Cities Striving to Be Green

(page 3 of 3)

6. Portland, Ore. Besides being every transit planner's dream come true (the city prioritized compact development and mass transit), Portland has made itself one of the best places to be a "green" business in the country. Its new Bureau of Planning & Sustainability brings together the economic development and planning arms of the city's sustainability initiatives. (They were previously separate departments, which is not always great for communication and working together.)

In addition to innovative grants that support renewable energy and a big push to be the first EV-ready U.S. city, Portland plans to use stimulus funds to roll out its own Clean Energy Fund this month, which will fund residential energy retrofits. An emphasis on buying and selling local, an abundance of natural resources, low taxes and property prices, and access to a sustainably minded talent pool (thanks to Portland State University and the University of Oregon) round out the benefits for Portland-based cleantech companies, which currently include solar companies Solaicx and SolarWorld as well as software developer GreenPrint. The next big fish for the city could be Norway's Think Automotive, which scoped out the area as part of its recent site search.

7. Denver "We have traditionally been an energy hub," said Michele Weingarden, director of Greenprint Denver, the city's sustainability initiative. "First with coal, then natural gas, energy production has often fueled a boom-and-bust cycle here. Now both the governor and the mayor have made the recruitment of renewable energy companies a priority." The Green Denver Business program, run out of the city's Office of Economic Development, is working not only to attract new cleantech companies but also to reach out to companies that already exist in the community to make sure they know about available incentives and rebates. Already in the city there's nanotech company ZettaCore and solar company Conergy. The city also benefits from its proximity to the University of Colorado at Boulder. This week, Denver became the first in the country to become ISO 14001 certified, a milestone that's in line with its Greenprint plan and its growing reputation as a "green" city after hosting the lowest-impact Democratic National Convention ever.

Provided by GigaOm—

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.