Each City is scored across seven goal areas: Built Environment; Climate & Energy; Economy & Jobs; Education, Arts & Community; Equity & Empowerment; Natural Systems. An eighth category, Innovation & Process, recognizes best practices, local innovation and good governance.

Goleta's score of 279.6 across these goal areas qualified the City as a 3-STAR Community, recognized for sustainability leadership. According to STAR Communities, the following efforts stood out among our sustainability initiatives:

• Built Environment: Goleta’s robust park system was a key component to a strong score in this goal area. The park system provides 17.7 acres per 1,000 residents, well above the 13.5-acre STAR threshold. In addition, 97% of households are within a ½ mile walk to a public park.
• Economy & Jobs: In recent years, the economy of Goleta has experienced growth. Over 200 new businesses were established from 2013-2015, unemployment has dropped and employment has increased above the national average and across most racial and ethnic groups.
• Health & Safety: Goleta’s residents lead an active lifestyle—in a survey, 86% of residents reported taking part in physical activity in the past month, above the 80% STAR threshold.

Click here to see our full score and click here for the City's STAR Certification Results Report.

For more information on STAR Communities, please visit www.starcommunities.org.

For more information on LEED for Cities, please visit http://new.usgbc.org/leed-for-cities.

June 5th, 2018, City Council Meeting Presentation on the Workshop and Certification Results

Click here to view the presentation.

STAR Communities Workshop on June 4th, 2018

On June 4th the City of Goleta held a STAR Communities public workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to utilize the City’s certification as a 3-STAR Community under the STAR Community Rating System to gain a better understanding of the STAR framework and analyze the City’s certification results. Through facilitated exercises, participants identified gaps and areas of opportunity to prioritize next steps to develop a sustainability plan that over the coming years will help promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and the well-being of people living in the community. 

Read the post workshop report here.

Action planning results are available here.