Forget their dismal ranking for weather: The Twin Cities impressed readers with their love of getting around without a car, no matter the season. The Nice Ride MN bike share program now has 170 stations, and lets you buy 24-hour passes for as little as $6—so you can pedal around some of the No. 1-ranked green spaces, like the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway. Even the indoor Mall of America has green credentials: the sprawling shopping center has no central heating system, instead using solar power—by way of 1.2 miles of skylights—to keep the place balmy. The cities also scored well for their sports fans‚ and LEED-certified Target Field collects almost three million gallons of rainwater and snowmelt a year. Target Field also offers some of the Twin Cities’ highly-ranking sandwiches—like the sausage-and-sauerkraut on a bun from longtime local deli Kramarczuk’s.
No. 1 Portland, OR
The Oregon city famous for its rose garden won the Green trophy this year, thanks to its colorful parks, its top-ranked mass transit and its flair for sustainable eating. Consider the downtown vegetarian food truck Juniper, where you can order a vegan mac ’n’ cheese made with cashew provolone, and wash it down with a tonic infused with grains of paradise. Speaking of grains, the city also ranked near the top for its microbrews, like HopWorks’ BikeBar, which has 75 bicycle parking spots, along with electricity-producing exercycles that you can pedal while you quaff. To blend in with the local, fedora-clad hipsters, browse the gently-used or locally-made clothing at downtown’s Rock & Rose.
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