20. Kansas City, MO

If you find yourself thirsty after devouring a Kansas City style barbecue meal, turn on the tap and open wide – no filter necessary. In 2008, the City of Fountains retains its position at the top of SustainLane’s list for tap water. In recent years the city has made strides in the sustainability department. It created the Office of Environmental Quality in 2006, and in 2008 it drafted a comprehensive climate protection plan. If you ask the city’s chief environmental officer, he’ll tell you Kansas City’s biggest challenge is sprawl and low-density. KC is working hard, though, to repopulate and redevelop its urban core, and it’s meeting with some success. A paucity of traffic and remarkably good air quality has made it difficult to gain local support for alternative transportation, but a proposal for light rail is on the table. And, the city just received LEED Silver certification for a $150 million expansion of its convention center. It’s also analyzing financial incentive options for commercial and residential green building. Kansas City here we come!

Among the most photographed and perhaps best known is the J C Nichols Memorial Fountain, located at the east entrance to the Country Club Plaza. The 1910 sculpture by Henry Gerber of Paris, France, features four equestrian figure, symbols of four rivers: Rhine, Seine, Mississippi and Volga. There are efforts underway for the use of recycled water in all the City’s beautiful fountains. (Photo by AmericasRoof)