#2 San Francisco: Still a Shining Example

Long admired for its innovative sustainability efforts, San Francisco has had particular success in the development of solar energy, recycling and large-scale composting, integrated pest management, bike transportation, and local food systems.

Now that the city's sustainability plan is a decade old, new challenges are evident. Housing affordability (#49 out of the 50 cities) has become the most pressing issue. Since the Dot-com boom drove up prices during the late 1990s, many lower-income and middle-class residents have been priced out of the housing market, and prices have not yet stabilized. Some Bay Area workers are forced by high city home prices and rents to drive in from locations as far-flung as the Sierra Nevada foothills, three hours away.

The city's strong public transportation system has been slowly losing ridership. Traffic is getting bad again, with congestion ranking #47 on a metro area basis. Finally, San Francisco's earthquake risk poses a threat to the city's transportation system as well as its power and water supplies.

Despite such challenges, San Francisco remains a standard-bearer for turning ambitious sustainability plans into reality.

Healthy Living

If it weren't for Portland, San Francisco would clean up in this category. With good air (#3), relatively good water (#4), a year-round local food system (#12) that's hooked into markets and restaurants showcasing local food, and the highest percentage (20%) of parkland among all 50 cities, it's a healthy place to live. These qualities have been factored into the value of every million-dollar two-bedroom home, whether or not people realize it.

Golden Gate Park though not terribly eco-friendly, is beautiful and always entertaining. Dubbed by author Mark Reisner as "Borneo mated with Virginia," the park runs for three-plus wooded and flowered miles from the center of the city westward to its massive Ocean Beach terminus. The Presidio National Park is even larger—it includes large-scale native plant and watershed restorations in the former military base founded by Spanish soldiers and missionaries in 1776.

Getting Around

One of the best US cities for public transit commuter use (#4), San Francisco saw its ridership rate fall from 31 percent in 2000 to 29.6 percent in 2004. That trend should be reversed with the recent opening of the Third Street Light Rail Line. Walking to work and cycling to work are an everyday routine for many commuters. Largely because of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system, which opened in 1972, the Bay Area ranks #4 for regional public transit ridership.

The region is also served by several regional commuter ferry systems. These water transit options proved invaluable after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake when the Oakland Bay Bridge was closed for repairs. Finally, a hard rail connects San Francisco and San Jose, and all Silicon Valley points between.

Economic Factors

In 2005, Mayor Gavin Newsom was one of the first large-city mayors in the nation to publicly acknowledge the importance of local food, green buildings, and other sustainability elements in the city's overall economic development strategy. "Sustainability is important not only for protecting citizens' health and ensuring a great quality of life here in San Francisco," Newsom said, "but also for boosting the local economy with jobs and services in everything from clean technologies to fresh food and green building products produced in California."

In renewable energy generation, San Francisco is a leader among North American cities. Since voters passed a $100 million solar bond measure in 2001, San Francisco has begun installing large solar systems, with about one megawatt now being generated atop its convention center and at a city wastewater plant. Plans were recently announced to boost that to 35 megawatts of non-polluting solar within five years. The Giants' downtown major league ballpark will be going solar this summer and tidal power generation from the ocean and San Francisco Bay is under study.

Clean technology business development is next on the city's agenda. Mayor Newsom has named a manager to head San Francisco's cleantech business attraction strategy, and to work with an advisory council. In 2005, the city's Board of Supervisors approved a payroll tax exemption for qualified cleantech companies doing business in San Francisco.

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