More on Subways and Trees. A couple weeks ago I was writing about the subway train yard a few blocks down from my apartment on Emilio Mitre and Directorio. I finally saw a train yesterday being taken from the yard to the Primera Junta station on the A line. Luckily I had my camera on me. You can see the front of the train rounding the corner on Avenida Rivadavia. There's a meridian in the center of the avenue that has tracks that descend down to the underground subway station. Again, you can see how old the subway cars are on that line, and how odd it is to see a subway running the streets.

A couple weeks ago I was also writing about how there were a record number of complaints about out-of-control trees destroying sidewalks, patios and bathrooms around the city. Here are the testimonials from that newspaper article (translated by Google, so it doesn't read perfectly, but you get the idea). This is a street in Flores, a middle to working class barrio in central Buenos Aires. Look at how big the tree is (its probably 50-60 feet high, and that's not even really big compared to others I've seen) and all of the wonderful shade it provides for the house, sidewalk and street. Now look at the trunk (no, the trunk) of the same tree below.

It takes up more than half of the sidewalk and the roots are so big that they've cracked, undulated and warped the sidewalk on all sides. I didn't knock on the door of the house pictured, but for all we know the roots are coming up thru the floor and toilet there too. Supposedly the city is responsible for pruning trees and repairing sidewalks (home owners aren't allowed to do it), and it is simply overwhelmed by the number of complaints and amount of work, and has many bigger priorities. But to look at the trees and how much relief (from the heat) and life they give the streets - on this little walk to my spanish teacher's house I saw lots of people sitting on their front door stoops, lounging in front of their houses with the dog, etc ... - I like to think that people here appreciate the shade more than walkable sidewalks, so given the choice between big trees and safe sidewalks, the trees win. Plus, seniors here must have strong ankles and a great sense of balance, because they need to just to walk down to the store, which helps prevent hip fractures I suppose.