7. Minneapolis, MN

Hybrid-driving Mayor R.T. Rybak dreams of bequeathing to his grandkids the city he grew up in… exactly as he knew it: "a place where you can hop on a bike, swim in a clean lake, and then ride down parkways to see two waterfalls and amazing wildlife ... without leaving the city limits." Mayor Rybak is committed to sustaining this Midwestern jewel of a city, set in the middle of farm country on the banks of the Mississippi, well into the next century. He’s got plenty of support from hearty Minneapolitans, who help make it one of the most bike friendly cities in the country, though the mercury rarely rises above 20 degrees in the winter. This same resolve is found among grassroots neighborhood groups, which receive city Climate Change grants for projects tackling global warming. One group handed out clotheslines to neighbors; another taught Somali refugees to ride bicycles along the 5.5 mile Midtown Greenway, built on an old rail line that cuts through south Minneapolis. Having tripled its number of farmers markets since 2006, residents have better access to healthy, local produce. They’ll also benefit from a strengthened land use and development policy that encourages dense, green development along transit corridors.

(Photo by Dawn Easterday)