Where to plan your next environmentally vacation: 15 green cities

by Anna Brones on

The good folks at Grist put together their own list of 15 green cities. Although their thought was probably to showcase the green efforts made by local governments and locals to make the cities more environmentally friendly, in reading it I realized it was a great list of places to chose your next eco-vacation.

If you’re looking to take public transportation, play in parks and learn more about sustainability as part of your next vacation, here are the 15 cities that made the list:

  1. Reykjavik, Iceland
  2. Portland, OR, U.S.
  3. Curitiba, Brazil
  4. Malmö, Sweden
  5. Vancouver, Canada
  6. Copenhagen, Denmark
  7. London, England
  8. San Francisco, CA, USA
  9. Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador
  10. Sydney, Australia
  11. Barcelona, Spain
  12. Bogotá, Colombia
  13. Bangkok, Thailand
  14. Kampala, Uganda
  15. Austin, TX, USA

Some of the selections surprised me; Bangkok for example, but apparently it’s all about the city’s strategy to make things greener. Check out the full list with accompanying explanations here.

What green cities have you visited?

Lockhart, Texas: Home of Barbecue

by Iva Skoch on

I don’t know what it is about this year, but I have been craving meat. Which makes me think about Smitty’s.

Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, TX, is the home of the eternal flame. Well, not eternal, exactly, but the seasoned oak wood fire has been burning there since 1924. And it’s there only to commemorate one thing: barbecued meat.

Lockhart (a mere 30 minutes drive south of Austin) is considered THE place to get BBQ. It’s host to the finest Texas joints, like Black’s and Kreuz Market.

But even there, Smitty’s is special. The old dining benches still have the chains in place where communal knives were hung for the patrons. Old cuts are scored deep into the wood of the tables. Smoke and soot form a heavy coating all the way up the walls near the pits.

Dining consists of going up to the counter, asking for sausage, roast pork, or beef brisket, and having it sliced and handed to you on big red sheets of butcher paper. You take your seat and eat with your hands. No plates, no forks. The communal knives have been replaced with plastic ones.

Now you know where the beef is. Yum.

SXSW travel: The best tacos in Austin

by Justin Glow on

Hordes of geeks, film snobs, and indie rock gods are migrating south to this year’s SXSW festival in search of one simple thing — the holy grail of TexMex culinary delight: the beloved taco.

Ex-Gadlinger and Weblogs, Inc. wonder boy Jonathon Morgan (he runs GreenDaily and StyleDash now) has called Austin home for the past few years, so I asked him to share the love and tell everyone where he goes for some warm taco goodness. Here are his top picks:

Guero’s
Jonathon says: “Average Tex-Mex, but absurdly popular hangout.”
Yelp rating: 3/5. Favorite review: “Seven words: Tamales covered in queso and Luke Wilson.”
Distance from the action: 1.3 miles. Get directions.

Chuy’s
Jonathon says: “It’s a local chain, but the food is good.”
Yelp rating: 3.5/5. Favorite review: “If you love their ‘big as your face’ burritos but can not finish, order the mini burrito off the kids menu. They don’t care how old you are and it still come with rice and is plenty.”
Distance from the action: 1.8 miles. Get directions.

Juan in a Million
Jonathon says: “5 min drive east of downtown, with best name for taco place EVER.”
Yelp rating: 4/5. Favorite review: “You have not truly lived until Juan gives you a handshake. He winds back like a pitcher and SMACK, hits your hand perfect every time. If the Olympics hosted a handshake event, Juan would be a perennial gold medalist. Plus, he always refers to you as ‘my friend.'”
Distance from the action: 1.9 miles. Get directions.

Maria’s (Taco Xpress)
Jonathon says: “Great tacos, always packed, with a great big statue of Maria atop the entrance.”
Yelp rating: 4/5. Favorite review: “Maria grew a following because of her cheap and generous tacos and her great service. The place was borderline scary but so ‘keep Austin weird’ that it made Leslie look like George Clooney. (Nice pecs George, but no contest.)”
Distance from the action: 3.2 miles. Get directions.

Polvo’s
Jonathon says: “A favorite amongst the hipster set. Good Tex-Mex with cool outdoor seating.”
Yelp raiting: 3.5/5. Favorite review: “Whoa! My gut hates me! The food is delectable and I just keep eating! It’s like the sensors in my stomach yelling at my brain controlling the fork-to-mouth motion are not working.”
Distance from the action: 1.9 miles. Get directions.

Is your favorite not listed? Let us know in the comments!

Where on Earth? Week 17: Austin, TX

by Justin Glow on

Well, I was right — this was too easy of a Where on Earth. It only took reader Dave 21 minutes to come up with the correct answer of Mt. Bonnell Park in Austin, TX. What looks like a large river is actually Lake Austin. This is usually considered Austin’s highest point at 775 feet, and it’s popular among tourists and locals alike. I’ve made my way to the top several times, usually to take in the horizon and ogle the multi-million-dollar houses down below.

“The peak is named for George Bonnell,” according to the Austin Explorer, “who served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the Texas Republic. He first moved to Austin in 1839.” The Explorer also offers up directions for those of you interested in seeing this site in real life:

“From MoPac Expressway in Central Austin, take the 35th Street exit and head west. Proceed past Camp Mabry on the right and veer left in the fork on the road onto Old Bull Creek Road. Turn right onto Mount Bonnell Road and lumber up the the hill and look for parking on the left when reaching the crest.”

We really need to start making these tougher.

The Best U.S. Cities for Singles

by Justin Glow on

You may recognize this “Singles” map from the February 2007 issue of National Geographic. It ranks the number of single women versus the number of single men in metropolitan areas, and you may be surprised at some of the results.

Girls, looking to travel to a bachelor-heavy area? The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metro area, for instance, has the highest population of single males, with 40,000 more than single women. On the flip side, guys, the New York-Newark urban area has 185,000 more single women than men.

What I find particularly interesting is Texas. Dallas, Austin, and Houston all have more single men than women, while San Antonio has more single women. With the influx of military personnel in San Antonio, I would have figured the opposite.