Eugene, OR
“It’s a very livable city,” says broker-owner of Century 21 Westover, rawlin Westover,
“once people move here, they don’t want to leave.” eugene has extensive wetlands programs, uses wind farms to produce some of its electricity and is home to two eco-friendly pizza parlors.
In an effort to compare six interesting cities — we found that although we’re seeing negative figures in terms of job growth, we are seeing an increasing number of LeeD-certified projects. (LeeD stands for Leadership in energy and environmental Design and is run by the u.S. Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org.) Here, we feature six places that are working to ensure a better future for our children and for our planet.
Louisville, KY
Home to the Kentucky Derby, this city provides such eco-friendly services as green cleaning, a
water-saving car wash and emission-free lawn mowing. Plus: Charles Ballard, the owner of Century 21 realty Group Hagan, tells us “you get a lot of house for your money.”
Santa Fe, NM
As the oldest capital in the u.S., this town affords a stunning landscape, a rich history and plenty of activities — from exploring native American ruins to walking through lavender fields to attending the opera. Additionally, Santa Fe has made great strides with water conservation, waste reduction, transportation systems, and green building. Santa Fe boasts an eco-friendly convention center, which was built from 65,000 recycled bricks from the old center and now has nonvolatile carpet and paint.
Cambridge, MA
It’s very hard to mention Cambridge without mentioning Harvard and MIt. Jim Savas, the
owner of Century 21 Adams, tells us due to the colleges and the high-tech and bio-tech businesses in the area, Cambridge is pretty much “recession-proof and values of houses have held fairly well.” The city has many LeeD buildings, promotes green building to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has multiple green hotels.
Denver, CO
If you love the outdoors but still yen for city living, this might be the perfect spot for you.
Whether you like fly-fishing, whitewater rafting or just a great bike ride, Denver has the nation’s largest city park system. With the unbelievable natural setting, it’s no surprise that its inhabitants promote green living with an affordable public transportation system, plenty of organic food and even eco-friendly art.
View our listings of properties in this area: page 24
By the numbers
Location
Louisville
Denver
Eugene
Cambridge
Santa Fe
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
“In one block,” says Ben Coleman, the owner/ broker of Century 21 Hartford Properties, you
can walk to a French, Thai and Japanese-Latin Fusion restaurants as well as a gourmet pizzeria.” Coleman, who grew up in San Francisco, moved to the suburbs, and now is back in the city, enjoys having the conveniences of a big city along with the great parks in the area. He tells us that San Francisco has the highest recycling rate (72 percent) in the u.S.
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Amount spent per student*
Unemployment Rate*
Job Growth*
$5,811 9.70% - 3.20%
$5,642 8.70% - 2.60%
$5,689 10.60% - 3.40%
$13,573 4.90% - 3.60%
$4,705 4.50% - 1.20%
$5,874 8.30% -0.20%
*Information is from Sperling’s Best Places, www.bestplaces.net
**Approximate figures from www.usgbc.org for all levels of Leed buildings, certified, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum — as reported on the uSBgBC website. this number may only be a fraction of all the buildings, some may be in process of being Leed certified and others may not be searchable on their website.
Median House price*
$108,470
$218,780
$225,890
$606,860
$270,850
$673,610
Sales tax*
6.00%
7.60%
0.00%
5.00%
7.31%
8.50%
Income tax*
8.20%
5.00%
9.00%
5.95%
7.10%
6.00%
Number of Zagat-rated restaurants
66
215
6
236
59
912
Number of LEED green buildings**
3
31
3
23
2
References:
Archives