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Through the Cooling East Somerville project, the City of Somerville’s Sustainability and Environment Division is offering up to $5,000 for residents of East Somerville to remove pavement from your property and landscape the area with shade trees and plants.
Cooling East Somerville is funded by the Barr Foundation and led by the Cambridge Health Alliance, CultureHouse, and the City of Somerville. The program uses a multi-tier approach to tackle heat risks at the individual, community, and built environment levels so residents stay safe during the summer heat.
Why depave?
Paved surfaces like concrete and asphalt can increase summertime temperatures by up to 10 degrees (F) higher than unpaved, vegetated areas. Depaving can:
Give you space to plant shade trees and native plantings
Help cool homes by shading the sun and protecting against harsh winds
Lower electric bills from decreased air conditioning use
Add more plant life and improve air quality by removing air pollution and producing oxygen
Restore local habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife
How this works
1. Have a driveway in East Somerville? Or a paved over yard? Want to depave it or mostly depave it? Reach out to Elyse Belarge (ebelarge@somervillema.gov or 781-823-9332) to coordinate an initial site visit of your property and apply for this program!
2. If your property is eligible for this program and you receive conditional acceptance, Green & Open Somerville will work with you to depave your property! Your neighbors will come to manually depave and Green & Open Somerville will coordinate volunteers, dumpster permitting and fees, and food to help fuel the depaving.
3. Work with Elyse to decide what you want to plant in your new garden!
Through the Cooling East Somerville project, the City of Somerville’s Sustainability and Environment Division is offering up to $5,000 for residents of East Somerville to remove pavement from your property and landscape the area with shade trees and plants.
Cooling East Somerville is funded by the Barr Foundation and led by the Cambridge Health Alliance, CultureHouse, and the City of Somerville. The program uses a multi-tier approach to tackle heat risks at the individual, community, and built environment levels so residents stay safe during the summer heat.
Why depave?
Paved surfaces like concrete and asphalt can increase summertime temperatures by up to 10 degrees (F) higher than unpaved, vegetated areas. Depaving can:
Give you space to plant shade trees and native plantings
Help cool homes by shading the sun and protecting against harsh winds
Lower electric bills from decreased air conditioning use
Add more plant life and improve air quality by removing air pollution and producing oxygen
Restore local habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife
How this works
1. Have a driveway in East Somerville? Or a paved over yard? Want to depave it or mostly depave it? Reach out to Elyse Belarge (ebelarge@somervillema.gov or 781-823-9332) to coordinate an initial site visit of your property and apply for this program!
2. If your property is eligible for this program and you receive conditional acceptance, Green & Open Somerville will work with you to depave your property! Your neighbors will come to manually depave and Green & Open Somerville will coordinate volunteers, dumpster permitting and fees, and food to help fuel the depaving.
3. Work with Elyse to decide what you want to plant in your new garden!
