Downtown Street Tree Master Plan & Design Guidelines

“Increase tree canopy 50% by 2030”

The El Paso Tree plan is intended to establish the vision and provide strategies necessary to increase the urban canopy, create comfortable pedestrian environments, and implementing green infrastructure strategies.

Working with the City of El Paso, a series of goals have been established and divided into the three broader categories of environmental, community and agency.

Situated within the Chihuahuan Desert, the City of El Paso has transitional climate where cool nights meet hot dry days. El Paso receives the majority of its average of 297 days of sunshine versus the national of 207 days. With an average high temperature of 95 degrees in July, finding opportunities for shade are critical to attract residents and visitors to the Downtown area year round

Why develop a Master Plan?

The El Paso Downtown Tree Plan will help the City to:

  • PLAN for a growing and sustainable urban forest using industry best planting and storm water practices

  • EDUCATE the community and partners about the benefits of a healthy urban forest, and what that can look like in the arid Southwest

  • EVALUATE the needs of projects on a block-by-block scale, and as a cohesive whole

  • SUPPORT the goals set forth in this document as they embark on the future projects

The Process

In the fall of 2021, the City of El Paso engaged Surroundings, a landscape architecture and planning studio, to undertake the development of the El Paso Downtown Street Tree Master Plan. While previous efforts had focused installations on a tree-by-tree basis, this Master Plan will create a comprehensive guide that is aimed to propel the City of El Paso towards creating a more sustainable urban forest across its downtown.

El Paso Background

The Approach

The El Paso Downtown Tree Plan is intended to guide the development of future projects in support of the City’s long term vision and goals. This Master Plan is intended to aid in the following long-term, and ongoing development processes: Be an easily available and visible tool for making and refining project development related decisions.