Pair of West Valley cities ranked among least sustainable in US

PHOENIX — Two West Valley cities ranked among the worst in the United States for building a path toward a sustainable future, according to a lawn care website.

Surprise and Peoria came in as one of the least sustainable cities when compared to 200 of the largest cities in the country, according to LawnStarter.

LawnStarter compared the cities based on five sustainability categories, including sustainable development, policy, food production and transportation.

Surprise was ranked at No. 197, making the city the fourth-worst for sustainability. Surprise’s worst score fell under the sustainable development category, which looks at the number of zero-energy buildings and share of land used for parks, ranking in last place (No. 200).

Peoria placed No. 191, with the West Valley city faring best in the policy category (No. 110) that looks at urban heat island programs, clean city coalitions and the number of global green partners.

It fell short in the sustainable development and pollution categories (both No. 191), which considers greenhouse-gas emissions, tons of waste in landfills per 100,000 residents, air quality and thrift shopper friendliness.

The Arizona city that ranked the overall highest on the study was Tucson (No. 68), followed by Scottsdale (No. 94), Tempe (No. 116) and Phoenix (No. 121).

Tucson performed best in the transportation category (car-free lifestyle friendliness), placing No. 57, and worst in the sustainable development category, ranking No. 119.

The most sustainable city was San Francisco, followed by Boston and New York.

The least sustainable cities were all in Texas, which included Mesquite and Pasadena.

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