We love lists because they give us something to argue about. This one is no different. In fact, it’s almost schizophrenic. A study by Smarter Cities looks at the efforts of larger sustainable cities in the nation that are making progress. The winner: Seattle. With their new light rail, the Sightline Institute, and Mayor Greg Nickels’ leadership on the U.S. Conference of Mayor Climate Agreement, it’s no surprise. Using data by the EPA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and responses from the municipalities, the project scored them on ten different environmental criteria such as recycling programs to alternative energy to air quality. This is where it gets weird.

 

Image courtesy of wsdot.wa.gov.

Let’s be clear these are large cities “making progress” but why list Los Angeles? Or San Jose? Unfortunately, this sounds like a lot of hype to DTE. The forgotten component of sustainability is historical preservation: What’s there to preserve in Silicon Valley besides the way it ate up the Bay Area with sprawl and brought congested freeways over once-pastoral countryside? A few included viewed progress awfully different not long ago--- growth without thinking of long-term consequences. Hopefully, with municipalities turning to climate action and urban planners following suit, those mistakes are from a bygone era. Example: Dallas now generates 40 percent of its electricity from wind. To use a phrase, “the future isn’t what it used to be.”

Full list of cities after the jump.

 

 

1) Seattle

2) San Francisco

3) Portland

4) Oakland

5) San Jose

6) Austin

7) Sacramento

8) Boston

9) Denver

10) Chicago

11) San Diego

12) New York City

13) Los Angeles

14) Dallas

15) Columbus

Check out the study HERE.

---

---