L.A. drops in "sustainability" rankings

It’s no surprise that Los Angeles should lag behind such emerald stars as Seattle, Portland, Ore., and San Francisco in terms of sustainability … but Cleveland? Omaha? Dallas?

Apparently so. According to the 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings, which rate the nation’s 50 largest cities in terms of urban sustainability, Los Angeles is behind those cities … and 21 others as well.

The city fell three spots from last year. Why? Well, one clue come from the fact that rankings are based on factors including air quality, roadway congestion, sprawl and housing affordability.

-- Jessica Garrison

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo Credit: L.A. Times

Comments

[Giacomo]

Please, these "rankings" are from an group with a clearly stated agenda. Let's be careful not to treat this as unbiased research.

L.A. might be doomed, but not because it isn't "green" enough.

[susan]

I moved from L.A 2 yrs ago to battle ground washington pop. 16,000, 19 miles north of portland. No regrets here we got 3000 sq. ft two story house five acres private road guest house and shop for $600,000. The people are very nice, the children in the area are well behaved.

[Ron]

You win some and you lose some. There is still enormous potential for LA to emerge as a leader in urban sustainability. Our biggest challenges could push us to develop solutions in alternatives transportation, green building and mixed-income housing. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

[Steve]

I was 4th generation LA and I thought I was the kind of person that LA wanted to keep high income, highly educated in CA schools, paid taxes, etc.. Like many natives I witnessed the decline and thank God I left the hell hole 15 years ago for paradise. The reality is the population in LA is not sustainable and is now evolving in to a state of chaos. Below is solutions, yet no politician has the guts to make these changes:
Do not allow any more people to move to LA within the US.
Allow no more immigrants, legal or illegal, to locate in LA
Deport all illegals now in LA, estimated 20% of population

Just look around you on the 405 and picture LA with 30% less population, a majority of the problems would be gone within a year. Instead the politicians will do nothing and LA will continue deteriorate in front of your eyes. Any one with a brain and money leaves and the broke scum moves in.

[Giacomo]

Steve has correctly identified the elephant in the room.

[xpdx]

I left Portland because of the endless weeks and months with no sun. But I realize after landing here in 2004 that there is a lot to said for being within 20 minutes of work, in a lovely house, in a safe and beautiful neighborhood. And they don't even let you pump your own gas, which is pretty nice when those 40 inches of rain are falling. All the increased salary I got for moving here is more than eaten up by housing and commuting. In retrospect, maybe all I needed was a sunlamp.

[sheila]

i love the foreign immigrants. they bring great food, great music, and smiling faces.

it's the desperate, shallow, greedy, arrogant, cellphone addicted, bad driving jerks in the entertainment industry we could all do without. since they came in droves to santa monica, the place has been completely ruined. endless traffic, smog, no parking, no more small indie shops, no cute SFRs, just bad office complexes, bad "luxury condos," bad overpriced restaurants, bad midlevel execs in their lame hipster costumes, and bad vibes.

bleah. go back to hollywood!