From Washington, D.C. to Detroit, Michigan, local U.S. organizations are restoring green space, reducing extreme heat, and proving that neighborhood-level action can have climate-scale impact.
You step outside, and the heat hits you like a wall. The sun beats down on your back, the air feels thick and heavy, sweat trickles down your forehead as you walk down cracked sidewalks lined with parked cars and brick buildings. The city feels different in the summer—hotter, heavier, harder to breathe. It’s like walking through a swamp, the heat clinging to your skin, the air refusing to move.
Nowadays, if you live in a city anywhere in the world you may already know this feeling. It’s not just a hot day. It’s the new reality of climate change—felt on every block, on every corner, in neighborhoods where trees are few and pavement stretches for miles, and where heat domes now intrude as far as Canada, northern Europe, northern Asia, and southern Argentina.
This isn’t a coincidence. It’s not just the weather. In the U.S.—the focus of this article—around 41 million people live in urban areas where temperatures are, on average, eight degrees Fahrenheit (about 4.4 Celsius) warmer, according to a 2023 study by Climate Central. For many, a shaded bench under a tree or a breeze slipping between buildings is a small but vital relief—relief that doesn’t exist everywhere.
Why are Cities so Hot?
It starts with tree coverage—or the lack of it.
In cities where green spaces have been stripped away and canopies replaced with concrete in the name of easier parking and walkability, the absence of trees has a measurable effect. Tree cover doesn’t just offer beauty or shade—it’s a strong buffer against extreme heat. Data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that temperatures beneath tree canopies can be up to 25 percent cooler. Air quality improves. Stormwater is absorbed. Wildlife returns. Trees are not just scenery; they are a shield against a warming world.
Without them, streets bake.
Palestine, Texas, downtown. Photo courtesy of Annette Olson.
Cities are built with materials like black asphalt, concrete, and dark rooftops—surfaces that absorb and radiate heat. This phenomenon is known as the surface heat island effect, where built environments become significantly hotter than surrounding areas.
There’s also the atmospheric heat island effect, which happens when warm air collects over neighborhoods with little tree cover and high levels of traffic and pollution. Without trees to cool and clean the air, the heat lingers, creating heavy, stifling conditions that can last for hours.
While scientists continue to debate whether the planet has officially crossed the 1.5°C (about 2.7°F) threshold, in many neighborhoods like these, it feels like we already have.
But heat in cities isn’t just a matter of discomfort. It’s a matter of equity.
Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are hit the hardest. These areas are often highly populated, dense, with fewer parks and trees. It’s not an accident—it’s the legacy of redlining, a discriminatory practice that denied these communities access to essential services and investment, shaping the concrete-heavy landscapes we see today. According to a 2020 study, redlined communities are, on average, 5.0°F (about 2.8°C) warmer. Without green spaces or updated infrastructure, these neighborhoods are less equipped to handle extreme heat and are slower to recover from climate shocks.
For too long, governments have turned away, leaving communities to endure the rising heat alone.
But change is possible—and it’s already happening.
How Change can Happen
Known once (and sometimes still) as “The City of Trees,” Washington, D.C. was imagined by the “Founding Fathers” (the original signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence) as a lush, green capital—lined with elms, oaks, and flowering dogwoods. But over the years, urban development and tree epidemics chipped away at that vision, leaving behind concrete where canopies once stood.
That’s where Casey Trees comes in.
Founded in 2001 by philanthropist Betty Casey, the nonprofit has taken up the charge to reclaim the city’s green legacy. With a bold mission to not only protect but to restore D.C.’s tree canopy, they’re planting trees to restore 40% coverage by 2032—and they’re almost there.
Washington D.C., Photo by Tomoki Iwata from Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/@tomokiiwata).
But Casey Trees does more than plant trees. They’re reimagining what urban neighborhoods can be—through cooling streets and helping communities heal. Through community planting days, education, government advocacy, and partnerships with both agencies and residents, they’re turning empty lots and neglected corners into living, breathing green spaces.
To learn more about their mission and day-to-day work, I spoke with Vincent (Vince) Drader, Casey Trees’ Director of Communications. Our conversation began with the organization’s roots—and the city’s environmental situation at the turn of the millennium. In 1999, D.C.’s tree canopy had plummeted from 50% coverage to 35%. “The situation became dire,” Vince explained, creating urgency around planting, protecting, and caring for trees citywide.
From the beginning, Casey Trees has focused on equity. Working with community partners and government support, they’ve prioritized planting in parts of the city where canopy coverage is lowest and the need is greatest. In East D.C., for example—where higher asthma rates, extreme heat, and storm runoff are more common—their work is helping residents breathe easier and feel cooler. “Tree equity across the city,” Vince told me, “means making sure the communities most impacted by climate and disinvestment are the ones receiving the most support.”
But planting is only part of the picture. “Tree care, education, environmental curriculum, and community outreach” are core to Casey Trees’ operational model. The goal isn’t just to fill neighborhoods with saplings, but to build long-term, climate-resilient ecosystems—and communities that are equipped to sustain them.
As we continued our conversation, Vince showed me thermal infrared maps of D.C.—striking visuals that reveal the city’s heat disparities block by block. In northeastern D.C., areas like Ward 5 experience soaring temperatures due to a lack of tree coverage. In contrast, the canopy-rich neighborhoods of Northwest D.C. stay dramatically cooler. The message is clear: trees aren’t just aesthetic—they’re infrastructure.
A map of trees by neighborhood, showing a lack of equity in tree cover. Washington, DC, https://www.treeequityscore.org/map, done in partnership with UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation.
Urban Tree Canopy and Land Surface Temperature in DC, Courtesy of Casey Trees.
Casey Trees’ mission hasn’t changed, but its methods have evolved. Today, the organization is working to strengthen tree protections through legislation and quality standards, ensuring that D.C.’s canopy doesn’t just grow—but endures.
We ended our call on a hopeful note. I asked Vince what people can do to get involved. His answer was simple: “Find one green space in your community to care for and protect.” Then he added, “If everyone did just that, we would be great.”
Continuing the Path to Transformation
Besides Casey Trees, other organizations across the country are working to restore urban tree canopies and rebuild the communities around them. One such example is found in the heart of the Midwest.
In Detroit, The Greening of Detroit, a nonprofit organization focused on urban reforestation and community revitalization, has spent more than three decades doing just that. Since 1989, the nonprofit has planted over 166,000 trees across the city through independent initiatives and collaborations with the City of Detroit. These trees do more than line streets—they cool entire neighborhoods, filter the air, absorb stormwater, and bring life back to blocks once left behind. Much like Casey Trees, their work is a reminder that planting trees isn’t just about beautification—it’s a tangible tool for public health, climate resilience, and community renewal.
Screenshot of the Greening of Detroit’s website
Detroit’s canopy loss tells a story. Between 1950 and 1980, the city lost an estimated 500,000 trees—the result of aggressive urban development, the spread of Dutch elm disease, and decades of economic decline. What overlapped with this was a long period of environmental neglect that impacted the community. According to a recent study by The Economy League, a Philadelphia-based think tank, between 1950 and 2010, an estimated 61% of the population left the city—leaving neighborhoods stripped not only of shade and green space, but of jobs and housing too.
The Greening of Detroit was founded by Elizabeth Gordon Sachs, a passionate advocate for the city, who rallied residents to reverse the devastating tree loss through nonprofit action. Their work is rooted in the idea that trees are more than landscape—they are infrastructure, protection, and possibility. In neighborhoods long deprived of investment, new tree canopies are cooling streets, reducing flooding, and offering tangible relief in the face of rising temperatures.
But the impact goes beyond the environment. The organization also provides education programs, cultural activities, and neighborhood cleanups—all designed to deepen community connections through care for local green spaces. One of its most impactful efforts is its workforce development program, which trains residents in land stewardship and green industry skills, creating job opportunities that grow alongside the trees they plant.
While Detroit still faces a long road ahead, The Greening of Detroit offers a clear and hopeful roadmap—one rooted in trees, community, and the belief that urban forestry can be a powerful force for renewal.
Solutions
So the question remains: What can each of us do to restore our neighborhoods, curb rising temperatures, and make our communities more livable? How do we take matters into our own hands—and begin to transform the neighborhoods that need it most?
Foremost, the most critical step in community revitalization is simple: start planting trees in your yard and neighborhood. But before digging in, there are a few key guidelines to keep in mind. In most cases, you’ll need a permit to plant on public property—such as sidewalks, parks, or medians. Even on private property, it’s essential to check with utility providers before digging to ensure safe planting. It’s also crucial to consider local infrastructure and underground utilities to ensure the tree can grow safely and unobstructed. Finally, check which species are native or approved for your area; many cities maintain an official list of recommended trees—and be sure to ask about heat-tolerant varieties that can thrive as temperatures rise. In short: contact your local government, learn about permits, review site regulations, evaluate the planting location, and choose the right tree.
Photo by Freepik.com
Beyond planting trees, there are several powerful initiatives that help restore neighborhoods and cool our cities. One simple and effective step is scattering native wildflower seeds. Instead of relying solely on trees to introduce greenery, residents can distribute wildflower seed packs across neglected plots. It’s a small act that yields big returns—beautifying the area, attracting pollinators, cooling microclimates, and absorbing stormwater. It’s also highly accessible, often low-cost or free at community events, and requires no special tools or training.
Another grassroots approach is guerrilla gardening—the transformation of vacant or abandoned lots into green oases (strongly recommended: ideally, gain consensus with the community and local government before proceeding). Start by identifying underused spaces in need of care, and bring them to life with wildflowers, native plants, shrubs, or even small vegetable beds. Turning ‘gray’ spaces into ‘green’ ones empowers neighbors to reclaim their environments, address climate inequities, and redefine what’s possible in the heart of a city—but it’s important to ensure that these efforts comply with city regulations and respect private property rights to avoid legal issues and liability.
And finally, for those ready to dive deeper, consider joining a neighborhood cleanup crew, a local climate action group, or getting involved with green roof projects to help make your community more sustainable. These gatherings—often held on weekends—focus on removing trash, planting vegetation, and maintaining shared green spaces, all of which create healthier conditions for trees to thrive. Volunteering with organizations like Casey Trees or The Greening of Detroit is a great way to get involved and support these efforts.
Photo by DC Studio from Freepik
Every act counts. Whether it’s planting a tree, tossing wildflower seeds, or cleaning up a corner lot, these actions create ripples that reach neighbors throughout the community. And when they’re shared—neighbor to neighbor, block to block—they become the foundation for something bigger: a more livable, equitable, diverse, and climate-resilient future.
Dexter Zapf is a rising senior at Trinity College Dublin majoring in Business and Spanish, with a focus on ethical business practices and sustainability. He is dedicated to revitalizing neighborhoods through sustainable initiatives, working toward a greener, healthier, and more equitable future. He is a summer intern here at Climate Steps.
Sources hyperlinked above:
https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/urban-heat-islands-2023
https://www.climatecentral.org/
https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/what-are-heat-islands
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/redlining
https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/8/1/12
https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-and-health-socially-vulnerable-people
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901125000371
https://caseytrees.org/2025/02/our-work-in-progress-and-successes/
https://www.greeningofdetroit.com/
https://americanforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/AF-CS-Detroit.pdf
https://www.economyleague.org/resources/detroit-past-and-future-shrinking-city
https://www.economyleague.org/
https://www.greeningofdetroit.com/home
https://www.greeningofdetroit.com/adult-training