#7 Boston: It Only Gets Better

Set on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mystic, Charles, and Chelsea rivers, Boston was a key port city in colonial days. The compact city aspires to create a future as bright as its past by improving an already efficient urban metabolism built on core strengths in public transit and planning.

Recent efforts at urban renewal have had positive environmental effects: a 12 percent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, a 25 percent to 33 percent reduction of noise in surrounding neighborhoods, and the addition of 320 acres of new parkland, according to Boston.com.

Healthy Living

Boston is a great place for parks, ranking #5. The Emerald Necklace, a series of linked parks that dates back to the early 19th century, brings together botanical gardens and shaded river walks.

Boston ranks #1 for local food and agriculture. Community gardens are thriving, thanks to nonprofits like the Boston Natural Areas Network, which helps neighborhoods establish, organize, and maintain gardens. Farmers markets (13 and counting) continue to sprout up around the city. The Food Project runs an urban farm that teaches agriculture to young people and helps feed the city's underprivileged.

Air quality ranks a slightly above average #22, but water quality, rated "poor" by the Natural Resources Defense Council's urban tap water study, comes in at #40.

Getting Around

In Boston, urban development is informed by a dense mixed-use city center served by public transit rather than freeway access; the city ranks #3 in terms of planning. And its public transit service is superb.

The subway, called "the T," is the oldest in the country, but Boston keeps it current. Bus routes are extensive and include express runs that use reserved highway lanes. A commuter rail moves people to and from the outlying metro with free transfers to subways and buses inside the city. All modes of transit go to the airport, including the ferries that routinely crisscross Boston Harbor. More transit stations are in the works, and lines are being extended. A third of all Bostonians use public transportation and over 8 percent walk to work, helping the city rank #3 in our commute-to-work ranking.

Economic Factors

The Boston metro region is a leader in clean tech incubation and the city is now one of the nation's models for green building (#7). The Green Building Task Force provides cash incentives for construction and renovation projects that demonstrate LEED ambitions. One such building, the John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, is an Art Deco colossus built during the Great Depression. It's now aiming for LEED certification with upcoming renovations including an all-shrubbery green roof.

In December, the city took the innovative approach of establishing city zoning that all buildings over 50,000 square feet must be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment) certified. Other cities are now trying to follow suit in what may be the biggest driver ever for the green building industry.

One of the lead agencies in Boston's green technology push is the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which, in addition to funding clean tech firms, runs a Renewable Energy Trust. Each month, a small percentage of power bill revenues goes into the trust, which supports green building, alternative fuel research, and public outreach. This program and others like it place Boston far ahead of the curve in terms of renewable energy use, with more than 8 percent of the city's energy coming from renewable sources.

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