In news that surprised absolutely no one, San Francisco was declared America's Least Wasteful City in a study sponsored by reusable water bottle maker Nalgene. Indeed, five of the top 10 cities on the list are on the West Coast, mirroring trends in nearly every city-ranking green study that's come out recently. Witness:
- America's Most Walkable City: San Fransicso, joined in the top 10 by Seattle, Long Beach, Calif., Portland, Ore.
- America's 50 Greenest Cities: Portland, Ore., joined by #2 San Francisco, #4 Oakland, Calif. #5 Eugene, Ore., #7 Berkeley, Calif., and #8 Seattle.
- SustainLane's Greenest Cities: mirrors the list above, except Seattle is moved up to third place, Oakland is ninth, and Eugene and Berkeley are knocked out of the top 10.
- America's Greenest Economic Cities puts Sacramento, Calif, in first place, followed by all of the usual suspects.
- America's Top 10 Energy Star Cities put Los Angeles, and San Francisco in first and second place, respectively.
You get the idea. (Find the full list of least wasteful cities here.)
Southern cities consistently rank towards the bottom of these lists, due to lack of public transportation, inadequate recycling, and energy usage, among other factors. What do you think: could Houston, Orlando or Birmingham, Ala. ever be as green as San Francisco? Or are these cities just too fundamentally different?
Start the discussion! Be the first to comment on this story.