The Bite:
If you’re looking for an eco-friendly place to call home or just to explore for the weekend, try one of the green city picks below.
Want to live in a city that's as green as you are?
01.26.2006
Submitted by idealbite on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 6:00pm.
The Benefits:
- Green cities are clean cities. Bellingham, WA, Colorado Springs, CO, and Fargo, ND are among the American Lung Association’s clean air winners, while Chicago, Baltimore, Denver and Detroit get high marks for drinking water quality.
- Great mass transit and walk-able, bike-able streets and paths make green cities safe and easy to navigate. 10% of Madison, Wisconsin’s residents bike or hoof it to work thanks to the city’s 100 miles of bikeways.
- Not just a concrete jungle. Boulder, CO is surrounded by 60 square miles of public parkland and designated open space—about twice the size of the actual city!
- Austin, TX showed its commitment to renewable energy by adopting the nation’s most aggressive short-term goal: 20 percent of its energy needs met through efficiency and renewables by 2020.
- Cities ahead of the curve. San Francisco is really an eco-trendsetter. The first big U.S. city to adopt a "climate action plan," SF boasts the largest city-owned solar power installation and 700+ electric buses, with plans to fully convert the fleet by 2020. The city also recycles two-thirds of its garbage.
Personally Speaking:
Heather would like to point out that while New York is not exactly a green city (actually, it’s one of the dirtier ones), its mass transit system carries a whopping 53% of residents (including herself) around the city car-free.
Wanna Try:
- America's Top 10 Green Cities - from Austin to Seattle, The Green Guide's top picks.
- Scorecard - punch in your ZIP code for an in-depth report on your community, including air pollution, water quality and chemical emissions.
- Wanna help "green" your town? Find tools and resources at the U.S. EPA's Green Communities site.
Kevin Starace
Cocktail Fact
The city of Beijing has announced plans to build a "solar street" where buildings and streetlights are all sun-powered.
Bang For The Bite
Clearly, it is not convenient to move if you don't live in an eco-friendly city, but the personal and planetary benefits to large-scale greenness are huge!
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