Great city, but can that be sustained?

A new ranking of cities measures quality of life based on environmental factors that reduce global warming.

Excellent public transportation, bikeways and neighborhood retail get workers and consumers out of cars. Food produced locally eliminates the energy consumption of long-distance transportation.

Based on these and other categories, the top five cities for 2006 were Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Seattle; Chicago; and Oakland, according to SustainLane (www.sustainlane.com), which helps government, businesses and consumers go green. Out of the 50 largest cities ranked, Los Angeles was 25th.

-- Gayle Pollard-Terry

gayle.pollard-terry@latimes.com