City of Oakland

Ken O.
115 reviews
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A light green city.

Oakland is gearing up very well in sustainability as compared to many other cities I've lived in. It could be greener, of course, hence my completely objective 3-star rating. Reasons why it's not 100% sustainable yet: 1. Extensive single family home developments (sprawl); 2. 60%+ ppl drive--gas is as cheap as water still; 3. City doesn't recycle any plastics except narrowneck bottles, unlike S.F., Tokyo, etc; 4. not using 100% renewable energy yet; 5. no home-by-home data yet for resident GHG emissions from electricity use; 6. no bus-only or light-rail lanes on major streets yet (college, broadway, telegraph); 7. 70%+ of food consumed by citizens imported from 100+ miles away; 8. street lights left on all night; 9. residents still throw away tons of garbage each year into landfills; 10. no community gardens and just 1 farmers market in west oakland that I know of http://www.wo-foodcollaborative.org/page4.html ; 11. Port of Oakland- ships burn bunker fuel (used motor oil)!

Ken's keywords: air quality oakland food light green renewable plastic driving bus-only light rail