The 10 Greenest Cities in America

This list has a few surprises! For more on green cities, check out my trails on the 5 cities that need help getting green and the 5 cities that are greener than you think!

Austin’s growing list of proactive energy maneuvers is, to say the least, striking. Not only does Austin lead the country in wind power and biodiesel production, but it has built advanced plug-in hybrid vehicles into its energy strategy.

For such a small city, Berkeley, Calif., packs a potent green punch. For starters, its 100,000 residents fit in a remarkably compact space, creating one of the highest population densities in the state: An average of almost 10,000 people per square mile. Berkeley also has one of the highest rates of pedestrian and bike commuting, and special biking boulevards interlace the city. Congestion can be a problem, but a city-run online car-sharing network helps keep traffic down. Nestled right up alongside it, U.C. Berkeley certainly sheds its fair share of limelight on the city. In classic U.C. Berkeley style, the university was the first both to draft standards for nanotechnology research and to have a certified organic cafeteria. Earlier this year, U.C. Berkeley was one of the recipients of a mammoth grant, mostly backed by British Petroleum, which has helped propel it to the forefront of the clean-technology race. The $500 million grant will help create the Energy Biosciences Institute to research and develop new energy resources through biotechnology.

If your plane arrives at Logan Airport’s Terminal A, you’re experiencing Boston’s green building phenomenon the minute you set foot on solid ground. Completed last year, it is the first LEED-certified airport terminal in the world. Groups as diverse as the nonprofit Artists for Humanity at Fort Point Channel and biotech giant Genzyme in Cambridge have built LEED Platinum (the highest certification among the Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum LEED levels) headquarters in the Boston area. Raising the bar even higher, Mayor Thomas Menino’s city government approved a measure earlier this year requiring all new buildings larger than 50,000 square feet—both public and private—to prove they can earn a Silver rating under the LEED program.

The Midwest’s biggest metropolis is fast becoming the green star by which aspiring cities sail. The place that Carl Sandburg called “hog butcher for the world” is on a mission to be the greenest city in America. Chicago is not only working to cut its own emissions but is helping the rest of the world do it, too, by being home to the first and only carbon emissions trading floor, the Chicago Climate Exchange. The city purchases renewable energy and has aggressive policies to promote green building and recycle construction waste. Chicagoans make healthy use of the public transit system, and more than 80 percent of them take part in curbside recycling. Mayor Richard Daley’s green agenda not only has put a green roof on City Hall and a wind turbine on the Daley Center but has helped a Wal-Mart and an Apple store obtain living roofs, too. In fact, 2.5 million square feet of the city’s roof-scape is now alive. Chicago also is vying to be the bike-commuting capital of the country. The Bike 2015 plan aims at seeing pedals power 5 percent of all trips less than five miles. The city even offers bicycle valet parking for big events.

The unassuming City of Lakes has been making a name for itself as a green heavyweight by steadily lightening its environmental footprint. The EarthDay Network ranked it second among the greenest midsize cities this year, and Minneapolis is training to be a soldier in the fight against climate change. R.T. Rybak was one of the first mayors to step up and sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (for details, see Seattle, below), a pledge for his city to meet or beat the standards of the Kyoto Protocol. Also, Minnesota has set one of the country’s first state renewable energy standards, a move mandating that 25 percent of electricity come from renewables.

Really? Yes, definitely. While New York is indeed enormous and rife with eco-woes such as pitiful air quality, on a per-person basis it is one of the most efficient cities in the world. With 8.2 million people (and another million expected by 2030), New York is not only the country’s largest city, it is also the most densely populated. With half of New Yorkers going carless, more than 20 percent of commuting happens on foot or by bicycle. People also rely heavily on the daily carnival that is the public transportation system, one of the most extensive in the world. This car-light culture and high-density living make New Yorkers some of the most efficient citizens in the country, though they may not even know it. According to PlaNYC, “The average New Yorker consumes less than half of the electricity of someone who lives in San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by someone who lives in Dallas.”

With smart city planning that has kept sprawl in check, Philadelphia can be readily navigated by public transit, by bicycle and on foot. In fact, nearly a third of residents use public transportation to get to work, and almost 7 percent walk. The city’s urban core is being revitalized with dense residential and commercial development that has, at least for the moment, left Philadelphia relatively affordable. Although the city’s first LEED-certified building sprang up in 2005, the total number of them can still be counted on one hand. Philadelphia’s Energy Cooperative is an independent power supplier that likes to source electricity as locally as possible, buying it off the roofs of residents who own solar electric systems. Blended with electricity generated from wind and other renewable sources, the Energy Cooperative sells clean power to some 1,500 residents thanks to the city’s deregulated electricity market. For those wanting to generate their own, city and federal tax incentives will pay for up to 60 percent of solar electric and hot water systems.

Despite being gray from rain half the year, Portland, Ore., practically radiates the color green. Famed for microbreweries, roses and stellar public transit, Portland sports hundreds of miles of bikeways (and the bike culture to prove it) and suffers from only the occasional traffic snarl. Starting in the 1970s, stringent zoning laws kept Portland’s urban and residential areas focused and well planned, avoiding the sprawl that has crept outward from many other cities its size.

Nobody should be too shocked to learn that San Francisco is extremely green. But far from resting on its laurel wreaths, San Francisco is consistently pushing the envelope of what a large city can do to be sustainable. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) offers thorough coverage and sees good ridership, cutting back on the need for cars. The city’s cycle culture also runs deep, and commuting by bike is a daily routine for many.

In Seattle’s City Hall, climate change is an idea that permeates decision-making and the city’s entire outlook. Mayor Greg Nickels has not only led Seattle in meeting the emissions reduction targets of the Kyoto Protocol, he’s challenged every mayor in the U.S. to do the same. So far, the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement—Nickels’ initiative to advance the goals of the protocol through leadership and action by at least 141 American cities—has been signed by 453 mayors representing some 62 million citizens, roughly the population of the U.K. Seattle plans to cut the city’s greenhouse gases by 680,000 metric tons, which involves a $37 million investment in 2006 and 2007 alone. And Seattle has a unique advantage: It is the only city in the country to own its electric utility, Seattle City Light, a plus that has already helped it cut emissions by 60 percent in less than 20 years. The city is also actively recruiting environmental allies such as Starbucks and REI from the business community via the Seattle Climate Partnership. To top it off, this haven of sustainability is spending $32 million over 10 years to realize its dream of being the best community for bicycling in the United States.