Public Stormwater Management with Green Streets

The dangers of stormwater are often overlooked until it is too late. Floods are the most regularly occurring and damaging threat to the built environment, compared to earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires. Due to the impervious nature of today’s landscape and outdated infrastructural practices, floods are detrimental. Overflow events can occur during heavy rain events, which will result in environmental damage. With the onset of climate change and prediction of higher amount of precipitation, immediate actions must be taken to drastically reduce the impact stormwater can have on the environment.

One of the current trends in landscape architecture for managing stormwater is called ‘Green Streets’. Green streets are modified roadways that utilize green infrastructure retrofits within the right-of-way. The modification allows the public right-of-way to treat stormwater, and alleviate the pressure many cities face to reduce and eliminate future overflow events. Compared to costly investment for long-term control solutions, green streets are affordable. However, green streets are subject to both physical and institutional limitations, which have contributed to its slow development.

The objective of this thesis is to investigate and evaluate selected cities based on their green streets efforts. Each city is given a rating score based on the criteria set forth by the metric developed for the thesis. The metric is not meant to pit one city against another- it is to identify and inform which criteria each city currently achieves and which they can improve upon. This thesis is meant to be used as an informative guide on what it takes to implement green streets if no such program exists. It will provide recommended strategies that a city can implement in order to develop a robust green streets program.