Hyde Park Master Plan...and speaking of trees...

I warned you all about my busy week. Still, I feel compelled to apologize for this blog's sparsity.

Accordingly, since the City of St. Louis website is so unfriendly and doesn't do a good job advertising its content, I found this Hyde Park Master Plan worth a click (it's for the Park itself, not the neighborhood). All the necessary elements are to be found: creating a better entryway and gathering space right off of Salisbury, renovating the old fishing pond in the northwest corner; planting new trees, ridding of sick/dead ones...

While we're on that topic, does anyone know why the city has chopped down several trees in the median on River des Peres Blvd.? My mother called me today to ask me why, figuring I'd know. She said it looks like a murder scene: there's been a tremendous loss to the beauty of this stretch. If it's true, it's very unfortunate to hear. Can anyone confirm?

I expect it's because some of the trees are really close to the roadbed and just don't agree with wayward and speeding drunk drivers.