Get the Wellness Report Card On Your City

Yup: Even cities get report cards. While we at Good News are not authorities to declare anyone is better than anyone else, there is one organization out there that is, and they have your home town city in their sites. For nearly 20 years, Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own Best Place . “Sperling’s BestPlaces” was developed to put facts about cities and living in the hands of the public, so they can make better decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate. Sperling’s BestPlaces culled data on 50 U.S. cities from both public and private sources and tested each city against 50 select measures in five major categories: Physical Activity, Health Status, Nutrition, Lifestyle Pursuits, and Mental Wellness. New York City, where the Good News Broadcast Offices are located didn’t rank well, according to the survey, bottoming out on mental scores and activity scores. Here is how some other cities fared: 1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 2. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 3. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4. Sacramento–Arden-Arcade Roseville , CA 5. Denver-Aurora, CO 6. Honolulu, HI 7. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 8. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 9. Los Angeles-Long Beach- Santa Ana , CA 10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Big cities come out well…because: a) People are walking to work b) People in big cities have lots of resources in the forms of gyms, fitness centers and outdoor stores c) They want to take care of themselves To see a list of how 50 major cities ranked, click http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/healthy_list.aspx , Honolulu does great in all categories except Recreation Resources. Maybe they don’t need gyms and outdoor stores because they are always in motion. Plus, it had the lowest BMI in the study, and the highest number (per capita) of local food co-ops and farmer’s markets. Geographically, California is the place where people are on the go, and taking care of themselves. Many national trends start in California, and maybe this is an indicator of a new wave of energized, healthy lifestyle. At the other end of the spectrum, maybe it’s the hot sticky weather down South that makes it too difficult for people there to get moving. More about Bert Sperling: As the foremost creator of these studies, his work appears in national media every month and a recent article in the Washington Post declared, “No other site was nearly as comprehensive or compelling as this one.” Visit http://www.bestplaces.net for more information