Get going: You live in a top 10 city for an active lifestyle
Americans’ top New Year’s resolutions include exercising more and losing weight. Unfortunately, WalletHub reported, about 90% won’t keep those resolutions.
For some people, where they live can be an impediment to cultivating a healthier, more active lifestyle.
“Safe physical activity spaces (public parks), biking routes, and active community offerings are the most effective strategies for an active community. For instance, you can bike to your grocery store or work has been shown to relate to better personal health,” Sami Yli-Piipari, Department of Kinesiology in the Mary Francis Early College of Education at the University of Georgia, told WalletHub, citing Hosford et al., 2022; 15-min city concept.
With that in mind, the financial website compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across two key dimensions — budget and participation, and sports and outdoors — to determine 2023′s best and worst cities for an active lifestyle. It then evaluated those dimensions using 36 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100 point scale.
Its data set ranged from monthly fitness club fees to bike score to how many physically inactive adults live there.
When the points were tallied, Honolulu came out on top with a score of 62.19. If packing up your life and moving to the big island doesn’t appeal to you, however, you’re in luck.
With a score of 54.86, Atlanta ranked No. 10 overall, finishing second for budget and participation, and 24th for sports and outdoors.
The city tied for first for the number of swimming pools per capita and was third for number of tennis courts per capita.
In addition, Atlanta ranked:
- 14th – dance schools per capita
- 34th – fitness centers per capita
- 37th – walk score
- 45th – basketball hoops per capita
- 46th – percentage of physically inactive adults
- 46th – baseball and softball diamonds per capita
- 51st – public and municipal golf courses per capita
- 53rd – average monthly fitness club fees
If staying indoors and sitting on the couch is more to your liking, you might want to move to North Las Vegas, Nevada, which scored only 26.33. Ranking No. 100 for budget and participation and No. 97 for sports and outdoors, there seems to be little to tempt you to be active.
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About the Author
Nancy Clanton is a lead producer for The AJC's platforms team, but also writes stories about health, travel, events and entertainment. A native of Knoxville and graduate of the University of Tennessee, she has worked at the AJC for 24 years.
