#46 with a Bullet

Sustain Lane, a people powered sustainability guide, just released it's third annual U.S. City Rankings for sustainability.

This report benchmarks each city's performance in 16 areas of urban sustainability, including an essential new measurement this year: Water Supply. The peer-reviewed Rankings track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents' quality of life. In this story, some cities are becoming more self-reliant and better prepared for an uncertain future, while others have been slow to act on opportunities to green their municipalities.

It's not surprising that Oregon, San Francisco, and Seattle are in the top three. It is a little disappointing, but again not surprising, to see that Memphis is #46. (Even more disappointing is the fact that we were ranked #43 in 2006!)

However, the good news is that in the city profiles, Sustain Lane focused on many positive things happening in our community:

Located on the Mississippi River, the city of Memphis is the second largest city in the southeastern United States. It's perhaps most famous—and most visited—for Graceland, the former home of Rock 'n' Roll legend Elvis Presley. But the city won't be getting a Beale-street-style gold star on the Sustain Lane walk of fame this time around, coming in 46th of the 50 cities in our survey. With clean air and water, affordable housing, and a decent recycling rate, Memphians have a great foundation on which to build a movement so that the city may endure well into the future. In recent years, city officials have been talking about expanding the number of city greenways and have even proposed a 22-mile-long corridor of trails and nature areas along the Wolf River. As city officials consider Memphis' future, they might also look to the University of Memphis for leadership. In fall of 2008, U of M is hosting a campus-wide Sustainability Technologies Awareness Day, showcasing eco-friendly initiatives developed by the university and its community partners.