Although lately America is being known as one of the most obese populations of the world (McDonalds anyone?) there are still a few cities that on average commit to fitness. Every year Forbes publishes different statistics and the top ten fittest cities in America are one of them. Is your city on the list? Upon looking for a place to live I wonder how many people actually think about the fitness of the city or rather value economic incentives instead. Does it matter to surround yourself with a fit population? Or is fitness a solitary element of ones life and not a lifestyle. I would argue that you can be fit anywhere as long as you make the effort. But surrounding yourself with a population that seeks the same goals is surely going to motivate you to commit to the lifestyle. Fitness is habitual and a way of life–stick with it and it will pay off in the long run.
Forbes’ Top 10 Fit Cities:
10.) Austin, Texas: Howdy! Texans are known for going big or going home. They made it to this years top ten list by having 78.4% exercise rate and more pools and outdoor activities than many other places. Stay fit Texas!
9.) Hartford, Connecticut: With such great health statistics they should rename this to Heartford (wow that was lame). Also home to a lot of Yankees fans…go Jeter!…this area has an exercise rate of 77.2% and a number of farmers markets. Eat local, buy organic 🙂
8.) San Francisco, California: SanFran. I will always imagine Full House when I think of this place thanks to a 90s childhood. A great place to be outdoors and experience a diverse culture. With an exercise rate of 81.5% combined with low diabetes and smoking rates makes this Cali city a go-to spot.
7.) Sacramento, California: Cali is on here twice? Where is all the Florida love…non existent apparently. Sacramento has an exercise rate of 82.3% due to the very little amount of driving but rather biking or walking to get places.
6.) Denver, Colorado: I “tebow-ed” when I saw that Denver made it to this years fittest cities list! 83% exercise rate and extremely low heart disease stats make Denver a prime place (even though it’s cold).
5.) Portland, Oregon: Beyond the Oregon trail we all played as kids lies a land where gold is not the goal but health is! 82.3% exercise rate and a lot of recreational areas for dog walking and outdoors exercise makes Oregon a pretty awesome place to live.
4.) Seattle, Washington: When it rains it pours and where do Seattle people go? The gymmmm! They are all hopped up on caffeine might as well work it out somehow. The pacific northwest often is attractive to healthy people and this just reinstates it with an exercise rate of 81.9%.
3.) Minneapolis, Minnesota: Besides being frozen 82% of the year, Minneapolis is also a very fit city. After years of excitement fading over the greatest mall on earth, Mall of America…which I might add is HUGE…and has a roller coaster inside, these people must have gotten the fitness bug and decided exercise was the way to heat up. Nice thinking, it got you in 3rd place in America.
2.) Boston, Massachusetts: Well you have to keep the beer gut off somehow? Boston, home of the ahem Boston Red Sux…is 2nd on the list for fittest cities in the United States. I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on them anymore. They must not take their Caaaaars to work but instead bike, jog or walk with an exercise rate of 78.6%. You go glen coco.
1.) Washington, D.C.: with an 80.1% exercise rate the politicians sure do more than lobby. D.C. is also a great place for commuting. Young and diverse area surrounded with colleges helps in keeping the population young and fit. Also, I have a feeling a bunch of ex-marines end up here–I can imagine lunch breaks including suicides and stair drills.
—–You may be wondering just like I am…HOW DID FLORIDA NOT MAKE IT?
My theory involves the average age population for Florida…but I’ll refrain from commenting more on that.
Regardless, if your city isn’t here maybe you will be the catalyst that moves them up on the list. Don’t be afraid to motivate others: start running clubs, nutritious cooking parties, plan a race to raise money for a charity or just try to bring people to group fitness classes at your neighborhood gym. You can be the change 🙂
This information was found at this link: In Depth: America’s 10 Fittest Cities http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/21/fittest-cities-washington-lifestyle-health-exercise-obesity.html
FITfloridian 