•HCON 240 IH 
Whereas streetscaping is an important component of sustain-
able, transit-oriented development efforts that help rede-
velop communities and neighborhoods, often including 
wider sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus pullouts, and improved 
on-street parking design; 
Whereas research has shown neighborhoods with trees have 
less crime than neighborhoods without trees and resi-
dents living in ‘‘greener’’ surroundings actually report 
lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities, and less violent be-
havior; 
Whereas streetscaping that incorporates trees, plantings, 
groundcover, and other green infrastructure helps reduce 
harmful carbon emissions and provide communities with 
cleaner, healthier air quality; 
Whereas streetscaping incorporates green infrastructure, in-
cluding tree plantings, permeable pavements, bioswales, 
and rain gardens, to promote effective stormwater man-
agement resulting in reduced runoff and cleaner water 
for communities; 
Whereas today, many communities are faced with severe 
flooding and combined sewer overflows; 
Whereas using green infrastructure is an effective and cost- 
efficient solution to this critical problem; 
Whereas streetscaping strategies that incorporate trees, 
plantings, and other green surfaces such as shade 
trellises, green roofs, green facades, and green walls miti-
gate the urban heat island effect; 
Whereas cities typically average 10 degrees hotter than sub-
urban areas and trees provide shade and give off water 
vapor to cool the city in the summer; 
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•HCON 240 IH 
Whereas in addition, shade trees reduce solar exposure to the 
pavement, reducing heat absorption and emittance while 
potentially reducing pavement aging and maintenance re-
quirements; 
Whereas homes shaded and insulated by nearby trees have 10 
to 30 percent savings in heating and cooling costs com-
pared to homes without nearby trees; 
Whereas similarly, heat island reduction strategies such as 
using open-grid paving or shading with deciduous trees, 
can reduce summertime heat islands while providing win-
tertime benefits to homes and buildings, such as mini-
mizing building heating requirements, resulting in annual 
energy savings; 
Whereas investments in green infrastructure in cities, includ-
ing streetscaping, and other green infrastructure tech-
niques yield green job opportunities in a myriad of pro-
fessions; 
Whereas streetscaping results in safer streets with reduced 
and more appropriate traffic speeds; 
Whereas street trees and plantings create vertical walls ele-
ments, and a defined edge to the street, helping motorists 
guide their movement and assess their speed; 
Whereas communities that retrofit poorly designed roads to 
become complete streets, adding sidewalks and bicycle 
lanes, reducing crossing distances and installing trees 
and other streetscape improvements make walking and 
biking safer and more inviting; 
Whereas the resulting safer streets have saved the lives of 
both pedestrians and motorists; 
Whereas streetscaping can help create multi-modal transpor-
tation corridors providing more transportation choices for 
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•HCON 240 IH 
communities by creating safer, shaded pedestrian walk-
ways and bicycle lanes and paths; 
Whereas research has shown that individuals want more di-
verse transportation systems that include pedestrian im-
provements, cycling improvements, and traffic calming, 
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) priority and road space 
reallocation, all of which streetscaping techniques help to 
achieve; 
Whereas home and business owners in neighborhoods that 
have incorporated comprehensive streetscaping strategies 
have often seen their property values increase by as much 
as 10 to 20 percent; 
Whereas streetscaping is good for business; 
Whereas several studies have found that people are willing to 
travel farther, visit more frequently, and pay more, on 
average 12 percent more, for goods and services in busi-
ness districts with trees; 
Whereas similar studies have concluded that the amount of 
time that someone stays in a store is longer if trees and 
landscaping are present on the streets and surrounding 
areas; 
Whereas best practices for streetscape improvement include 
fostering ‘‘walkable’’ street designs, encouraging coopera-
tion between public and private decision makers to im-
prove streetscapes, and educating the public, design pro-
fessionals, and developers about street design principles; 
and 
Whereas the fourth week in April would be an appropriate 
week to designate as ‘‘National Streetscaping Week’’: 
Now, therefore, be it 
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•HCON 240 IH 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) expresses support for designation of a ‘‘Na-
tional Streetscaping Week’’; and 
(2) urges that Federal, State, regional, and 
local 
policies 
encourage 
the 
utilization 
of 
streetscaping to ensure healthy, vibrant, multi-modal 
streets and communities across the country. 
Æ 
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