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Chicago / 25th Ward

Department of Streets and Sanitation running behind on planting trees for the 25th ward

While slashing 51 positions due to budget cuts, only a third of CHI 311 requests this year have been assessed by the department

West 21st Street residents were responsible for the bulk of “completed” requests for this year’s CHI 311 reports. There are many trees in this Pilsen street, contrasting with surrounding streets. Gabriel Castilho, Oct. 23.

Trees and vegetation in urban areas are beneficial, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. They help minimize summer heat, improve air quality and decrease socioeconomic inequality and drainage problems.

Through the CHI 311 service, Pilsen residents can request trees be planted on their sidewalks. According to the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, out of the 276 tree planting requests filed this year, only about a third have been completed – a 32 percentage point decrease from last year’s.

Claudia Galeno-Sanchez, executive director of the Women for Green Spaces organization, coordinates tree planting requests with neighbors and organizes volunteer planting initiatives. She said Pilsen’s future lies in high canopy trees and less concrete.

“On the North Side, where there are more white people [and] people with money, the parks are more beautiful [and] the trees are bigger,” Galeno-Sanchez said. “Our neighborhoods of poor people, people of color [and] low income people … [don’t] have the same tree canopy.”

Byron Sigcho-Lopez, alderman for the 25th ward, said with the budget shortcomings, tree planting initiatives become secondary.

“I think we got a lot of volunteers,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “I think there’s a lack of political will sometimes in the city to make sure those plans are executed, and for those plans to continue to be prioritized.”

According to the Better Government Association, the department saw a net decline of 51 positions in 2025, with the majority being general laborers, after the $4.5 million budget cut. Last year the department cut 39 positions.

Despite the cuts, Claudia Galeno-Sanchez said Pilsen is now a priority for the city when it comes to planting trees. She said her organization recently received a $16,000 federal grant through the Morton Arboretum to make 100 tree planting requests.

Helena Ortiz, a stay-at-home mother of three who lives in Pilsen, volunteered for one of Galeno-Sanchez’ tree planting projects. She said she worries about the lack of trees in her neighborhood as it might pose respiratory and other health-related risks, so she decided to volunteer herself to the initiative.

“It was a very beautiful learning experience,” Ortiz said. “It was the first time that I shared this experience with her and I really liked it.”

For a tree to be planted, volunteers must make sure the location has no gas or water lines running under it; it is not very close to the sidewalks; and it does not have electricity cables above, Galeno-Sanchez said. Requests that do not take those factors into account will still result in a “completed” status, but not on a planted tree.