On this list, Boston 6th most sustainable city in US

Boston may be nowhere as green as Portland, Oregon, but our town made one Top 10 list of most-sustainable cities in the United States.

Bicycling, public transportation and green ''mainstreaming'' all are up throughout many of America's cities, said James Elsen, CEO of SustainLane Media, a green online network that prepared the study for the world's green cities and communities conference in Geneva on Oct. 1.

The list shows "how mayors and city councils are preparing their cities for resource deficits due to high gas and energy prices, drought, rising food prices and other issues,'' Elsen said in a release today.

Boston finished sixth, a spot higher than it did in a 2006 survey, and was singled out for efforts at green building and alternative energy. Here's the 20 top-ranked cities:

The 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings (2006 rankings in parentheses):
1) Portland (1)
2) San Francisco (2)
3) Seattle (3)
4) Chicago (4)
5) New York (6)
6) Boston (7)
7) Minneapolis (10)
8) Philadelphia (8)
9) Oakland (5)
10) Baltimore (11)
11) Denver (9)
12) Milwaukee (16)
13) Austin (14)
14) Sacramento (13)
15) Washington (12)
16) Cleveland (28)
17) Honolulu (15)
18) Albuquerque (19)
19) Atlanta (38)
20) Kansas City (18)

For more on the study and on its methodology, go to sustainlane.com.

Readers, let us know if you agree with this ranking. Have your say in our Comments section.