I had a laurel oak in my front yard and my grass was very sparse. When an arborist told me the tree was at a stage 3 of dying I had it cut down. Low and behold, my grass started coming back and now it looks great. The oak tree was taking all the moisture and leaving nothing for the grass.

Oak trees planted in urban settings often will destroy sidewalks. Yes, they are deep rooted but because of Sewers and other underground utilities there is less room for the root systems