Our townhouse association has 30 year old ficus trees in each front
yard. They have been trimmed/shaved annually, to maintain a shape
like a wheel of cheese. They actually look quite nice, plus, they
provide a privacy shield from the street, a large measure of shade
from the burning desert sun (warmest, driest place in the US), and
they're habitat for a variety of birds. All good.

Our sister association just removed their ficus trees, citing a
handful of sewer and foundation problems. Even as our division is
about 5 years older, we've only had one incident, a garage floor which
was lifted. We're trying to shrug this off, because these mature
trees are well worth the maintenance expense... so far. Today, I saw
another previously unreported garage floor which is quite distorted
from ficus roots. Ruh roh.

Trouble is coming, no doubt. Removing them would have a huge impact,
so I'm a wishin' and a hopin' there is a way around that.

1. Is it possible to cut the creeping lateral roots, say, beyond the
drip line (stalling the problem for years to come) without killing the
trees?

2. If we have to remove them, we have to replace them with
something. Is there an ideal tree, which will grow up fast, be
reasonable to maintain, but not repeat the root invasion process?

Some of you with desert life experience are probably familiar with
this love/hate relationship with ficus trees, and have this figured
out. No?

TIA for any ideas.

Unc