SustainLane 2006 US City Sustainability Ranking
Washington, DC: Leading by Example
The city of Washington, D.C. conjures images more granite than green, more power than produce. But can the capital city get more sustainable? Yes, and D.C. already has the grades to prove it, as well as signs of further improvement ahead.
Washington is the planned city par excellence, an intentional space of ceremony and symmetry. Buildings taller than 160 feet are forbidden, and the resulting vistas are broad, punctuated by domes and spires. City layout is rectilinear with diagonal streets radiating from key squares. Avenues-long, straight, and lined with trees-arrange unbroken fields of view to better highlight monuments and monumental architecture.
Today, 550,000 people live in the company town for the colossal federal government. Many more live in the suburbs. The traffic is terrible-Washington's congestion ranks #46. But the city also showcases some of the leading sustainable practices in the nation. Some of these efforts are initiated upstairs by the feds, some come from city management, and some come from D.C. natives who are gradually relocalizing city neighborhoods.
