The South's most sustainable cities

Smarter Cities, a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council, has unveiled its picks for the 15 most environmentally sustainable U.S. cities -- large, medium and small.



While Western cities dominated the top of the lists, the South made a respectable showing.

Among large cities, Austin and Dallas made NRDC's cut. The most sustainable medium-sized cities include Huntsville, Ala.; Tallahassee, Fla.;  Laredo, Texas; and Athens, Ga. And on the list of the most sustainable small cities are Sarasota, Fla.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Charleston, S.C.; and Denton, Texas.

The project evaluated places according to nine criteria: air quality, energy production and conservation, environmental standards and participation, green building, green space, recycling, transportation, standard of living, and water quality and conservation.

To read more about the cities that made the lists, check out the story at Grist.