Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What do you think are the major cities/metro areas with the highest percentage of people leading healthy lifestyles(In nutrition, day to day habits, attitude, outlook, intellectually, socially, emotionally) and lowest? Which overall cities and metro areas do you think help to promote healthy lifestyles the most for someone and which ones the worst?
My vote for the best major cities/metro areas for promoting the healthiest lifestyles would go to Seattle/the Seattle area, San Francisco/the San Francisco bay area, Portland Oregon/Portland area, Denver Colorado/Denver area, and Minneapolis Minnesota/Minneapolis area
My vote for worst major cities/metro areas for healthy lifestyles would go to Saint Louis Missouri/Saint Louis area, Cincinati Ohio/Cincinati area, Cleveland Ohio/Cleveland area, Detroit Michigan/Detroit Michigan area, Memphis Tennessee/Memphis area, Las Vegas Nevada/ Las Vegas area, and Philadelphia Pennsylvania/Philly area.
New York City/NYC area, and Chicago Illinois/Chicago area for me would actually fit into both categories, because certain neighborhoods are some of the best in the country to promoting healthy lifestyles but also neighborhoods in both cities that are some of the worst in the country to promote healthy lifestyles. Other places with extremes like that such as New York and Chicago would be for Boston, Massachusetts/Boston area, Washington District of Columbia area, Los Angeles California/LA area, and San Diego, California/San Diego area.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,678 posts, read 23,118,865 times
Reputation: 14357
I think the topic is rather subjective. Every major city has choices for healthy living, even rural areas do. Granted if you are on a prairie town with only Sonic and McDonalds then your choices are limited. However even the unhealthiest ranked city Huntington WV has excellent hiking in the hills nearby. One could move to Memphis and blame weight gain on the statistics or ratio of the obese population living there or they could go to the farmers market or take a walk in the park. Even where you live in Seattle which is considered a city for trendy/healthy living there are people who eat at Jack in the Box 5 times a week and never leave their livingroom.
I think the topic is rather subjective. Every major city has choices for healthy living, even rural areas do. Granted if you are on a prairie town with only Sonic and McDonalds then your choices are limited. However even the unhealthiest ranked city Huntington WV has excellent hiking in the hills nearby. One could move to Memphis and blame weight gain on the statistics or ratio of the obese population living there or they could go to the farmers market or take a walk in the park. Even where you live in Seattle which is considered a city for trendy/healthy living there are people who eat at Jack in the Box 5 times a week and never leave their livingroom.
I agree - there are elements of both in all places - some are more pronounced and even more played on by the media
Lifestyle is a choice wherever you live - and to your point earlier Huntington WV (recently awarded - what a great reward) has access to some of the best outdoor areas in the country. West Virginia has some unbelievably naturally beutiful areas.
The OP mentioned Philly (my hometown) and i wont disagree on many people that could use a little exercise; but i also see many more being active - just yesterday was the Broad Street Run which they had turn entrants away from due to participation rates
But honestly there are good and bad areas and people who embrace different lifestyles everywhere
I think cities in cold areas are probably worse for healthy living. At least I know I gain weight and am much less physically active, and lazier in the winter. Plus people get seasonal depression as well. I live in Baltimore which has cold winters and hot summers, though I know there are much worse winters out there. For people who can't afford a gym membership, it is much easier to go jogging, hiking, and swimming in the summer than the winter when people are cooped up indoors. I also tend to eat more and fattier food in the winter time. Baltimore has a lot of outdoors activities outside the city, but the local cuisine is not very healthy though it is nice and hearty. Many inner city neighborhoods are limited to fast food restaurants and convenience stores but that is probably the same in most inner city areas.
Southern food does have an unhealthy reputation but its delicious, and you are not forced to eat it.
In my experience the western cities are much healtier and people are pretty outdoorsy in Denver and Las Vegas (most locals actually do not spend much time on the Strip and do all those things and there is wonderful hiking, boating, fishing in the surrounding area). A friend who moved there said espeically girls are more motivated to stay healthy in warmer areas since you wear skimpier clothes. I think Colorado is the healthiest state in America.
In terms of emotional healthiness, I would have to go with the small Bible Belt towns. New York, DC and L.A. are the worst emotionally, they all feel overly ambitious and shallow.
I would imagine large Northeastern cities- cold(this this year has been ridiculously mild so far) dark winters, hectic pace of living in extremely dense places, poor air quality. While access to outdoor activities is not nearly as limited as people tend to make it out, access to hiking and kayaking or something is probably not a top priority to someone living in a major city along the Bos-Wash corridor.
I don't know what the best city would be, but Dallas would have to be on the list for worst places to keep healthy. People are are so disgustingly fat. :-(
Gallup tracks city "well-being" based on a number of factors, including aspects of physical and emotional health. I don't find most of the findings very surprising. I know some people get their panties in a wad with any sort of attempt at numerical ranking, but here's the study/tracker:
Saint Louis, Charleston, WV and Dallas have some of the most unhealthy looking people that I have ever seen.
And while there seem to be a lot more people here in California that lead healthy lifestyles, the disturbing trend is that I have been noticing a lot more very obese kids around here.
San Diego is the best. Houston, TX is probably the worst.
You're very wrong.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
