the Autumn Blaze does indeed grow significantly faster, I planted one of each at my dad's house in SE Wisconsin 4 years ago and the Autumn Blaze looks like it got a 5 year headstart!

I think they are both fine trees, the only problem with the Autumn Blaze is that it hasn't been around long enough to know for sure whether it's silver maple parent will result in it dropping limbs when it gets big and old, or whether it will behave more like a red maple.

but if it's in the parkway, I wouldn't even worry that much about it.

Well, the one kind grew faster THERE. One of each on one site is not much of a test. On another thread an October Glory growing 3 feet per year is mentioned.

Autumn Blaze = 'Jeffersred' was "Selected in the late 1960s" and has been "Much sold since its introduction ca. 1980" (Jacobson, NORTH AMERICAN LANDSCAPE TREES). Other kinds of Freeman maples have been put on the market as well, ones with comparatively narrow crowns are often planted in commercial developments out here (as are Callery pears). Many of the larger, older local examples are 'Armstrong', with poor fall color. Jacobson decribed 9 other Freeman maple cultivars in 1996. Nurseries often list such hybrid selections as pure red maples by mistake.

it has nothing to do with the location, it's the lineage -
the autumn blaze has a silver maple parent, and silver maples grow faster.

http://www.poplarfarms.com/autumnblaze2.htm

It really is catching on. We have grown over 40,000 Autumn Blaze® Maples in our nursery and are extremely pleased with their performance. We have planted them in all soil types including heavy wet muck, fine loam and heavy clay. It has performed well in all soils....

The rapid growth rate (2-4 times faster than rubrum maples) allows Autumn Blaze® to tolerate insect and disease problems such as leafhoppers and verticillium wilt that adversely affect some slower growing rubrum maples.

http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/Features/woodies/abmaple/abmaple.htm

Like its silver maple parent, Autumn Blaze grows quickly. The growth rate of this cultivar is about four times faster than that of a red maple. Under optimal conditions it can grow 3 feet or more per year. Eventually it will grow to 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide.

I've had Acer rubrum Red Sunset = 'Franksred' grow at least three feet per year, and I think some years really quite alot more. I didn't make a study of it, don't have exact measurements and dates. They were cut down because they were coming to dominate the back yard too much, mushrooming up quickly after some years of getting up a full head of steam (we have dry summers here and they struggled a bit at first, but then soon took over).

bb, the question was if Autumn Blaze grew significantly faster than the pure red maple cultivar, and it does.

The red maple also grows quickly as far as trees go, I also have a Red Sunset, and it is growing about 3 feet a year - but it isn't growing a crown anywhere nearly as full as the Autumn Blaze maples I've seen.

nuts4trees, I think surface roots are potentially problematic with any red maple, my understanding is they are worse with silver maples (my Chicago neighborhood is full of upheaved sidewalks from silver maples).

so if you aren't in that huge of a hurry, the red maple may be for you, it does as bb stated grow quickly, & you would certainly have a nice sized tree in 10 years.

Thank you both for helping me. It's been a hard decision. My village replaces parkway trees with Norway maples (as well as lindens, honeylocust, hackberry, crabapple, and, until recently, white ash) and they kindly let me opt out and supply my own alternate tree (subject to village approval), provided I pay for the tree and take care of the planting myself. So for $$ reasons I am getting a tree I can plant myself (around 1.5" caliper). That's why I am so interested in growth rates (it's hard to get used to tiny trees after having been surrounded by two particularly enormous ones.

I found an autumn blaze (1.5", maybe 2") with good crotch angles on sale at my local nursery that I am going to plant. I think if I were getting something larger (say 3.5") then I'd be more inclined to get the October Glory, but that's a good bit more money (for the tree + delivery and planting), and I'm already in the doghouse with my spouse for spending money on a parkway tree that could have technically been replaced for free!

It will be interesting to compare the growth of this tree to my next door neighbor's 3.0" norway maple that was planted 2 weeks ago to replace their former parkway elm. I'm hoping my tree will "catch" the norway in four years, and hopefully be close to twice the size in 10 years. I plan to take photos.

thanks again.

I can't believe any villages in this area are still planting ash and Norway Maples. They aren't listenting! Aren't there any arborists on their boards?