Is Chicago THE Dirtiest?

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Jun 17, 2005 3:41PM

Reader's Digest thinks Chicago is the dirtiest big city in America, but Mayor Daley says that's a load of horseshit. You might have seen the RD ranking yesterday - Chicago came out on the bottom of the list when ranked on air pollution, water pollution, toxic emissions, hazardous waste and the number of sanitation workers per capita. Even New York City was ranked cleaner than us. Which is so strange because all we ever hear is that Chicago is like New York, but cleaner!

Daley came out swinging this morning and said -

We have effective programs. We have more green roofs. We have air quality going on. We have solar. We have green technology, great lakes initiative, beaches, the river, the parks, open space gardening. You will see people cleaning up their blocks in a city work force. All over we're constantly keeping the city clean. We're very proud of it.

Daley also suggested that maybe the magazine's editors should come to see Chicago with their own eyes and maybe they should try living here before ranking us so low. Hmm. Maybe, indeed!

Chicagoist thinks we're going to blame this low grade on .. hmm.. Gary, IN? Or maybe WI? The report says that Chicago "has excellent water but its score is brought down by problems in the outlying areas." So it's all the neighboring communities faults, right?! Also, you should note that the scores are ranked relatively so a last place ranking doesn't necessarily mean that Chicago is like "dangerously filthy."