Top 25 Green Cities (because you know you wanted to know)

Just to cite my sources, I gathered the following information from The Green Guide (a National Geographic blessing).


The following is a list of cities with over 100,000 in population:

Highlights of the Top 25 Green Cities (Cities I am proud of because I used to live there)

1. Eugene, OR (score 9.0375, pop. 137,893)

     - Sustainable business incubator

     - Renewable energy supplying 85% of city's power

     - Extensive wetlands program

2. Austin, TX (score 8.5325, pop. 656,562)

     - Green Builder program

     - Smart growth initiative

     - Committed to solar power

3. Portland, OR (score 8.24, pop. 529,121)

     - Green building

     - Excellent public transport

     - Smart growth

4. St. Paul, MN (score 7.805, pop. 287,151)

     - Green space makes up a quarter of urban area

     - Significant greenhouse gas reductions

     - Affordable housing

5. Santa Rosa, CA (score 7.785, pop. 147,595)

     - Green building program

     - Clean air and water

     - Bicycle paths and lanes

6. Oakland, CA (score 7.3675, pop. 399,484)

     - Building local food production

     - Green building ordinance

     - Public transport

7. Berkeley, CA (score 7.285, pop. 102,743)

     - Green building requirements for municipal construction

     - Well used public transport system

     - Community gardens

8. Honolulu, HI (score 7.055, pop. 371,657)

     - Clean air and water

     - Biomass power generation

     - Green building standards

9. Huntsville, AL (score 7.035, pop. 158,216)

     - Green space makes up one-third of urban area

     - High public transport use

     - Excellent public education program

10. Denver, CO (score 7.0325, pop. 554,636)

     - Greenprint Denver, sustainability initiative

     - Large hybrid municipal fleet and nation's largest light rail system

     - Clean water and access to wilderness

11. Boston, MA (score 6.99, pop. 589,141)

     - Green building

     - Excellent public transport

     - Smoking ban

12. Lexington, KY (score 6.785, pop. 260,512)

     - Comprehensive growth management plan

     - Clean air

     - Smoking ban

13. Springfield, IL (score 6.7225, pop. 111,454)

     - Clean air and good water

     - Green design

     - Green spaces

14. Irvine, CA (score 6.72, pop. 143,072)

     - Comprehensive green building program

     - Smoking ban

     - Pedestrian oriented

15. Cambridge, MA (score 6.72, pop. 101,355)

     - High rate of public transport use

     - Green design

     - High percentage of green space

16. Anchorage, AK (score 6.705, pop. 260,283)

     - Excellent air and water quality

     - Smoking ban

     - High public health

17. Syracuse, NY (score 6.66, pop. 147,306)

     - Good air

     - Smoking ban

     - Commitment to reduce greenhouse gases

18. San Francisco, CA (score 6.6, pop. 776,733)

     - Municipal composting

     - Green design

     - High percentage of renewable energy use

     - Very high public transport use

19. Minneapolis, MN (score 6.58, pop. 382,618)

     - City-specific minimum wage

     - Smoking ban

     - High percentage of renewable biomass energy

20. Milwaukee, WI (score 6.5125, pop. 596,974)

     - Green housing development

     - Green space

21. Rochester, NY (score 6.43, pop. 219,773)

     - High percentage of renewable energy

     - Clean air

     - Smoking ban

22. Albuquerque, NM (score 6.3475, pop. 484,607)

     - Clean water

     - Smoking Ban

     - Wind power

23. Ann Arbor, MI (score 6.2875, pop. 114,024)

     - High percentage of public transport and bicycle commuters

     - High yard waste recover

     - Green space

24. Seattle, WA (score 6.115, pop. 563,374)

     - Large number of green buildings

     - Very high percentage of hydroelectric power use

     - Clean air and smoking ban

25. Kansas City, MO (score 6.055, pop. 441,545)

     - Clean water

     - City specific minimum wage

     - U.S. Mayors Climate Protection signatory

I was pretty surprised to find this list, but glad I did.  It's been a horrible day for me and seeing some of the cities I used to live in on the list of Green Cities is just nice.  It warms my soul to know that things are changing in the US.

Think about it.

Yay Kansas!

Growing up in Kansas, was not necessarily my idea of fun times, however, compared to where I call my hometown a farm in an even smaller town of Oklahoma, Kansas had it's bonuses for sure.  It was nice to have a mall nearby to torment during those teen years.  It was nice to have a movie theater close by in Kansas as well.  Compared to the 30 min or more drive that would be necessary to even find a Wal-Mart in my hometown.

During my high school years, I kept making a promise to myself (like all children of a small town) that I would one day move away and not look back.  I was determined to "Get the heck out of Dodge" as they say.  I was sure that the size of the town, the lack of opportunities, the gossip of the people there, the general small stuffy feeling was what was keeping me unhappy.  Come to find out years later, it doesn't really matter where you live, you can be happy or unhappy anywhere.  Happiness is what you make of it.

However, I have still felt that pulling teeth was what it would take to get me to move back.  There is truly nothing in Kansas for me now, just memories of the past which isn't what I necessarily want to keep re-living.  There is this one thing, that has brought the thought of moving back to my mind... This one thing that has made me think that maybe living and raising my children (someday) in Kansas wouldn't be such a bad idea.

What's this phenomenal one thing?  Greensburg, Kansas!  Here's the story (which you can read by clicking the link for more accurate detail), in 2007 a tornado tears up quite literally all of the town (95% per article).  The town (with funding) decides to rebuild in a better, more futuristic-ly focused way, they GO GREEN!  YAY KANSAS!

 

Greensburg, Kansas is the first official Green town in Kansas, and one of the first in the US to start this new trend of building all their buildings in a greener, less detrimental way to the environment.  So maybe this statement will make me seem really country, but even the John Deere Store in Greensburg is wind powered!  :)  It makes me happy to think that people are finally paying attention and trying to change the way we do things to make this world a better place, one thing at a time to make a bigger difference in the long run.

Not only has the rebuilding of the town gotten a lot of media hype and it's own reality show on a sister channel of Discovery with Leonardo DiCaprio as the Executive Producer, it's also creating more green jobs, which promotes the greener way of living.  By one town in the middle of nowhere (essentially) going green, they have literally caused a movement, opened the eyes of millions and gotten me to seriously thinking about moving back to Kansas, if only to live in one of the new green homes in Greensburg and work one of the new green jobs there as well.

Not saying I will move back, but it's definitely got me to thinking that Kansas might not be so bad after all.  As for now, perhaps other towns nearer to me will become greener and convince me to stay away from Kansas. ;)  I feel it is absolutely necessary for me to post this article however, if only to say "YAY KANSAS!"  I am thrilled at this movement, because I feel it is in the correct direction.  Yay Kansas!  Think about it.