Minneapolis-St Paul rated cleanest metro by Travel & Leisure

It's a clean machine

​"Maybe it's the eight miles of covered skyways that keeps trash off the streets and parks," writes Travel and Leisure magazine. "(Or maybe it's an out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing.) Regardless, America's Favorite Cities survey takers voted the Twin Cities as the country's cleanest city."

The survey was actually to name the dirtiest city in the country. That would be New York. "The City That Never Sleeps is also the city that never cleans, so it seems. With low scores for public parks and environmental friendliness, and the lowest score for peace and quiet, the Big Apple grabs the ignominious title of America's dirtiest city."

Here's the rankings, with the least dirtiest (us) at No. 30:

No. 30. Minneapolis/St. Paul
No. 29. Portland, OR
No. 28. Denver
No. 27. Austin
No. 26. Santa Fe
No. 25. San Diego
No. 24. Charleston
No. 23. Honolulu
No. 22. Seattle
No. 21. Kansas City
No. 20. Nashville
No. 19. Phoenix/Scottsdale
No. 18. Providence
No. 17. Orlando
No. 16. San Antonio
No. 15. Chicago
No. 14. Houston
No. 13. Washington, D.C.
No. 12. Boston
No. 11. Dallas/Fort Worth
No. 10. St. Louis
No. 9. San Francisco
No. 8. Cleveland
No. 7. Miami
No. 6. Atlanta
No. 5. Las Vegas
No. 4. Philadelphia
No. 3. Los Angeles
No. 2. New Orleans
No. 1. New York City

Based on what? Perceptions:

The results are based on public opinion, both of residents and tourists. So while the rankings come from people's perceptions--and not hard science--remember that a huge part of travel is the way visitors perceive a destination.