reached the end of their natural life cycle. Numerous studies have shown that neighborhoods with fewer trees tend to lose value over time compared to those with many trees, so it is highly important that we are constantly replenishing our tree canopy in order to improve the health and value of these neighborhoods. While this project only begins to address the need for more trees in our community, we hope that it helps to draw attention to this need and encourages others to plant trees as well.
Locations
For this planting project, the Planning Department has specifically focused on providing trees to enhance the pedestrian experience for those walking to parks and schools in Central Jeffersonville. These include areas around:
- Lottie Oglesby Park, Bridgepoint Elementary School, and Sacred Heart School,
- Poppy Park and the Jeffersonville Aquatic Center, and
- The Samuel G. Shannon Memorial Park/Ballfields and Parkview Middle School
It is the department’s hope that these trees will help provide additional beautification and shade for all those who walk to and from these community centers and incentivize more pedestrianism in these areas.
For over a decade, Louisville grows has focused on their mission of “growing greener, healthier neighborhoods” throughout the City of Louisville where they have planted over 3,000 new trees. The City of Jeffersonville’s Planning Department is excited to work with Louisville Grows to bring this mission to Jeffersonville with funding provided by the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, the Jeffersonville Urban Enterprise Association, and fees collected by the City of Jeffersonville from private developers. This unique collaboration acknowledges that the need for trees in the Louisville Metropolitan Area is not confined to a single jurisdiction or one side of the Ohio River.
Hello,
My name is Joshua Weber and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for my Amazon in Shepherdsville. I am to coordinate volunteers to assist with planting and gardening. 5-10 opportunities for April 24th 2024 as we have members of our facility that live there and I would like them to have the opportunity to have a positive impact in the community they live.