Minneapolis, Chicago and Philadelphia are the most affordable sustainable cities, according to a new report from Redfin.
The report ranks cities based on walkability, transit, bike accessibility and parks. Each component was measured on a scale of one to 100, with the overall sustainability score being the average of the four components.
With a score of 79.2, San Francisco had the best rating, followed by New York (79); and Washington, D.C. (74.2). Fort Worth, Texas (25.3); Charlotte, N.C. (27.5); and Arlington, Texas (29.3) had the lowest sustainability scores.
Redfin said Minneapolis (73.1); Chicago (72.7); and Philadelphia (67.9) ranked among the 10 most sustainable cities, but also had relatively affordable home prices below the national median of $295,100.
“In many cities, the only places that middle- and low-income people can afford to live is on the outskirts, where residents have to drive farther to get to work, school and the grocery store, emitting more carbon into the atmosphere,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “Cities need to build dense housing near jobs or mass-transit to allow residents to live a greener lifestyle, in order to significantly limit carbon emissions.”
According to the report, 22 percent of homes that were listed for sale last year were both within a 30-minute drive to the local jobs center and affordable for a family making the local median income, down from 33 percent in 2013.