No matter where you’re currently living, you can achieve a healthy lifestyle if you put your mind to it. While a healthy lifestyle is entirely up to you, there are cities that are definitely making it easier than others. When it comes to prioritizing health and wellness there are certain regions and cities that cater to the health conscious. Certain cities encourage a healthy lifestyle through fitness facilities, farmers markets and nutritious food, affordable health care costs and access to clean, well maintained parks,
Wallethub recently conducted a survey where they looked into the cities who were consistently offering up access to fruits and veggies, recreational and fitness facilities, and walkable streets and parks to their city dwellers. It’s no surprise that most of the cities that hit all of the key characteristics of a healthy city were out West. Cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), San Diego and Scottsdale were in the top 10.
If you’re living on the East Coast – don’t feel despaired, Washington D.C. came in at the 5th healthiest city (it’s also the fittest city in the nation according to the American Fitness Index), Burlington is the 6th and NYC made the list at the 12th spot.
Curious about the cities that made the bottom of the list? According to the data compiled by Wallethub, it seems that the South is seriously lacking when it comes to access to fruits and veggies and programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. Cities in Texas such as El Paso, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Laredo all made the bottom of the list. Other cities such as Memphis, Augusta (Georgia), and Chattanooga, Oklahoma City and Detroit were also at the bottom.
Even if you’re not living in one of the healthiest cities, you can still make your health and well-being a priority! Making an effort to walk more, taking free online fitness classes, incorporating more fruits and veggies into your diet, and getting enough rest are healthy habits that you can do anywhere.
