There are many beautiful streets in Pasadena, but it is hard to beat aptly named Green Street in the late summer heat of September. Driving east from Los Robles to Hill Street under the massive near-continuous canopy of majestic fichus trees, you can actually forget that it’s 97 degrees, itchy dry and more than a bit smoggy.
A thirteen-block micro-environment where the trees over-scale the modest one and two story commercial structures, the thick trunks forming a gnarly colonnade. Speaking of the generic buildings, thank God we have the trees. Walking under these dense specimens is also sublime, but you need to watch your step — while the beloved fichus makes for a wonderful urban ceiling, at ground level the species’ powerful, relentless root system destroys sidewalks, curbs and everything in its path. So, as ‘vehicular’ urban design, we give Green Street a good B+, but at pedestrian scale, the best we can do is a solid C.