| The Greening of American Cities | | | | 1970s, city politicians turned against conventional |
| Today, merely collecting the garbage, running a | | | | wisdom and instituted changes and programs that |
| bottle recycling program and creating the | | | | transformed the city from an example of poor |
| occasional park doesn't cut it in our increasingly | | | | planning and urban blight into a paradigm of |
| eco-concerned world. The buzzword now is | | | | environmental sustainability and eco friendliness. |
| "green" and each city in order to compete for | | | | Green spaces, restriction of suburban |
| workers, investment and tourists had better have | | | | development, use of sustainable energy sources |
| a full compliment of eco-programs and | | | | and encouragement of environmentally friendly |
| environmental plans. Pollution and dirty air are | | | | businesses are all examples of Portland's green |
| longer acceptable byproducts of living in a city. | | | | leadership. |
| Those cities that can provide their citizens with | | | | Smaller centres such as Burlington, Vermont and |
| clean air, clean water and a healthy environment | | | | Madison, Wisconsin have used community-based |
| are proving to more competitive and desirable | | | | programs to tackle issues such as pollution, clean |
| places in which to visit and live. | | | | ups and recycling programs with significant |
| While the US federal government has refused to | | | | success. People at the grassroots level do want |
| sign onto the international Kyoto Protocol and has | | | | better environments and in some cases have put |
| steadfastly refused to recognize the issue of | | | | their money where there mouths are. Boulder, |
| global warming, a growing chorus of economists, | | | | Colorado for example voted on raising local taxes |
| environmentalists and scientists are beginning to | | | | in order to secure more green space and |
| sound ever-increasingly dire alarm bells. In | | | | preserve wild areas within city boundaries. |
| response, many cities have taken the initiative to | | | | Larger cities have made significant inroads in |
| address environmental concerns in their | | | | recent years. Under the guidance of Mayor |
| jurisdictions without federal support. Innovative | | | | Richard Daley, Chicago has been one of the most |
| urban planning, green building, park construction, | | | | audacious in attempts to make the city more |
| public transportation initiatives and recycling | | | | environmentally friendly. Planting more than |
| programs are now making many American cities | | | | 400,000 trees, encouraging solar powered |
| much healthier and better places to live. | | | | buildings and subsidizing energy saving renovations |
| Smaller cities have distinct advantages over their | | | | for historic buildings have moved the windy city |
| larger counterparts. While they have less revenue | | | | to the forefront of the urban environmental |
| with which to implement specific initiatives they | | | | movement. |
| also have fewer infrastructure costs and often | | | | A number of US communities are doing a great |
| fewer urban issues like crime and poverty. | | | | job at putting their residents first and are |
| Many reviews of "Green-ness" are released each | | | | inventing novel ways of ensuring clean air and |
| year and the usual suspects of Portland, Oregon; | | | | clean water, finding renewable energy, running |
| Bellingham, Washington; Oakland, California and | | | | environmentally-friendly public transportation |
| Austin, Texas are regularly listed among the most | | | | systems, creating parks and greenbelts, and |
| environmentally progressive cities in the United | | | | enabling opportunities for community involvement. |
| States. | | | | The shift from global to local responses to global |
| Portland is usually held up as an example of how | | | | issues has taken root in American cities and |
| committed and sustained political will can change | | | | bodes well for all our futures. |
| the environment and livability of a city. In the | | | | |