CityStories / City Profiles / Small Cities
Because Antioch's tagline is the "Gateway to the Delta" of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers at the San Francisco Bay, water management is a top priority for the city.
The village of Arlington Heights is Chicago's largest suburb in Cook County—and one of its oldest—and its proximity to the city has presented both challenges and advantages to...
July 2010 Update: Beaverton has been named a 2010 Smarter City for Energy. Read the article.Beaverton, Oregon, lies just seven miles west of green leader Portland, and the TriMet...
Situated on Bellingham Bay at the northern end of the Puget Sound, Bellingham is both a university town and an industrial center, home to an aging pulp mill owned until 2001 by...
The twin cities of Bloomington and Normal rank among the top in the country for the least amount of ozone in the air, based on the American Lung Association’s 2008 State of the...
Boca Raton, which is known for having some of the most expensive gated communities in the country, is making strides toward developing more affordable housing opportunities.
February 2011 Update: Boulder has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. The City of Boulder has also been a pioneer in green building since 1980 when...
February 2011 Update: Bremerton has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Bremerton is the largest city in Kitsap County, Washington. It lies just a 55...
The Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge borders the city of Burnsville, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Because of the nearby natural resources—including the Minnesota...
The City of Carlsbad has a five-member commission, appointed by the mayor, for the interests of seniors in the community.
February 2011 Update: Champaign has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Like other cities in Illinois, Champaign–Urbana is subject to the Smoke-Free...
Charleston, South Carolina, has a rich cultural past, and its historic architecture is one of its chief prides. Highly protected, these buildings form the backbone of Charleston...
February 2011 Update: Davis, Yolo County, has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Davis is the largest city in Yolo County, California. Davis is home...
July 2010 Update: Denton has been named a 2010 Smarter City for Energy. Read the article.As a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth greater metropolitan region, Denton, Texas, is one of...
July 2010 Update: Dubuque has been named a 2010 Smarter City for Energy. Read the article.One of the first settlements west of the Mississippi, Dubuque has the oldest historic...
The independent nonprofit Hartley Nature Center at Hartley Park teaches Duluth youth about nature in an eco-friendly building, which has a geothermal heat pump and solar panels...
In April 2009, the township of Edison established the Clara Barton–Amboy Avenue Neighborhood Home Loan Program to revitalize this particular historic neighborhood while...
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System provides trolley service on two lines to El Cajon, connecting it to nearby downtown San Diego, as well as to other cities and...
East of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, the city of Ellensburg is the sunlit home of a America's first community solar project and provides easy access to hiking,...
The Fall River Energy Enterprise (FREE) was started by the city’s mayor in effort to green the city, redevelop the downtown area, make it a renewable-energy leader in the region...
As one of the fastest growing metropolitan statistical areas in the country, Fayetteville, Arkansas has sought to find a way to make that growth green. Set in the moderate...
In June 2008, the City of Flagstaff adopted a resolution mandating that all new municipal buildings be LEED-silver certified and should seek platinum certification wherever...
Gastonia's Wastewater Treatment Division was the first government entity to win the North Carolina Environmental Stewardship Award in 2005, an award from the state's voluntary...
Hemet is a part of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides a "Be Water Wise" site with tips on conserving water and information on rebates, and a...
The Village of Hoffman Estates has a volunteer Environmental Commission that liases with state and county attorney generals' offices on environmental education and laws.
Irondequoit was one of the first cities in the country to sign the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to advance the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kane Street Community Garden is on land owned by the City of La Crosse and is managed by the Hunger Task Force.
Like most of Southern California, La Habra faces a growing demand for water and a shrinking supply.
La Mesa is well served by San Diego's regional Metropolitan Transit System, which covers 3,240 square miles of service area and has 290,000 riders each weekday.
February 2011 Update: Lincoln has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Nebraska’s capital city is home to 90 percent of the population of the Lincoln...
Each of the Hawaiian islands is on its own energy grid, isolated thousands of miles from the mainland. Transporting fuel for energy is expensive, and the state of Hawaii gives...
Merced contracted ECO:LOGIC Engineering for facility design and permitting of its upgraded wastewater treatment plant, which includes a new filtration technology and expanded...
Halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego in Orange County, Mission Viejo, like its green neighbor Irvine, is a young, master-planned community, which was only incorporated in...
Located in Silicon Valley just outside the San Francisco Bay Area, Mountain View is home to many high-tech companies—including Google and Intuit—whose local contributions have...
Founded as an industrial mill town, Nashua is refashioning its older structures into new ones that embrace the culture and history of the locale. Its brownfield remediation...
Newton’s Health and Human Services Department includes commissions that focus on human rights, youth, seniors and those with disabilities.
Forty miles northeast of the City of New York, Norwalk, Connecticut, is located on the Long Island Sound in an area with a long history of oystering. It is a city highly...
In 1984, the City of Petaluma created the mission-driven Housing Program with a goal of making 10 to 15 percent of housing affordable; it has since exceeded this goal by...
A suburb of green-frontrunner Seattle and situated between the Cascade Mountain Range and Puget Sound, Redmond is known as the Bicycle Capital of the Northwest and has 34 parks...
Since 1977, Redwood City has had a Housing and Human Concerns Committee that is responsible for ensuring that the quality of life for all residents has been considered in the...
Roseville public schools benefit from the partnerships with large companies with a presence in the city, including Hewlett-Packard, SureWest, IBM, Xerox Corporation and Apple...
In 2008, the city launched a climate protection campaign called SMART, or San Mateo Acting Responsibly Together, to educate city employees and the community about the importance...
Pacific Gas & Electric supplies 40 percent of California with energy, including San Ramon.
July 2010 Update: Santa Cruz has been named a 2010 Smarter City for Energy. Read the article.Although much of California is known for smog, Santa Cruz County has consistently...
Santa Monica's Green Building Ordinance went into effect in May 2008 and will apply to all new construction, including single-family homes.
A vacation town on the Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota has a transient population that can be challenging to rally for the city's green plans. But the city has involved the public...
The Turlock Irrigation District is one of only four publicly owned irrigation districts in the state of California that also provides electricity to residents.
Union City's Tri-CED community recycling is the largest nonprofit recycler in California that is dedicated to employing needy adults and providing training for disadvantaged...
Union Township is a small city situated in the Highlands Preservation Area of New Jersey, with firm restrictions on future development.
February 2011 Update: Urbana has been named a 2011 Smarter City for Transportation. Urbana shares a border with the neighboring city of Champaign. Urbana is home to...
Since the 1970s, the Warwick Wildlife and Conservation Commission has existed to protect the city's natural resources and work with the planning commission to create development...
The township of Wayne has a rehabilitation program to repair homes in substandard condition for those with low incomes.
Wheaton's park district maintains 829 acres of parks, pools and green space for recreation, and an online map shows bicycle paths connecting them.
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