Welp, we already know that guns kill people, in the minds of the gun-grabbing left, that is, but according to a suburb of Houston, a city which has one of the nation’s highest violent crime rates, crime can be reduced… by planting trees. To that end, Alief, Texas, is going to plant 1,200 trees — at a cost of $2 million.
Sound far-fetched? Here’s the deal, as reported by ABC13 Houston (KTRK):
Alief is throwing shade at crime in hopes that planting new trees will help protect the neighborhood. The Alief area will soon be home to 1,200 new trees, and those planting them say the trees will not only beautify the streets, but help protect them as well.
You may be wondering, how can trees help prevent crime? A study published in the Journal of Public Economics found that when temperatures go up, crime does, too.
According to Harris County Precinct 4, Alief averages 10 degrees hotter in the summer months than well-shaded areas of Houston. Alief has only an 11% tree canopy, compared to the Houston average of 33%.
Color me “skeptical.” But then again, I’ve never figured out how guns decide to kill people, either.
Someone who isn’t skeptical is longtime Alief resident and president of Clayton Homes Home Owners Association, Terry Jones. She told KTRK she thinks planting more trees will “be a big help.”
If we can cool things off, give people something to do that’s outside that’s going to engage them. The commissioner has so many projects that are in the works. There’s going to be public art. We’re improving the parks.
Sure, okay. But it gets even better, according to Barbara Quattro, president of Alief’s Super Neighborhood Council, who also believes the “broken window theory” applies:
If the place looks ugly and barren and it looks like nobody cares for it, nobody will care for it. I think that encourages crime. It encourages vandalism. Trees are a win-win for everybody. They not only look good, but they make the place look good, and people respect it more.
In theory, maybe there’s a sliver of logic in Quattro’s argument, but in reality, the out-of-control crime rate in Democrat-controlled cities throughout America makes the whole thing moot, in my not-so-humble opinion, and I think the “10 degrees hotter” argument relative to the crime rate is just plain silly.
According to KTRK, the aforementioned 1,200 trees will be planted along 17 miles of Alief-area roads. And the $2 million price tag I mentioned, at the beginning? It’s coming from Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion, ridiculously-named, “American Rescue Plan.” Translation: Your hard-earned tax dollars at work, America.
All 1,200 trees should be planted by 2025, so if the good people of Alief can manage to keep themselves from getting robbed, or worse, for the next couple of years or so, they should be in the clear — er — in the shade, that is.
No word from Alief if it’s also working on a follow-up program with shrubbery that stops guns from killing people.
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