Categories: News

Philly is #15th Greenest City in USA

The city of brotherly love continues to battle it out in the greenest city ranks.

Philadelphia has been named the #15 greenest city of 2015 in a report by Wallethub.

We were beat by top 5 cities (in descending order), Honolulu, Washington DC, San Fran, Portland and NEW YORK. (Seriously, New York?!?! GREENEST?!)

Cities were ranked based on “1) Environmental Quality, 2) “Greenness” of Transportation, 3) “Greenness” of Energy Sources and 4) Green Lifestyle & Local Policies”. (Note to Wallethub: “greenness” isn’t a word, and the term green is passé as it is… coming from a website that has “green” in our name.) Their full methodology is on their website (link above).

We’ll give it to NYC that basically no one drives (which is why they ranked #1 for the lowest numbers of commuters that drive), but Philly was left off the “bike score”, which we disagree with – since Philly’s been the #1 bike commuting city for several years now.

Here’s how Philly shook out in ranking:

Philadelphia “Green” Rankings (according to Wallethub)

  • 31st – % of Green Space
  • 9th – % of Commuters Who Drive
  • 11th – Bike Score
  • 13th – Number of Farmers Markets per Capita
  • 6th – Walk Score

Not that Wallethub’s the expert in environmental rankings (after all, they’re a “Personal Finance Resource?” that comes out with a ton of rankings that Philly Mag often eagerly writes about), but we love seeing our city in any top-tier regardless.

Readers, what do you think of Wallethub’s ranking? Tell us in the comments. 

Julie Hancher

Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake.

Recent Posts

25% of City is solar-powered*, Getting to Green & new watershed exhibit

The latest green news you missed. Here comes the sun! Approximately 25% of municipal city…

1 day ago

Native plants and the future of our drinking water

Native plants are part of a collective solution to the expanding problem of stormwater mitigation…

3 days ago

Earth week: Winner of SBN’s Food Saver Challenge, Swarthmore’s Solar purchase & more

Read the latest sustainability news. Earth Day was Monday is every day, and was celebrated…

1 week ago

Four Ways to Improve Recycling in Philly

Recycling in Philly is broken. Here’s how Mayor Parker’s administration could fix it. Recycling in…

1 week ago

The EPA’s Efforts in Climate Action, Public Engagement, and Earth Month Initiatives

We sat down with Adam Ortiz, EPA's Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator to chat about transparency and…

2 weeks ago

Is My Recycling Being … Recycled?

Philadelphians' skepticism about the City’s waste policies has led to an abysmal recycling rate. Here’s…

2 weeks ago