Larix as street tree

What do you think of this idea? This small city (Black River Falls) of about 5000 lined their downtown business district with Larix, but I'm not sure of the species. They seemed to be doing fair, with one dead and another showing stress. Would any of our resident conifer experts have any idea what it might be? I know the picture of cones is fuzzy but I figured y'all need a challenge. I can't imagine using L. laricina for a difficult spot like this, and would guess its either decidua or kaempferi.

Pic #2

Pic #3

Actually, the cones do look like L. laricina, though I can't be certain with them being blurred (can you get a better pic? Try putting a piece of paper immediately behind the cones, so the camera doesn't have anything more distant to autofocus on?)

Pics of Larix cones:
http://www.pinetum.org/cones/LAcones.htm

Resin

That's a different idea. I wonder if they will be able to survive being under pavement and sidewalk...

It would make sense (sort of) that they are L. laricina. They're cheap, native and survivors. Although they can grow in standing water, they also can tolerate dry. The situation is similar to the line of Taxodium distichum down the median of US Rt. 13 just south of Salisbury, MD. Some have been butchered to accomodate traffic, but the trees are over 40yrs old and most are in decent shape. They stand in a strip 10-20ft/3-6m wide bounded by a 4 or 6 lane highway, with crossovers, turn lanes and attendant highway accouterments.

Still, I too doubt the tree can stand the extreme demands asked of it in the first 2 pics. At the very least, these trees become wide and multitopped in old age and there is no room even for the crown of a dogwood. Long before that though, they will heave the sidewalk. These things make a large butress of roots near the trunk, and the small area alloted for that will not suffice.

I always thought that evergreens would look good in cities, but the uses may be more limited in some places because the form can block signs.

Many decidious non-conifers are easier to raise the canopy, up and away from signs. But the pyramidal form of several conifers would cause a spread of width down low.

But all-decidous does look a bit boring in winter in downtown areas.

Well, let me be the first to say it: in this situation, these trees may be 'interesting' and 'different', and that may have been the reason behind them being planted as street trees; however, whatever the reason, they look out of place and ubsurd. I keep thinking of "Charlie Brown's Xmas Tree"...

Of course, they appeal to me more than the hundreds of Bartlett Pears my town decided to plant downtown. The sad truth is, we have a resident arborist on the city payroll, and South Lyon is designated as a tree city! This summer, this same clown had 10' Sycamore trees planted as street trees in my neighborhood, several of which were planted directly under the electrical wires. The guys who planted them placed them too deep in the hole, left the burlap and cages on, and then burried them in volcano's of mulch. What a waste...