Dave’s Diary: Smartest Cities List Includes Seattle & Vancouver

I get to Seattle maybe every other month so I can’t say I claim Ito be an expert on the Emerald City but I must say I never get the sense that as I coming through the tunnel I am entering the presence of brilliance…and yet, that’s what a new survey would seem to indicate.  The cities across North America were rated using a "smart city" scale that was based on characteristics including  prioritizing green buildings techniques, entrepreneurship, societal inclusiveness, mixed-modal transportation access, governmental transparency and overall safety.

So who topped the list?  Which city is the “smartest”?  Boston topped the list.  Boston is home to more than 70 universities and colleges, eight of which are dedicated research universities with $1.5 billion in annual R&D expenditures.  Not exactly a backwater flyover kinda town!  But right there sitting at number three is Seattle.  Just to the north is Vancouver at number 4 and to the south is San Francisco at number 2.  Interesting cluster of like mindedness, no? 

The rest of the top 10 were:
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. Vancouver
5. New York
6. Washington D.C.
7. Toronto
8. Chicago
9. Los Angeles
10. Montreal