Do You Live In One of the Greenest Cities?
I don’t know if we’ve ever discussed this - how can you find out if you live in one of the greener cities in the country? How about out of the country? Well, different places have complied lists with varying results. Who you believe depends on if you like their methods, have insider info, or just plain do or don’t trust a source.
That said, here are some places you can look:
America’s 50 Greenest Cities: This list complied in February by Popular Science, used a fair methodology (I’d say), ranking cities on issues like energy methods, transportation, number of building certified green, green spaces available, recycling, and green perspective. The green perspective one is a little funky - is there a test for that, but overall a good list. Bonus they offer six case studies on “How America’s Greenest Cities Got Green.”
15 Green Cities: This list was done by Grist and they explain their findings on a case by case basis. This list spans the globe from Reykjavik, Iceland to San Francisco, California to Vancouver, Canada.
379 Best Green Cities in America: Country Home did this list, although 379 seems random and not very useful of a number to me. Also no methodology listed (um ?) but anyhow this is a big fatty list. Helpful if you really are looking to live in green city # 256 or something.
The 10 Greenest Cities in America: By TreeHugger on MSN City Guides. This is a good detailed report, made cooler by the inclusion of nice pictures and two other reports; 5 Cities That Need Help Getting Green and 5 Cities That Are Greener Than You Think. Although, I do disagree with the writer who notes that Albuquerque is greener than you think. No, it’s really not. Maybe you have to live there to get the full effect but I don’t consider having to fight for recycling rights and living near Sandia really all that green. It’s not the worst city ever, but way not better than you think.
Our own Unplugged Living here at b5media has two world wide informative posts going on; In Terms of Environmental Conditions, Best Place To Live Is… and Cleanest and Greenest Places In The World. Both are good reads.
Now, what do all these lists have in common? My hometown made all of them. Well, except for Noel’s at Unplugged Living (and it doesn’t cover the U.S.). I agree that Portland, Oregon is pretty green. There are some things I’d work on like carpooling, and urban sprawl (rumored to be under control - but I don’t see it) but people’s attitudes are seemingly ok and the recycling programs (including thrift stores) are top notch.
How does your city fare?
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POSTED IN: Greenest Cities, Sustainable Building
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