As a lovely accent to its world-class architecture, the Windy City has a strong commitment to its green spaces, which ranked in the survey’s top 10. The newest slice of nature in the city is the 20-acre Maggie Daley Park, which has a grassy, hilly landscape (including the winter Skating Ribbon) that was designed to minimize road noise; meanwhile, the elevated Bloomingdale Trail—connecting Wicker Park, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park—will open in June. Chicago also made the top 10 for chef-driven restaurants: Rick Bayless can claim two of Chicago’s three-star-rated, Green-certified restaurants: Frontera Grill and Topolobampo.
No. 7 Nashville
Some cities boast their LEED-certified hotels, but Music City has the Southeast’s first LEED-certified neighborhood. The Gulch—not far from famed Music Row—won the honor for having everything from good mass transit to LED traffic lights and plenty of amenities within a half-mile walk: two good stops are Peg Leg Porker, a purveyor of the city’s top-5-ranked barbecue, and the bourbon-rich Whiskey Kitchen, which supports the city’s silver-medal win for bars. The city’s locals may consider the word “please” to be a renewable energy source: they ranked near the top for being polite.