Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 888

Sustainable Pacific North-
west
The Pacific Northwest is one of the most sustainable regions in the world.
Seattle, Portland and Vancouver all lead US and Canadian cities in recyc-
ling, bike friendliness, public transportation, renewable-energy use and
green architecture. In Seattle, eco-roofs adorn City Hall and the Ballard
Library; in Portland, many street swales filter stormwater that would other-
wise run off; and in Vancouver, electric-vehicle stalls are now required in all
new condominium complexes. These are just a few examples of the region's
culture of sustainability.
Over 6% of Portlanders bike to work - the highest percentage in a large US city. Seattle's
figure is about 3.5%, and Vancouver is at 4%. What's the national average? That would
be 0.5%.
Of course, there's a flip side to every story. Urban sprawl is an issue in the suburbs of
Seattle and Portland, and rush-hour traffic jams definitely exist. Clear-cut forests cause
hillsides to erode and fill streams with silt, which, along with the hundreds of hydroelec-
tric dams in the area, impact wild-salmon populations. And global climate change is oc-
curring faster in the Pacific Northwest than in many other places in the world, affecting
snow packs, melting glaciers and raising water levels in Puget Sound.
But most people living in this beautiful region realize that protecting what they have is
a key to their future. They'll keep recycling, biking to work and doing whatever else they
can to keep their environment as 'sustainable' as possible - and enjoy their glorious sur-
roundings as reward.
The Columbia River system has over 400 dams - more than any other river system in the
world.