James_September-October_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 90
Roswell’s tree canopy, like
much of North Atlanta’s, is not
merely decorative. Mature trees
reduce summer temperatures,
absorb stormwater, improve air
quality, stabilize soils and provide
habitat for wildlife. These trees are
more important than affordable
housing mandates, and they are
more important than forced density. They represent decades, and
often centuries, of accumulated
natural capital that cannot simply
be recreated through landscaping
requirements attached to new
developments. Wooded residential
properties connect parks, streams
and river corridors, creating ecological networks with genuine environmental value.
Those benefits took generations to develop. A mature oak
cannot be replaced by planting a
sapling beside a new apartment
complex. A wooded two-acre
property does not retain the same
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ecological value after it has been
divided, cleared, graded and paved.
Yet many planners speak as though
density is inherently environmental regardless of where it occurs
or what must first be destroyed to
accommodate it.
PROTECT THE LANDSCAPES
In Atlanta’s leafy suburbs, conservation is not simply about preserving wilderness. It is also about
protecting the environmental value
of landscapes we have already
created. Atlanta’s leafy suburbs are
not environmental failures. In many
respects, they represent some of
the region’s most successful examples of long-term environmental
stewardship.
Affordable housing is frequently invoked as a universal justification for land-use changes. Yet
affordable housing has become an
industry in its own right, supported
by federal incentives and an eco-
JAMES SEPTE M B E R/O C TO BE R 2 0 2 6
system of developers, consultants,
nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups. That does not mean every city needs the same approach,
nor does it mean every established
neighborhood should be expected
to accommodate it. Good planning
recognizes that different communities have different needs.
Nor should officials pretend that
simply constructing more apartments automatically creates upward
mobility. Housing policy must consider management, schools, public
safety, infrastructure and long-term
neighborhood impacts rather than
treating the number of housing
units as the only meaningful measure of success.
The deeper issue is that affluent suburbs are increasingly portrayed not as products of successful
governance, long-term investment
and responsible stewardship, but
as communities requiring political
correction. Because their schools
