[Via Chicago]

ash definitely did make up a portion of it, although the trees were beginning to rot even without that. and the cruel irony is that ash were chosen to replace dutch elms. the real solution is not relying on any one variety.

some were still healthy, but lots of homeowners also have a fear of branches falling in storms, etc., so they pre-emptively take them down. my parents house had 5 old growth trees surrounding it when i was young. as a kid, it felt magical. today there are zero. the rest of the block is a similar state. my parents did finally put some new ones in, but the varieties they chose will likely only grow to be 40 ft max. And most other homeowners havent made any effort at all to replace.

again, those sorts of intangibles really do have an impact, but it requires stewardship. theres no way around the fact that when a 100 year old tree comes down, it irreversibly changes the character of that block. (and sadly i doubt we will have trees like that again in parkways, just due to how much more infrastructure is now buried underground compared to when they were planted)