Green built housing, energy awareness, and conscious living are all very prevalent here in Asheville, NC which is why many of us choose to live here. I wanted to explore other neighborhoods that had similar values and found the Clean Energy Authority’s top ten neighborhoods for green homes.
Unexpectedly, three of the top ten neighborhoods were outside of Cleveland, OH. In these areas near Lake Erie, over 60% of the homes sold have green-built features. After a predominantly industrial past, this city has had implementations of reducing its carbon footprint since 2002, and even has a government funded climate change task force to promote change, awareness, and research.
Moving down the list, two more neighborhoods that lead in sustainability are just outside of Philadelphia, PA. The city is planning on reducing its carbon emissions 80% by 2015. Plans have been implemented for creating bike lanes, storm water management, and exploring solar power already. Like the Ohio cities, many homes in this area are very old and people want to do everything they can to make their beautiful and historic neighborhoods efficient and earth-friendly in the coming years.
Other top cities that made this list are in Orange County, CA, Brooklyn, NY, and Seattle, WA. Every neighborhood that made the cut has over 55% of homes built with green features and range from median home prices of just $212,250 to over $1,414,000- showing that green living is attainable not just for the elite.
Here is the list of the top 10 Green Built Neighborhoods according to the Clean Energy Authority:
- Malvern (Cleveland, OH)
- Fernway (Cleveland, OH)
- Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia, PA)
- Spruce Hill (Philadelphia, PA)
- Red Hook (Brooklyn, NY)
- Baker Ranch (Orange County, CA)
- Echo Ridge Village (Orange County, CA)
- Georgetown (Seattle, WA)
- Painted Trails (Orange County, CA)
- Mercer (Cleveland, OH)
To read more, Click Here for details of the cities listed above.
