I read an article in USA Today that named the top cities with the highest fitness rankings. I was really surprised that Washington D.C. was ranked #1! I had to keep reading to find out what was the criteria for this fitness ranking. Here is the fitness criteria below:

Fitness Criteria

• Availability of parks, walking and bike trails and public transportation.

• Percentage of people who exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight and eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

• Percentage of people who have access to health care and have health insurance.

• Percentage of people who don’t smoke.

My city is ranked #30, however, I live 40 miles north of Los Angeles. My actual city, Santa Clarita, is doing an awesome job with providing a number of parks, walking and bike trails. This is the 2nd year that this report has been released. I’m sure that Santa Clarita will make its way to the list one day. Here is the list of cities:

How Fit is Your City?

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul
3. Denver
4. Boston
5. San Francisco
6. Seattle
7. Portland, Ore.
8. San Diego
9. Austin
10. Virginia Beach
11. Hartford, Conn.
12. Sacramento
13. San Jose
14. Cincinnati
15.Atlanta
16. Pittsburgh
17. Milwaukee
18. Buffalo
19. Baltimore
20. Raleigh, N.C.
21. Kansas City, Mo., Ks.
22. New York City
23. Tampa
24. Cleveland
25. Chicago
26. Nashville
27. Philadelphia
28. Jacksonville
29. Columbus, Ohio
30. Los Angeles
31. Miami
32. Phoenix
33. St. Louis
34. Charlotte
35. Dallas
36. Indianapolis
37. Memphis
38. Louisville
39. San Antonio
40. Riverside, Calif.
41. Houston
42. Las Vegas
43. Birmingham, Ala.
44. Detroit
45. Oklahoma City

Some cities that were not ranked because community/environmental data were not available: Orlando; Providence; Richmond, Va.; Rochester, N.Y.; and Salt Lake City.

Is your city on this list? What do you think is the main reason for being on or not on the list?

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
QuickMomWorkouts
Club FYM