Heralded by many as a ‘Green City,’ San Francisco is viewed as being at the forefront of progressive thinking and sustainable planning. Seeking to demonstrate the real elements in urban sustainability, MKThink initiated a research project to analyze patterns in urban density and public transportation networks in several global cities and compare these with those in San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Area. This research yielded important fi ndings regarding the importance of density, public transportation, and development patterns in the creation of sustainable urban environments.