Burlingame - City of Trees

Burlingame goes by the moniker "City of Trees" but I'm still amazed at the number of homes here with no trees on their property between the sidewalk and the street. Some homes have them covered up with brick or stone, others have just let the grass turn to weed or dirt. Somehow, there's no consistent enforcement of the "vision" of Burlingame as the city of trees which is surprising and disappointing. I know Burlingame trees have suffered from diseases and different streets are in various stages of regrowing their trees, but to plant nothing at all seems like a bad idea. There are plenty of folks who would donate trees, I think, to those who can't afford them, and the marginal extra upkeep required to keep that "street strip" maintained is hardly more effort than keeping the rest of a lawn maintained. For the cost of real estate here and the impression that trees make on a street and to property values, simply covering a homeowner's "street strip" with rock or brick is sort of like buying a new Ferrari and then painting it a dull, flat grey color. No one should do that and no one should neglect their street strip, either!