Earth Day, which this year was on April 22, is among other things supposed to encourage us to appreciate the value of a more sustainable society. To mark Earth Day, Lawn Starter, the lawn care company, compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities for sustainability, ranking them based on zero-energy buildings, alternative fuel stations and greenhouse gas emissions among 26 metrics in all.  

The most sustainable city, according to their analysis, is San Francisco, with Boston in second place and New York City in third. Two other cities in California were in the fourth and fifth spots — Oakland and San Diego. Three cities in Texas were at the bottom of the rankings — Mesquite, Pasadena and Grand Prairie. Surprise in Arizona and Hialeah in Florida were not much better. All those cities’ low rankings are mostly attributable to their car-dependent infrastructure and lack of green amenities.  

A New Jersey city also hovered in the lower rankings. That’s Paterson, which was rated the 7th-least sustainable city among the 200. It has the fewest alternative fuel stations per square mile among the 200 cities surveyed.