Thanx SunkenCiv !
Heh... the main reasons for the increase in tree growth is, we use hydrocarbons for heating (either directly or indirectly) much more than Americans did 100 years ago, and burn far less wood; and of course, the abandonment of draft animals by most farmers and the use of various chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, plus scientific plant breeding have combined to reduce the amount of land under cultivation per capita. The trees have grown back.
It’s noticeable in my old hometown just since my youth.
It’s also amusing to see the vintage photos of some of the streets (the photos that survive) — not only no big trees circa 1900, almost no trees at all. The trees that are now big and shading the neighborhoods — as well as those which have deteriorated and been taken down, or blown down in storms — can be seen in the photos as small saplings, planted a handful of years earlier.