GreenStep Cities

GreenStep Cities Program

Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a voluntary challenge, assistance, and recognition program that helps cities achieve sustainability and quality-of-life goals. The program outlines 29 best practices, each linked to specific, implementable actions tailored to Minnesota communities. Its primary focus is to promote cost savings, reduce energy use, and encourage civic innovation.

In 2016, South St. Paul joined the program as part of its commitment to long-term strategic planning. The City earned Step 2 recognition in 2019 and quickly began pursuing Step 3 status.

Since then, staff have implemented several best practices, including adopting a Complete Streets policy and a native plant landscape ordinance. These efforts led to Step 3 recognition in June 2020.

In 2021, the City achieved Step 4 recognition by collecting and reporting data on sustainability metrics—such as energy usage in public buildings, employee commuting habits, and renewable energy production. A year later, South St. Paul reached Step 5 for demonstrating measurable improvement in at least three metric areas. These improvements included:

• Increased number of trees planted across the city
• Growth in renewable energy generation
• Reduced energy usage in City-owned buildings

For more details on the program and South St. Paul’s progress, visit the  GreenStep Cities Program webpage .