Oak Tree
When I leave our appartmenthouse and step on the street, there is a huge oak tree on the pavement. It is old and big and is in the middle of asphalt. At the roots there is just soil. There could be plants and flowers at the roots and I have thought about the suggestion to put a bench there. But you would not want to sit there because of all the traffic. lt is too loud and smelly. There is a speed limit of 40 km but it seems that a lot of drivers do not follow it and drive faster.
Way To Kristiine Center
On my way to the mall I go through Tehnika street. It is an alley with old and big chestnut trees. They are nice to look at. And it is nice to walk underneath but the traffic is not nice. There are a lot of cars and it is loud and smelly. There is a traffic jam regularly. On one side of Tehnika there are the rails from the railway. The hill and a part of the greenery towards the pavement is just lawn. At the crossing there is some pavement and two trees are in the pavement. And there is a bench for the bus stop. On the other side of the street there is like one meter of soil and it is only interrupted by driveways. At the roots there is some grass growing. But nothing else
Right at the crossing one trees has been cut and you can see the the wood disk. It would be nice to grow a new tree there. I am sure the argument against it would be the sight for the car drivers but I think then they have to drive more slowly and more carefully. It would be a natural speed limit.
On one side of the pavement there is some greenery. It has not been cut this summer and some neighbours also planted some flowers there. The view was nice as there were some blooms. Behind one house there is some ground with plants and and old dead tree trunk. It would make a great wild space but now it just looks like a rubbish corner.
Near to Kristiine Center there is also lawn in the middle of the street. And there are some blooming flowers at the crossing. The area at the rails has also not been mowed in summer and it was full of blooms and flowers. I think it could be planted with some plants and flowers and low bushes because the drivers have the traffic light and some low plants would not disturb them.
All the green spaces are interrupted by streets. Tehnika has two lanes and only near Kristiine one pedestrian walk. Insects, birds and squirrels could cross the street via the crowns of the chestnut trees.
Corner Patch Tehnike/Paldisky
Across our appartment building at the corner of Tehnika and Paldiski, there is greenery with a triangle form. It has some lawn but also some trees and bushes near the next house. Half of it has been mowed in the summer the other half stayed wild and was a nice view. This patch could also be planted with plants and flowers and bushes. The street has here a speed limit of 30 km which is not really kept to. So some plants would maybe also make some natural speed limit.
Koidu Street
In Koidu Street there are trees in the middle of the pavement on one side and later on there are low growing bushes on the other side. The rest is all asphalt and concrete
Nearest Park
The nearest park to us is Hirve park which we can enter from the side of Pööbel. It is 550 m away and takes a nine minute walk to get there.
Mayeri Quater
On the other side of the railway there is Mayeri Quater. It has some green patches, too but they also look like garbage patches and are really not inviting to spend time there. Traffic is massive and loud and noisy. Maybe in the absolute back of the parking space of Mayeri you could put up a bench and have a nice patch but not at the moment. All the greenery looks like lost places.
Balcony
On our own balcony I started to plant flowers in the summer and after a couple of hours bumble bees started to visit the blooms and were regular guests after that. Also birds came to inspect the flower boxes. I choose the plants to my liking and taste and have no clue wether those are plants that are good for Estonia or wether they adapt to the climate or maybe are even bad for the normal regional fauna. But in future I will research the topic and will try to find regional plants that are good for the environment and the animals. Apart from the bumble bees we have not much insects in the city. When we have the balcony doors open and lights or TV on then there are hardly any insects coming inside. Maybe a fly once in a while and there has been a wasps nest at the water drain but thats it. Not much more.
Conclusion
So basically we have the situation that Merle described: There are trees and then lawn. But there is nothing in between. it looks quite green with all the trees and green patches but it is not really livly.