The Greenest Cities in the U.S.

Minnesotan twin cities Minneapolis and St. Paul are the greenest cities in the U.S., according to a ranking by the Trust for Public Land. The cities came in before U.S. capital Washington D.C., which is known for its large-scale public parks and monuments.

In fact, Minneapolis was planned around a park system instead of the other way around, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Minneapolis is also referred to as the “City of Lakes”, because 22 lakes of the proverbial 10,000 lakes of Minnesota are located within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area.

The survey, which ranked the 100 largest cities in the U.S. using an index score, took into account park size relative to city size as well as the investments in parks, amenities in parks and the equal distribution of parks throughout the city.