Can you name the greenest U.S. cities (ranked by Popular Science Magazine)?

Rank	City	State
1		California
2		Oregon
3		Massachusetts
4		California
5		Oregon
6		Massachusetts
7		California
8		Washington
9		Illinois
10		Texas
11		Minnesota
12		Minnesota
13		California
14		Hawaii
15		Texas
16		New Mexico
17		New York
18		Alabama
19		Colorado
20		New York

Rank	City	State
21		California
22		Wisconsin
23		California
24		Michigan
25		Kentucky
26		Oklahoma
27		New York
28		California
29		Illinois
30		Virginia
31		Missouri
32		Alaska
33		Georgia
34		Texas
35		Missouri
36		Utah
37		California
38		California
39		Texas
40		Illinois

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Greenest U.S. Cities Quiz

Rating:	Report a mistake
Created by: GeoExpert -
Published: June 14th, 2009
Category: Geography
Plays: 72,462

Tags: Popular Quizzes, State Quizzes, City Quizzes, magazine, rank, green, ranked, Popular Science

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	Hope:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:37 GMT	16 points
	Some cities like New York City and Chicago suprised me. Good Quiz though.

	sactoshc:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:40 GMT	6 points
	18 of 30 the first time out...Another fun Sporcle quiz, although I was also surprised to see those big urban centers on there.

	Hope:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:45 GMT	8 points
	@Sactoshc: Me too! I kind of expected them to be some of the dirtiest cities, with all of the people. But I'm also pleasantly suprised, that despite their size they are still environmentally friendly.

	Katilyn:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:49 GMT	11 points
	Its good that big cities can also be environmentally friendly. :)

	sammyhain2364:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:51 GMT	19 points
	A lot of college towns on the list

	GeoExpert:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:53 GMT	-3 points
	Don't forget about the mid-sized cities, such as Amarillo, Eugene, and the Rocket City (Huntsville!)

	Hope:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 04:56 GMT	4 points
	@Geoexpert: This really is an excellent quiz! Good Job!

	BrettCaudill:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:05 GMT	3 points
	it should accept "NYC" for new york city, since most other US city quizzes do. otherwise, a very enlightening quiz.

	livfred:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:05 GMT	18 points
	Big cities do well because they have environmentally friendly public transportation, greater density (hence less sprawl) and more efficient delivery of services and resources (again because of less sprawl). Suburbs tend to rank as almost the least "green" invention out there because suburban people usually drive everywhere. New Yorkers rarely even own cars.

	tobinw:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:08 GMT	7 points
	Impressed to see the likes of Tulsa, Ft. Worth, and Huntsville. Yay for the South finally starting to go green!

	RedLIon:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:24 GMT	-1 points
	Seriously? More people know Springfield than Milwaukee?

	the99:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:28 GMT	7 points
	I'm kinda surprised not to see San Diego on here. Surprising at some of the answers, like #17. Anyway, this was a really fun quiz to take.

	the99:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:30 GMT	5 points
	@RedLion: Well, Springfield as a city does sound pretty environmentally friendly, ya know? Spring field. :)

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	jd1z:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:35 GMT	0 points
	@ redlion based on other state city quizzes, and seeing as there are 3 illinois cities on the list, my guesses would go chicago- then springfield, mostly just because it's another city that i know from illinois. also tried Champaign- campus town

	GrooGruxKing:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 05:44 GMT	15 points
	This turned into one of those quizzes where I try to name every city I know in the clue states given.

	Domanator21:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 06:03 GMT	4 points
	@sammyhain2364 That was one of the things I noticed as well was all the college towns. Also, I'm not that surprised that more people knew Springfield than Milwaukee, even though Milwaukee is bigger Springfield is the capital of Illinois.

	gttrsnp:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 06:14 GMT	0 points
	I'm kind of sad that green bay didn't make the list.

	sammyhain2364:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 06:33 GMT	6 points
	A lot of people were probably guessing Springfield just because it's a very common name for cities in the US and they were hoping to get two or three right with one guess.

	Tamarind:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 07:27 GMT	2 points
	I live in #4, less than a mile from the border with #7. I would have expected the orders to be switched, but not surprised to see them both up there.

	Statto2:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 09:04 GMT	13 points
	I would have thought that nuclear plant would scupper Springfield on this survey. Oops, it's not that Springfield!

	tophats:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 09:23 GMT	5 points
	Thank god for the state names being on there, otherwise my score would have been cut in half.

	Freddie:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 09:25 GMT	10 points
	Oakland at four. Bit of a surprise, no?

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	zalagreensbury:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 10:23 GMT	13 points
	How is anyone shocked by New York...? First off, none of us have cars we all take either the bus which now is run on clean fuel or trains which are electric; central park takes up more than 25% of the city; half of us are liberals so we staunchly support the green movement and live by it; we don't have any actual factories here anymore. It all adds up to a green city.

	Havok3595:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 11:53 GMT	8 points
	@Hanz: As far as I've seen, having been to many major US cities, there's no smog in Chicago or NY...LA and Houston are the major places for that. Also, surprised Milwaukee beat out Madison (which I tried like 5 times), and kicking myself for missing Ann Arbor, where I live.

	Feelingroovy:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 12:02 GMT	4 points
	@Havok3595: East Lansing is greener than A2. :)

	ted:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 12:38 GMT	3 points
	I'm kinda surprised SLC made it. The air quality there can be horrible.

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	nordle:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 12:46 GMT	0 points
	some superb-cities, especially in coastal areas and near the great lakes can be greener than even minny and st. paul.

	JohnJF:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 12:47 GMT	4 points
	This list is a complete and utter joke (which is not the fault of GeoExpert or Sporcle). As a lifelong Missouri resident, I can say extremely safely that the only reason that St. Louis and Kansas City made the list is because they are large and recognizable cities; pretty much any city is greener, but particularly Columbia. The list has a skew towards larger cities and college towns that I presume were put on for recognizability more than actual greenness (though it does make for a far easier Sporcle quiz).

	LightningWombat:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 14:51 GMT	12 points
	Central Park does not take up 1/4 of NYC... Also, perhaps per person NYC is a pretty clean city and they have laws to limit pollution, but with you have 20 Million people, that doesnt stay spotless at all. Smog formation depends on geography. Smog is smoke plus fog so if there is no fog to be formed there is no smog to be formed. So visible smog is more prevalent in cities in valleys. The fact is that there are probably about 100 different ways you can define a "green city"...so that makes the list itself kinda useless for me out of context. The quiz also turns into a just name cities in these states and not a quiz of what you know...thats how I got Oakland.

	Really:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 14:55 GMT	0 points
	I deem this list complete shenanigans. I totally agree the only reason these are on here is because they are the most notable cities to each region. Springfield,Illinois is the biggest hell hole around. St.Louis is atrocious and Chicago...are you kidding me. During earth hour there was no recognizable difference.Collectively Ridiculous!!! I don't see how this is possible.

	bleech128:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 14:56 GMT	-1 points
	really? Boston?

	lulubelles:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 15:03 GMT	5 points
	@Dodge: I know a lot of people were rude to you on the red card game when they shouldn't have but drop it now, you're only making yourself look bad

	Skydog:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 15:27 GMT	6 points
	@ Really I agree, i just saw a 20 minute train taking coal in IL yesterday.. no way that's green! lol

	SowCrates:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 15:36 GMT	2 points
	I live in Madison, and for a state capital/college town with a reputation for being far more liberal than the rest of the state, there are still plenty of manufacturing plants, coal power plants, etc. Lake Mendotta is the longest/most studied lake in the world, but it also would be good friends with the water quality right off of Navy Pier in Chicago. Lots of cars in Madison, buses yea but the city is not all that densely populated for 200,000 people, really spread out people drive lots of places... nothing can be built higher than the capital building after all

	SowCrates:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 15:37 GMT	2 points
	Worst-case example: drunks taking a taxi up and down state street, which is at most about 3/4 a mile long.

	GeoExpert:	Jun 14th, 2009 at 16:03 GMT	3 points
	Chicago is really good in green awareness. When I went there two years ago, there was a charity going on in which people design globes for green awareness. They were all over the place. All about helping the enviroment. Now this is just one example. My next comments will have links.