Top 10 greenest cities: Portland makes the cut

By Sanne Stienstra, Special to OregonLive.c...

March 24, 2010, 1:00PM

Sanne StienstraWalking across the Hawthorne Bridge, one of Portland's most-used bridges by pedestrians, bikes and cars alike.While Portlanders may be caught up with the sky-high funding and hubbub of logistics involved with Mayor Sam Adams' new bike plan, from the outside, apparently Portland appears to have it together -- in terms of being green, that is.

Real estate website Move.com compiled a list of the nation's top 10 greenest cities, and Portland ranks among other cities like Santa Monica, CA; New York, NY; and Austin, TX. The website describes the criteria for making the list like this:

We've picked 10 places – in no particular order – that we think are doing a great job at putting residents first. That means they're obsessed with clean air and clean water, renewable energy, reliable city buses, trams, streetcars and subways, a growing number of parks and greenbelts, farmer's markets and, very important, opportunities for community involvement.

Anyone can confirm the presence of blooming farmer's markets, great community parks, and "reliable city buses." But what about Portland specifically makes us one of the top 10 greenest cities in America?

Apparently it's the combination of affordability, accessibility, bike-friendliness, and communal emphasis on sustainability that confirms "Portland’s rep as the nation’s greenest city."

Portland has earned a place amongst Boulder, CO and Minneapolis, MN also by being a pioneer of green living in the big(ish) city. According to the the article:

More than 30 years ago, with other cities in a freeway-building frenzy, Portland broke ranks and tore down a six-lane expressway to make room for a waterfront park. Since then the city has set an urban growth boundary to protect 25 million acres of forest and farmland, started a solid-waste program that recycles more than half of the city's trash and erected more than 50 public buildings that meet tough standards set by the United States Green Building Council.

For now, Portlanders may take this honor as confirmation of the city's and its residents' continued effort to live healthy, environmentally-friendly lives. But I think we can all agree, despite the plethora of bikes and compost, it's not that easy being green...