I'm old enough to remember the stately old elms that lined the street I lived on in Chicago, and to remember them all becoming sick and dying, and then being cut down when Dutch Elm Disease hit. The street was like a tunnel covered over by trees and lit by sun filtering through leaves (and smog). They replaced the old elms with spindly little maples, which eventually became larger trees, but it was never the same. The apartment buildings fell into disrepair (they were pretty bad while I lived there. It was a poor, immigrant neighborhood.) Now, the neighborhood is gentrified. The old tenements have have been gutted, walls knocked out between apartments, and made into condos. 300+K would set one up nicely. But it'll never replace those glorious old elms planted in the early days of the city.
