America's 10 Cleanest Cities

BanningZ · 09-04-2009, 06:11 AM

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No. 10: San Jose-Sunnyvale, Calif.

Like San Francisco up the road, San Jose is among the nation's leaders in water quality. The area also cracks the top 10 for lowest levels of air pollution.

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No. 9: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.

The Twin Cities rank first among major metros for healthy ozone levels, which counters so-so rankings for waste removal spending and water quality.

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No. 8: Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tampa spends more per capita on waste management than any major city other than Seattle, helping make up for lower rankings on water quality.

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No. 7: Oklahoma City, Okla.

One of the few land-locked cities on the list, Oklahoma City ranks in the top 10 for both particle pollution and ozone levels.

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No. 6: San Francisco, Calif.
The City by the Bay ranks in the top five in waste-management spending and water quality.

No. 5: Portland, Ore.

Portland has spent $2 billion over the last decade cleaning up the Willamette River. Adding light rail and more sidewalks has cut down on auto emissions.

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No. 4: Orlando, Fla.

The family-friendly land of Disney scores big on ozone and air pollution levels.

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No. 3: Jacksonville, Fla.

The only major city with a top 10 ranking in all the categories.

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No. 2: Seattle, Wash.

The nearby Cascade Mountains keep pollution low. Seattle also spends more per capita on waste management than any major city.

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No. 1: Miami, Fla.

Healthy ozone levels, low pollution and high-quality water boost Miami.

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America's Cleanest Cities
By: Tom Van Riper: Forbes . com

Want to live where the air is sweet, the water is pure and the streets are clean? Try the country. But what if you don't like the sticks? Then try Florida.

Led by Miami, the Sunshine State dominates our 2008 list of America's Cleanest Cities with four metro areas in the top 10--Jacksonville (No. 3), Orlando (No. 4) and Tampa-St. Petersburg (No. 8) all make appearances. Clearly, a state that relies so heavily on tourism and part-time snow-bird residents knows the value of keeping itself spruced up for company.

With the built-in advantage of weather patterns that blow out smog, these large metropolitan areas, together with No. 2-ranked Seattle and No. 5 Portland, Ore., top our 2008 list. But it's more than just sea breezes pushing these metros up the list. These big cities are also reaping the rewards of investing in efforts to keep clean, even as their populations boom.
In Pictures: America's 10 Cleanest Cities

In recent years, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection has launched programs aimed at providing power plants with the equipment needed to scrub out harmful emissions before they're discharged. The agency has singled out the Tampa Electric Co. (other-otc: TAECM - news - people ) for going beyond federal and state requirements on emission reductions.

On the water side, the agency has aimed its budget not only on fighting direct discharges into public waters but on indirect spillage from things like storm drain runoff.

The same is true elsewhere. Portland, for example, is 10 years into a 14-year, $2 billion investment aimed at cleaning up the Willamette River. In addition, the city's added more light rail, sidewalks and biofuels to its bus fleet. It's gone a long way toward reducing air pollution in the region.

"The investments we've made on land use and transportation over the past two decades are paying off," says Portland city council commissioner Dan Saltzman.

Air quality is a huge health factor for urban dwellers, so we made it a very big deal in our study. To determine the cleanest major cities in the U.S., we initially measured the rankings for air pollution and ozone levels among all 49 U.S. metro areas with populations exceeding 1 million, using data from the American Lung Association. After eliminating those areas that ranked poorest in air quality, we measured the remaining 29 cities on the additional but less-weighted factors of water quality and per-capita spending on Superfund site cleanup and solid-waste management. From this list, we drew our top 10.

All figures were based on Metropolitan Statistical Areas (which include the city and surrounding area) with the exception of waste-management spending, which was based exclusively on the city proper.

Water cleanliness rankings were derived from statistics compiled by the University of Cincinnati from local reports of EPA violations. Metros were ranked based on reports of bacteria, chlorine byproducts and chemicals or metals such as arsenic, copper and lead in the drinking water. Operational expenditures for solid-waste management are recorded at city-data.com.

Beyond health, cleanliness appears to have an important economic impact. While nine of our 10 cleanest cities showed population increases between 2000 and 2006, major metro areas losing residents over that period tend to rank near the bottom of the cleanliness list; they include Philadelphia, Chicago, Buffalo, N.Y., and Detroit. Many factors, notably economic ones, go into a person's choice to move, of course. But a reputation for clean air, water and streets seems to count as well.

The migration has been most pronounced in the Sunbelt, with Jacksonville growing its population 8% and Miami 11.5% since the start of the decade. Can they keep clean with all this growth? That's the challenge of the coming decades. Here's hoping they can.

America's Cleanest Cities - Forbes.com

Wow! Go Florida.

Our Updated Cleanest cities report should be up in the next couple of months

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#11 Phoenix, Arizona

Because the Allergy level for me is awesome, and Frost lives there and we all love Frost. That and he says its clean so I'll take his word.

nogoodname · 09-04-2009, 06:15 AM

damn... started with number 1......... do a countdown next time.....lol

my city is dirty, would never be clean

sloterg · 09-04-2009, 06:20 AM

LA FTMFW

ive been to a few places where the air is so clean it hurts my lungs

thats a scary thought

BanningZ · 09-04-2009, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nogoodname

damn... started with number 1......... do a countdown next time.....lol

my city is dirty, would never be clean

Fixed!

Now its suspenseful! Dun dun dun!

nogoodname · 09-04-2009, 06:32 AM

now the suspense is killin me.............lol

NIZMOZ · 09-04-2009, 07:24 AM

I guess where it rains the most, it is the cleanest.

It packs down that dirt.

09-04-2009, 12:01 PM

haha I knew NY wouldnt be anywhere near this list!

molamann · 09-04-2009, 07:08 PM

I know it has nothing to do with pollution but living in Oklahoma City was a living hell for me due to seasonal allergies.

OKC's ranked #9 for worst cities for fall allergies:

"It made for memorable song lyrics, but if Oklahoma really is where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, that's bad news for allergy sufferers. That same wind is very likely to carry with it thousands of pollen grains from weeds and grasses like ragweed, chenopod, dock, and wheatgrass—exactly what could set off seasonal allergies."

Can't believe I'm saying this but thank god I'm back in LA for the air.

frost · 09-04-2009, 08:05 PM

I'm actually surprised phoenix wasnt in this list. I've done a lot of traveling and seems like one of the cleanest I've ever been.

BanningZ · 09-04-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frost

I'm actually surprised phoenix wasnt in this list. I've done a lot of traveling and seems like one of the cleanest I've ever been.

Fixed!

frost · 09-04-2009, 08:14 PM

rofl, nice mate!

Nikon FM · 09-04-2009, 08:23 PM

Living at the base of the Cascades is really nice (~30 min East of Seattle) but the wind strength (mostly winter storms) has made glueing roof shingles down a building code requirement.

Fun place though

hide187 · 09-04-2009, 08:33 PM

I lived in Jax for 12 years and I never once thought it to be clean...bums all over the place. (I guess that dosent make it dirty)

Lone Wolf 75 · 09-04-2009, 08:47 PM

San Francisco doesn't surprise me, but Sunnyvale and San Jose (sure it is a clean place but the area is considered a separate city and not part of the Bay Area)?

It's funny that not one city in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic made this list.

Having visited Boston, I always thought that city was pretty clean, but I have only really been to a few areas there.

I'm not really surprised Baltimore didn't make the list, you should see the surrounding areas after a Ravens game, there is literally trash on the streets everywhere.

I'm also guessing that Pittsburgh is still not living down it's reputation as a Steel Mill Town, with nothing but soot and black clouds in the air, but they really have done a fantastic job cleaning up the downtown area. I have to say that you would be hard pressed to find a more picturesque skyline than the one that greets you as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Of course, I am probably a little jaded as a displaced Pittsburgher.

BanningZ · 09-04-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lone Wolf 75

San Francisco doesn't surprise me, but Sunnyvale and San Jose (sure it is a clean place but the area is considered a separate city and not part of the Bay Area)?

It's funny that not one city in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic made this list.

Having visited Boston, I always thought that city was pretty clean, but I have only really been to a few areas there.

I'm not really surprised Baltimore didn't make the list, you should see the surrounding areas after a Ravens game, there is literally trash on the streets everywhere.

I'm also guessing that Pittsburgh is still not living down it's reputation as a Steel Mill Town, with nothing but soot and black clouds in the air, but they really have done a fantastic job cleaning up the downtown area. I have to say that you would be hard pressed to find a more picturesque skyline than the one that greets you as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Of course, I am probably a little jaded as a displaced Pittsburgher.

The 2009 List should be out in a few months and 2009 was the year of change and ecological awareness. Pittsburgh might make it.

09-04-2009, 07:24 AM	#6 (permalink)
NIZMOZ Track Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 634 Drives: 07 NISMO 350Z SA M6 Rep Power: 490	I guess where it rains the most, it is the cleanest. It packs down that dirt. __________________ SOLD: 2007 NISMO 350Z #0044 Silver Alloy New DD: 2010 Titan Pro4X CC

09-04-2009, 08:23 PM	#12 (permalink)
Nikon FM Track Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Snoqualmie WA Posts: 973 Drives: 03 996TT Porsche Rep Power: 606	Living at the base of the Cascades is really nice (~30 min East of Seattle) but the wind strength (mostly winter storms) has made glueing roof shingles down a building code requirement. Fun place though __________________ Buddy Revell: "One man's sooner is another man's later"

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09-04-2009, 06:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
nogoodname Lifetime Premium Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Montreal Posts: 22,357 Drives: E46 M3 Rep Power: 1764	damn... started with number 1......... do a countdown next time.....lol my city is dirty, would never be clean

09-04-2009, 06:32 AM	#5 (permalink)
nogoodname Lifetime Premium Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Montreal Posts: 22,357 Drives: E46 M3 Rep Power: 1764	now the suspense is killin me.............lol

09-04-2009, 12:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
blue660r01 Guest Posts: n/a	haha I knew NY wouldnt be anywhere near this list!

09-04-2009, 07:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
molamann A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,666 Drives: 370Z with NAVVVVV Rep Power: 284	I know it has nothing to do with pollution but living in Oklahoma City was a living hell for me due to seasonal allergies. OKC's ranked #9 for worst cities for fall allergies: "It made for memorable song lyrics, but if Oklahoma really is where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, that's bad news for allergy sufferers. That same wind is very likely to carry with it thousands of pollen grains from weeds and grasses like ragweed, chenopod, dock, and wheatgrass—exactly what could set off seasonal allergies." Can't believe I'm saying this but thank god I'm back in LA for the air.

09-04-2009, 08:05 PM	#9 (permalink)
frost Retired admin Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Winterfell Posts: 106,613 Drives: Your Wife Crazy Rep Power: 0	I'm actually surprised phoenix wasnt in this list. I've done a lot of traveling and seems like one of the cleanest I've ever been.

09-04-2009, 08:14 PM	#11 (permalink)
frost Retired admin Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Winterfell Posts: 106,613 Drives: Your Wife Crazy Rep Power: 0	rofl, nice mate!

09-04-2009, 08:33 PM	#13 (permalink)
hide187 Base Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 186 Drives: 09 370 MB Sport Rep Power: 46	I lived in Jax for 12 years and I never once thought it to be clean...bums all over the place. (I guess that dosent make it dirty)

09-04-2009, 08:47 PM	#14 (permalink)
Lone Wolf 75 Base Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Future Age: 49 Posts: 191 Drives: 09 370Z PG 6M Rep Power: 15	San Francisco doesn't surprise me, but Sunnyvale and San Jose (sure it is a clean place but the area is considered a separate city and not part of the Bay Area)? It's funny that not one city in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic made this list. Having visited Boston, I always thought that city was pretty clean, but I have only really been to a few areas there. I'm not really surprised Baltimore didn't make the list, you should see the surrounding areas after a Ravens game, there is literally trash on the streets everywhere. I'm also guessing that Pittsburgh is still not living down it's reputation as a Steel Mill Town, with nothing but soot and black clouds in the air, but they really have done a fantastic job cleaning up the downtown area. I have to say that you would be hard pressed to find a more picturesque skyline than the one that greets you as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Of course, I am probably a little jaded as a displaced Pittsburgher.