Based on the given passage, the writer's claim in this argument is that "Our town, once characterized by beautiful greenery, is beginning to look like a wasteland-all for the sake of commerce."
One piece of evidence supporting the writer's claim is the fact that "A new shopping area was just built on a wooded lot. The shade trees on the town's right-of-way should have been preserved
<h3>What is a Claim?</h3>
This refers to the statement or assertion about a given thing that needs to be validated as it can be either true or false, right or wrong.
Hence, we can see that from the given text, the given claim by the speaker is that the Shade Tree Commission which is responsible for the care and maintenance of trees growing on town property is not doing its job.
With this in mind, we can see that as a result of this negligence, wooded areas and trees have been cut down for commercial purposes.
Read more about claims here:
brainly.com/question/2748145
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