Welcome to the 2008 SustainLane US City Rankings! You'll find extensive coverage on the greening of the 50 most-populous cities in the nation on these pages, and the most complete report card on urban sustainability in America. This report benchmarks each city's performance in 16 areas of urban sustainability, including an essential new measurement this year: Water Supply. Forged in 2005 and now in its third edition, the peer-reviewed Rankings track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents' quality of life. In this story, some cities are becoming more self-reliant and better prepared for an uncertain future, while others have been slow to act on opportunities to green their municipalities.
We hope you enjoy reading through our work as much as we enjoyed creating it! Get started now with a closer look at our methodology, or a review of what makes a sustainable city. Or if you'd like, simply cut to the chase and check out the Rankings. We'll be continually updating these pages with stories from the field, so check back often. Thanks for visiting, and happy reading!
If you live in Portland, you might want to think twice before complaining about the 40-plus inches of rain dumped on your head every year. It might be the only thing keeping the entire country from moving to your city by the Prius-load. Portland retained its title as SustainLane's number one city to beat this year–not surprising given that it got a 30-year jump on the rest of the country.more »
For most of the 19th and 20th century, cities, despite the hardships and suffering experienced in ghettos, were seen as places where culture and intelligence concentrated and evolved. In the latter part of the 20th century, urban decay, environmental problems, and ethnic riots created a rush for the exits and rampant urban sprawl. Cities became more dangerous and inhuman. Post-war modernist planners and architects made matters worse by creating concrete monuments to themselves, hollowing out downtowns into commercial centers that felt like mausoleums at night...more »
If you can afford to live in this top-ranked SustainLane city, the first thing you may notice after moving here (once you're done gaping at the suspended marvel spanning the Bay) is how well this city recycles. After all, how many cities' solid waste and recycling...more »
Hotlanta? How about Greenlanta? The city leads the southeast in LEED-registered buildings—over 140 projects are currently seeking certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It also has a “no net loss” policy for its trees. One challenge to Atlanta: urban sprawl...more »
Hamburger wrappers, cotton candy sticks and leopard dung may soon be powering the country’s first ever LEED-certified habitat at the Denver Zoo. If all goes as planned, the 50 million dollar, ten-acre Asia Tropics campus will be LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The habitat, which should be completed in 2011, will primarily house Asian elephants, Indian rhinoceroses, and Malayan tapirs. Many zoos have LEED certified buildings or exhibits, but no other zoo in the U.S. has sought certification for an entire habitat.more »
We here at SustainLane are willing to wager that when you moved into your new apartment last year, no one showed up on your doorstep with a platter of macaroons, and a warm welcome to the neighborhood. Are we right? If only you lived in Minneapolis. We’re not sure if any of the residents in the city’s Linden Hills neighborhood can bake a decent macaroon, but one thing’s certain: within days of your arrival, they’ll know your name, and they’ll know what kind of light bulb you use.more »
Getting a six pack of beer or a bottle of whiskey is no problem for the residents of West Oakland, Ca. Getting a dozen eggs or a quart of milk? That’s a different story altogether. Bluntly stated, there are no grocery stores in West Oakland, but there are a total of 57 liquor stores—for just 30,000 residents. Among these residents, the diabetes rate is three times higher than in the rest of Alameda county, hypertension rates are elevated, and mortality rates rival those of nations in the developing world. “We see a real problem when Cheetos are a choice for breakfast,” says Brahm Ahmadi, co-founder and executive director of the People’s Grocery, an organization aiming to address the lack of access to--and lack of knowledge of--healthy food in the West Oakland community.more »
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If you think mitigated climate change is expensive, try unmitigated climate change. —Dr. Richard Gammon, University of Washington
Is there any link between political affiliation and sustainability policy? We ran the numbers!
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