Culver City Parks Task 8.1 Final Plan - Flipbook - Page 140
Figure 130. The tree canopy at Carlson Park offers a diverse mix of mature and healthy canopy tree species. Source: OLIN, 2024.
Urban Forestry and Tree Canopy
A dense, mature, and thriving tree canopy is crucial
to the success of the Culver City parks system and
city as a whole. Not only does a healthy urban forest
create a pleasant park setting for communities, but
it also helps reduce higher temperature from the
urban heat island effect, reduce energy costs, and
foster biodiversity within an urban environment.
The Culver City 2015 Urban Forestry Master
Plan documented the city’s urban tree canopy
at approximately 15,000 individual trees of 215
species.44 The top three tree species, accounting
for more than a third of Culver City’s urban tree
canopy, were Ulmus parvifolia (Chinese Elm),
Ficus microcarpa ‘nitida’ (Indian Laurel Fig) and
Washingtonia robusta (Mexican Fan Palm).45
Looking ahead, the draft General Plan 2045 specifies
the proliferation of an urban forest in Culver City
as a goal of the parks and open space across the
City to increase its carbon sequestration and lower
severity of heat island impacts among other health
benefits.46
Within an urban forest, shade connectivity is
important for both human and habitat health. A
study in the urban island effect conducted by the
EPA found that during the hottest summer months,
depending on tree species, about 10 to 30% of
the sun’s energy reaches the area below a tree.
This leads to cooler temperatures beneath trees
that allow for greater comfort for park users and
140 THE PLAN // SYSTEM SCALE
allow for a greater diversity for habitat formation
in a shady microclimate.47 Connected corridors
of shade, rather than isolated pockets of shade,
also create the most benefit. The LA Countywide
Sustainability Plan notes that LA County has an
average tree canopy coverage of 20%, and sets
a goal of increasing the baseline tree canopy by
20% by 2045. It also emphasizes the need for this
additional coverage to be distributed equitably
throughout the county.48 Based on a recent
aerial analysis of tree canopy, tree canopy cover
is uneven within Culver City and ranges between
12 to 35% depending on the neighborhood. The
neighborhoods of Culver that have the lowest tree
canopy coverage (under 20%) includes:
• Lucerne/Higuera neighborhood of the
Hayden Tract (12.3%)
• Clarkdale neighborhood (13.8%)
• Culver West neighborhood (17.4%)
• Washington Culver neighborhood (17.7%)
• Blair Hills neighborhood (17.8%)
• Jefferson neighborhood (18%)
• McManus neighborhood (18.5%)
• Blanco neighborhood (18.8%)
A few neighborhoods are right on the cusp of 20%
tree canopy coverage, such as Fox Hills (20.1%).49
Culver City parks can play an important role in
increasing canopy coverage.
