Men's Health: Seattle Green / Fort Worth Fossil Fool

The current issue of Men's Health ranks American cities by how green they are, car-wise. Seattle came in #1. Arlington, Texas came in last place of the 100 city's ranked. Fort Worth is barely ahead of Arlington at #95. San Antonio is #94. The best in Texas is Lubbock at #32. Corpus Christi does pretty good at #34. Austin is #42. While Dallas is #67.

Meanwhile, up in the Pacific Northwest, in addition to Seattle being #1, Spokane is #8, Portland is #3, San Francisco is #9.

The rankings are determined by scores given in 7 categories.

"Fossil Fools" ranks the Biggest Gas-Guzzlers. Arlington is the #1 Gas Guzzler. Fort Worth is the #6 Gas Guzzling Fossil Fool.

"Fuel Wasted" ranks the least amount of extra fuel consumed due to stop and go traffic. Spokane is #1 on this list. Corpus Christi is # 3.

"Transit" ranks the greatest number of people using public transportation daily. No Texas or Pacific Northwest city shows up in the Top 10. San Francisco is #4,

"Ozone" ranks the lowest number of high ozone days. Portland ranks #2, Spokane is #4, Boise is #9.

"Pollution" ranks lowest daily particle pollution. Lubbock is #3, Corpus Christi is #4.

"Gas Consumed" ranks fewest gallons of gas consumed yearly. All but 2 of the cities on this list are in California. Which seems odd. Californians drive everywhere. The other 2 cities on this list are in New York, Buffalo and Rochester.

"Mileage" ranks fewest household miles driven yearly. No Texas or Pacific Northwest city shows up in the Top 10 on this list. Miami is #1.

"Greenest Drivers" is the over all score after combining all the categories to determine which cities are the most environmentally conscious. Like I already said, Seattle is #1. The rest of the Top 10 has Burlington, VT #2, Portland #3, Madison, WI #4, Fargo, ND #5, Rochester #6, Minneapolis #7, Spokane #8, San Francisco #9 and Norfolk, VA #10.

My conclusion from this? Well, Men's Health penchant for doing these type ranking things always seems a bit goofy to me.

I'll tell you this. I have driven in Seattle, Spokane, Portland and San Francisco. While each has many attributes that outshine anything in Texas, driving is not one of them.

Driving in Seattle is a nightmare. When I go back up there I feel like I've been spoiled by the ease of driving in Texas. Here if there is a traffic jam it is easy to get off the freeway and continue on surface streets. That option doesn't much work up in Seattle.

And it's not just Seattle, it's the whole I-5 corridor from Olympia to north of Everett. Just this morning Lulu told me it took her 2 hours to get 20 miles to Lacey. Lacey is between Tacoma and Olympia. The roads may be in much better shape up there, but driving on them is not in the best of shape. So, I don't know what in the world Men's Health was thinking, somehow ending up with Seattle having the Greenest Drivers.

Then again, I just remembered, when I am up there it is quite noticeable how much more prevalent small cars are than here, and how many fewer pickups and SUVs are on the road. I don't recollect ever seeing a Hummer up there. Having a Hummer in the Northwest would be like asking for some sort of social ostracism.