New York Among the Top Greenest Cities

It’s not easy being green — for a city, that is. It’s tough enough to simply keep up with the endless trash, traffic and pollution generated by urban life. To actually get the better of it with good public transportation, smart recycling programs and the kind of well-kept streets, parks and playgrounds that make cities fun and healthful places to live, that’s the true challenge. So who measures up?

Yahoo! picked some places — in no particular order — that they think are doing a great job at putting residents first. New York is among them.

New York

Surprise! Thanks to its storied (and widely used) public transportation, energy-efficient housing and good water quality, New York rates a place among the nation’s green cities. Central Park makes it even greener. Considered a folly of epic proportions when its 843 swampy, muddy acres were set aside in the 1850s, Central Park is a wilderness within the urban core. More than 80 percent of NYC residents use public transportation, something that earns the city bragging rights.

In fact, New Yorkers burn gasoline at the rate the U.S. did in the 1920s. The key to the city’s low use of fossil fuels, pesticides and other energy sources is population density. Calculated by square foot, New York uses as much energy and produces as much solid waste as any city. Calculate by population, however, and the numbers shift. Per capita, New Yorkers use fewer resources and put less pressure on their surroundings than any other city of its size.

Yahoo! has also donated a fleet of hybrid taxis to New York City, which recently determined it produces 1% of all U.S. greenhouse gases. By displacing traditionally fueled cabs with hybrid taxis, Yahoo! is helping New York City edge closer to its ambitious environmental goals. The City will also save enough gas to drive a hybrid vehicle 56 times around the Earth.

So welcome to the Big Green Apple.

http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/the_top_ten_greenest_cities.html

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