Best Cities in which to Keep Fit
Sporting fans are used to the playful rivalry that often exists between sides. Cities stand both united and divided thanks to the unconditional love and support people show towards their favourite soccer and baseball teams; and every season another team rejoices as its win a new glory for its city.
Now it seems that rivalry between cities has reared its head once again. But this time, there is not a bat or a ball in sight. This time it’s all about city fitness, and which metropolis boasts the best credentials for those people that wish to get in shape.
The fittest city
A new study by Trulia, a national real estate company, has ranked the ten best large metros in the USA for keeping fit. At the start of this month, many people will have made that timeless New Year’s resolution to keep fit. Men strive for big arms and women yearn for a small waist; as a result, many adopt demanding fitness regimes in order to achieve their perfect body shape. However, now that the end of January is drawing near, you can bet your bottom dollar that nine out of ten of these people have failed to keep up their resolve. But is this the case throughout the whole of the country? Could the likelihood of keeping up a New Year fitness resolve depend on the city in which a person lives? Fans of the Giants or the 49ers have another reason to celebrate; their city, San Francisco, CA, has been named as the most likely place in which people will get into shape.
Why is San Francisco such a haven for the fitness fanatic? Trulia based its analysis on five determining factors: access to healthy food; commuting by body power; number of gyms; plentiful outdoor activities; and range of programs and support groups available.
Healthy eating
San Francisco ranked among the highest in all of the above. In terms of healthy food, Trulia worked out the ratio of ‘slow food’ (supermarkets, speciality food markets and restaurants) versus ‘fast food’ (convenience stores and fast food eateries) establishments in each metro. Those with higher numbers of slow food and lower numbers of fast food scored higher.
Walking to work
The people of San Francisco are also more likely to commute by walking or biking. Trulia calculated this percentage to score metros on commuting by body power. Naturally, metros in southern states, where the weather is fairer, scored better here, although New York, Boston and Portland were all among the top scorers for the number of people choosing to travel to work by bike or foot.
Outdoor pursuits
In terms of plentiful gyms, San Francisco wasn’t among those with the highest number; Trulia calculated the number of gyms per 1,000 households, finding that suburban areas such as Fairfield County, Middlesex County and Long Island fared better. However cities like San Francisco, which enjoy milder weather all year round, scored higher in terms of the number of outdoor keep-fit alternatives. Along with Ventura County, San Diego and Honolulu, the city had among the highest number of sporting-goods stores per 1,000 households. In addition, San Francisco’s proximity to mountains, beaches and parkland made it a firm favourite for those looking for ways to keep fit.
Support
Finally, cities were judged on the number of programs and support groups available to citizens. The three cities that had the highest number of weight loss and diet centres per 1,000 households were Philadelphia, Orange County and Camden.
Just behind San Francisco in the poll were Fairfield County, CT, and Long Island, NY. Massachusetts claimed two of the top ten spots with Boston, Middlesex County and Peabody in 4th, 7th and 9th places respectively. The remainder of places were filled by Lake County, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.
The bottom end
Of course, with every top ten list comes a ‘bottom ten’ list. According to Trulia, if you live in Las Vegas, you are least likely to stick to your New Year pact to keep fit. The Nevada city was found to be among those offering the least number of health facilities per 1,000 households, and with the poorest access to healthy food. Four cities in Texas – Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston and El Paso – also made the bottom ten, along with two in California – Bakersfield and Riverside. If you are a fitness fanatic looking to move somewhere new, you might also want to steer clear of Phoenix, AZ, Memphis and Akron, which took up the remaining three spots.
