Boston Is Only the 31st-Best City for an Active Lifestyle
In 2015, Boston won the honor of healthiest place in America, and Massachusetts was named both fourth-least obese and fourth-least fat state in the nation. But now that 2016 is upon us, the tables seem to have turned: A WalletHub ranking just placed Boston 31st in its list of best cities for an active lifestyle.
What gives?
A closer look at the 24 metrics used shows that WalletHub factored affordability into its rankings pretty significantly. As anyone who has paid $30 for a boutique fitness class knows, that’s not exactly our city’s strong suit. Things like number of parkland acres per 1,000 residents and baseball diamonds per 100,000 residents probably didn’t work in our favor, either. And our 97th-place finish in weather rankings sure isn’t helping.
WalletHub declared Scottsdale, Arizona, the best city for an active lifestyle, followed by Orlando, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. Laredo, Texas, placed dead last.
A 31st-place finish may sting, but look at it this way, Bostonians: We run in 15-degree weather, fit $150-per-month gym memberships into our budgets, and squeeze a yoga studio onto practically every cramped city block. We may not be the best city for an active lifestyle, but you can’t say we’re not determined.
