cities

Toronto women's shelter starts bike-sharing program

When you're broke and scared and used to not being in charge of your own life, regaining autonomy is a step-by-step process. Getting on a bike can help with all that.

Why do cities drive us crazy?

Studies have repeatedly shown that rates of mental illness are higher in cities. We still don't know exactly why, but neuroscience is on the job.

Land of the freegan, home of the brave

For a freegan, the world is a grocery store, and everything is marked 100 percent off. I go dumpster diving with a few intrepid New Yorkers who are living the freegan dream.

A closer look at Siemens' green cities rankings

Attempts to measure, score, or rank things for greenness aren't perfect or foolproof, but they do get us talking about what's important.

Bicycling our way into work and out of the Great Recession

Bicycling creates a little wealth. But more importantly, it creates a lot of well-being. That's what the bicycle economy is all about.

Top 10 greenest cities in North America

It seems like we get a new list of greenest, most climate-change-prepared, most bike-friendly etc. cities every week or so. But we never really get tired of looking at these rankings, and checking them against each other to decide where we should fantasize about moving. Today, it's a list of the top greenest cities in North America from Siemens and the Economist Intelligence Unit. This ranking takes into account carbon emissions, land use, transportation, energy usage, buildings, water and air quality, waste, and environmental governance.

Drumroll please for the top 10:

Why Poughkeepsie is a great place to wait for the end of the world

Towns like Poughkeepsie, New York may appear charmless, but they could be ideal places to live in a post-peak oil world.

Why Broke-Ass is a patriot

Broke-Ass goes off on bicycle lanes, Northern Europe, and the smugness of the eco-movement in general, before telling a few stories about what makes this country great.

When it comes to green, what you buy matters more than where you live

Get off your high horse, New Yorkers! City dwellers might do some environmental good by driving less and living in smaller spaces. But living in a city doesn't affect a person's carbon footprint as much as the amount that he or she buys.