This morning, whilst perusing the various online news sources I peruse every morning, I came upon an article about America's Fittest Cities. That article had a link to the source study which determined America's Fittest Cities, listing 100 American towns, from Fittest to Least Fit.
Arlington apparently is the Fittest City in America. No, not the Arlington in Texas. Or the one in Washington. The Fittest Arlington is the one in Virginia.
Seattle, in my old home state of Washington, is the 3rd Fittest City in America.
Are there any towns in the state I am currently in, Texas, which are among the most fit? Well, Austin comes in at #19. I have seen Austin described as the Seattle of Texas, a liberal, well educated, lively town with a renowned music scene. And plenty of parks and trails.
Are there any other towns in Texas in the Top 60 Most Fit? Well, Plano, that's a town north of Dallas in the D/FW Metroplex, comes in at #45, followed by Laredo, Texas at #47, with Houston coming in #60.
That is the list of the Top 60 Most Fit American City below, and below that we come to the Bottom 40 Least Fit American Cities. Let's see if any Texas towns found their way to the bottom of this listing of fit cities.
Well, what a surprise, Dallas follows #60, Houston, in the #61 spot, leading the list of the 40 Least Fit American Cities.
El Paso is #62. Is Texas going to dominate the least fit cities?
No, Chandler, Arizona follows El Paso at #63, followed by Scottsdale, Arizona at #64. One of my sisters lives in Chandler, and my one and only brother lives in Scottsdale. I have spent time in both towns and have not seen the level of un-fitness I regularly see in Texas.
It looks like the Phoenix metro zone is actually not too fit, what with Mesa coming in at #68 followed by Phoenix itself at #70. After Phoenix only one other Arizona town shows up, that being Gilbert at #84. Gilbert is in the Phoenix metro zone, a town due east of Chandler.
However, Texas appears to dominate the lower 40 as we go down the list. With Dallas suburb, Garland at #75. Lubbock at #77. Another Dallas suburb, Irving, at #82. San Antonio at #85. Arlington at #89. With Fort Worth being the least Fit Texas City at #90.
It is Oklahoma with the honor of having the two Least Fit American Cities, with Tulsa at #99 and Oklahoma City taking last place at #100.
It does not shock me too much that a scientific study of the fitness issue would find Fort Worth un-fit. The town is a bit lacking in a lot of amenities one expects to find in most American towns. Such as streets with sidewalks, parks with modern facilities, multiple public swimming pools. That sort of thing.
I think I have mentioned previously my experience way back in February of 2004. It had been several years, well, two, since I had been back to Washington. I was living in Fort Worth then.
Landing at Sea-Tac, before reaching my final destination, I was brought to downtown Seattle, to a gallery in Pioneer Square. Exchanging pleasantries with the gallery owner it was mentioned that I had just arrived from Texas.
The gallery owner asked how long I had been away from Washington. A couple years I replied. Then the gallery owner asked me if anything seemed different, or some such question, but whatever the precise question was I precisely remember my reply.
"The people all look like they have had the air let out of them." I told the gallery owner.
I was so used to seeing overly bloated Texans that it was like being on a different planet, seeing so many un-bloated people out and about.
I am getting a new bike today, so that I can continue my quest to contribute to the Fitness of Texas...
No comments:
Post a Comment