Top Green Cities
by Blake Frino
Wouldn’t it be great if we could say we live in the greenest city in the nation? Some of us may live within or on the outskirts of the top ten, but when it comes down to it, the real important factor is that each is taking green initiatives to make their city on the eco forefront.
According to Country Home magazine, Oregon ranks the highest with having some of the most green of green. For 2008, the top ten green cities/areas in America are as follows:
1. Corvallis, OR; 2. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR; 3. Bellingham, WA; 4. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA; 5. Boulder, CO; 6. Eugene-Springfield, OR; 7. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA; 8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN; 9. Bend, OR; 10. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, CA.
Before being top-notch green, Corvallis, Oregon, ranked #3 in 2007. As the first city on the West Coast to achieve the Green Power Community designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this achievement was met after the City Council passed a resolution encouraging residents to switch to green power. Increasing its green effort this past year, the city also purchases renewable energy.
In 2007, Burlington, Vermont, was named the Best Green Place to live in America, according to a joint study between Country Home and Sperling’s BestPlaces. Now, I don’t know how Burlington moved down on the list, but these cities are defined for not only their eco programs and projects, but also by how businesses, government and residents are taking action. Other cities moved up on the list, including the Portland area, which jumped from #40 to #2, while Santa Barbara moved from #37 to #10.
These studies are based on data discovered by Sperling’s BestPlaces, examining 5 major categories, including air and watershed quality, mass transit usage, power usage, farmers markets, organic producers, and the number of green-certified buildings. The research determines which metro areas are the best places to live a green life.
Each city is noticeably making plans for a greener lifestyle. However it may come into the grand scheme of things, green is no longer used just to describe a color because it’s become a way of life. If only there was a way to turn the list into some sort of contest, then every metro area would be fighting to be the greenest. How eco-fabulous that would be?!