I went to grade school in the 70's. Age wise I sit in a weird place. I straddle the last years of baby-boomerness and the first years of gen-x (alas I'm a year too old to qualify for Joe Steven's Snooze Button Generation). I can faintly remember a time when girls were not allowed to wear pants to school (at least in California), but what I and my age near compatriots seem to most remember are things like "Give a Hoot Don't Polute" and a majestic crying Indian above who bemoaned our nation's polluted state.

Yes, going green was heavy in the vernacular of our school years - as was bike safety! So yes, I was indoctrinated young, and yep, it stuck. And I'm glad for it.

For those who think California (and Long Beach specifically) has gone too far I want to remind them that in the 70's and early 80's in Southern California we rarely saw Catalina from shore, and smog alert school days were frequent (as was a pain in your lungs when you simply breathed too deeply).

So I read this week's special "Green Gazette" insert with great pride. I love that Long Beach has a "Sustainability Office" with progressive plans for the greening of Long Beach, and that we are close to the top in the nation for . I love that the Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest ports in the world and yet is taking the green issue seriously (FYI: the 710 is the most polluted corridor in the nation), and I'm very pleased that Long Beach has decided to seriously throw its hat in to become the most "Bike Friendly Urban City in the Nation" with Bike Long Beach.

Too many people see the green thinking as either or, black or white, one side against the other. I see green thinking for the city of Long Beach (and other city's around the world) as an amazing avenue of opportunity.

Think about it, Long Beach sits between two glamorous giants, L.A. (aka Hollywood in everyone's mind) and The OC. We can't compete head to head in many aspects, but we do have some amazing attributes that tied with greener more progressive thinking could pull us ahead as a lifestyle leader in some very important ways:

• We have amazing weather. We beat Santa Monica hands down on that - imagine if we had litter free beaches, cleaner water, and easy access to that beach from downtown? Image how that would impact tourism and our local population in a happy way (no, I'm not blindly advocating for the breakwater removal - I'm for responsible doable steps, and cleaning up the LA River is a huge priority).

• We already have a very good mass transit system that can get both citizens and visitors around with relative ease. Imagine if tourists better understood how easy it is to get to Belmont Shore, 4th Street, and Bixby Knolls from downtown? Or if one could buy bus tickets and passes at Super Markets, or Post Offices like David Lazarus recommends in his article yesterday in the LA Times? Imagine if we could buy "week passes" or "monthly passes" any time of the month? Imagine if one could buy a day pass that work in LB and on the Metro Rail?

• We have some of the most charming-yet-undiscovered neighborhoods in California (we aren't a land of cynder block walls and same house after house as so much of our neighbors are down south). Imagine what it will be like when you can safely and easily get around LB on your bike - with your children! Imagine how it alluring the city would be to Europeans and other tourists who are looking for charm and authenticity?

• We have a network of culture and the arts that is to be celebrated and supported - three beautiful museums, a ground breaking opera company, the symphony and more! Imagine if the LB Cultural Master Plan will include progressive and proactive ways to let the world at large know what we have going on - say, oh, in one convenient place?

• We have a very convenient airport. What if it became one of the greenest airports in the world?

• We have a very convenient Convention Center located within easy walking distance of hotels, dining and entertainment (can't say that for the LA Convention Center yet, not really, not for all price points). What if instead of just a food court across the street (and Borders, love Borders) we had wonderful shopping too? Our Convention and Visitors Bureau is doing a great job bringing in some amazing conventions (i.e. Women's Conference and TED) but if we had even more shopping convenience and variety downtown I'm sure they could draw even more top line conventions. But this shopping isn't going to happen if we as a city don't support what we have going on in downtown already, and yeah, I know the parking situation isn't fun and it's expensive. But hey, parking is free if you ride the Passport!

Hey, "Taste of Downtown" is happening tonight, why not jump on a little red bus and check it out?