I was just downtown getting a sandwich at the Deli, and saw that the beautiful tree (full of nests) on the San Benito Deli patio was butchered, and the city is cutting many more trees down on the nearby streets.  WHY?????

The Review carried a story on this back in early April:

http://hmbreview.com/articles/2009/04/01/news/doc49d39403065cf333158559.txt

I haven’t had time to look into this.  I can imagine the city engineer got tired fixing the sidewalks.  I’m not prepared to bet the new trees will be any substitute for what the original trees contributed to downtown.

Lining most of Main Street and some intersecting roads, the acacias are a poor choice for downtown greenery, according to City Engineer Mo Sharma. The trees have invasive, widespread root systems, Sharma said. And those roots have been uplifting the nearby sidewalk slabs, particularly along Mill Street.

At least four acacias along Main Street are also diseased and could fall over, according to an arborist the city hired. Strong winds took down one diseased tree near City Hall earlier this year. That one fell between two parked cars.

Sharma says the acacias will be removed in the coming weeks and will be replaced with trees more suitable for the downtown corridor.