[Matthew Kahn and Ryan Vaughn, economists at the University of California at Los Angeles]n built a database of every certified green building, sorted by zip codes. They looked at where hybrid vehicles were registered, and constructed a measure of each zip code’s politics based on analysis of party registration and voting records on two binding statewide environmental initiatives.
…..When they average their measure of greenery by zip code, across entire cities, and then rank the results, the usual suspects come out top and bottom. Of 349 places in California, the ten greenest are Albany, Berkeley, Fairfax, Belvedere, Piedmont, Mill Valley, Larkspur, Portola Valley, Sausalito and Palo Alto [Me: All of these cities orbit San Francisco]. Folsom and Bakersfield rank near the bottom.
…..All of this raises the question of why the politically green huddle together in the same sorts of locations. Dr Kahn speculates that small initial differences in spatial attributes, such as being close to a beach or public transport, may create the initial seeds of green communities. “This in turn attracts ‘green businesses,’” he explains, “such as tofu restaurants and bike shops, and this in turn attracts more greens.”
The “politically green” and “politically progressive” tend to be the same people regardless of tofu restaurant density. And each of those groups are often in the general proximity of a major universities filled with younger consumers who trend toward the greener end of the spectrum. Because they care, yes, but also because they can see where a lot of research dollars and start-up activity happens–in health and energy related sectors.