Beautification

Beautification makes Carbondale more welcoming to prospective home-buyers and businesses and is sign of economic well-being.  Keep Carbondale Beautiful actively encourages beautification of residences and businesses through the Bright Spot Award and by providing native trees and shrubs at our Tree Sale. Even if a city is entirely functional and livable, there is always something additional to be gained when efforts are taken to enhance aesthetic value through buildings that enhance neighborhood pride and through well-maintained greenery. 

Go to Tree Sale page.

Can we have too many trees?!?

Each year, KCB devotes a chunk of its grant money to planting more trees along the streets of Carbondale.  According to James Howard Kunstler, there are four functions of street trees: 
  • to spatially denote the pedestrian realm
  • to protect pedestrians from vehicles in road
  • to filter the sunlight onto the sidewalk
  • to soften the hardscape of buildings and create a ceiling over the street/walkway
​The Year the Monarch Didn’t Appear
Check out this article from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/sunday-review/the-year-the-monarch-didnt-appear.html?_r=0
.
Garden Tours
First Sunday of June - watch for details.  "Ticket" is a brochure with photos, descriptions, and a map.  Gardener(s) on site to answer questions.  Send us your recommendations of beautiful gardens in and around Carbondale.  
Picture
2015 - Dagmar Sami's back garden
--KCB's Alternatives to Lawns workshop was held on July 30, 2016 and included various approaches.
​
Beautification projects - ongoing.  
--KCB's Garden on Grand.  Our native Plant Garden at Grand Avenue and Piles Fork Creek highlights the start of the Greenways Pedestrian/Bike Trail.  It has also reduced litter in and around the creek.​

What would you do to make Carbondale more beautiful?

On November 4, 2013,
months of surveying Carbondale residents
​culminated in a Town Meeting.

The participating groups generated 49 ideas.  The top 5 were:
1.  Bury lines (phone/power) and use Streetscape planning (downtown and all around town)
2.  Plant flowering trees at 4 major entrances to Carbondale (13 E&W/51 N&S)
3.  Add plantings to medians (Mill Street and 51)
4.  Conduct Sustainability Assessment for Carbondale (Whole city)
5.  Create a Dog Park (in Carbondale)

A1:  View or download the final report.

A full report was sent to the Carbondale City Council and the Downtown Advisory Committee.