The American College of Sports Medicine has ranked Arlington, Virginia, the nation’s “fittest city” for the sixth consecutive year.
The District ranks No. 2.
The ACSM’s fitness index uses 34 indicators of fitness, including health outcomes, environment, recreational facilities and policies and funding.
Arlington ranks in the top 10 in 16 of the 34 indicators. It has the highest percentage of residents who report exercising in the last 30 days, the lowest percentage of residents with diabetes, no pedestrian fatalities and is tied with four other cities for the highest percentage of residents within a 10-minute walk of a park.
The fitness index looks at what people are doing to stay fit, and how communities support fitness with parks, walkability and bike-ability, said Gretchen Patch, senior director of strategic health initiatives for the American College of Sports Medicine.
“Arlington actually has a really great balance of both personal health, and that community and environment kind of assets,” said Patch.
“I’ve noticed most of the residents being fit, I’ve seen some good bodies certainly walking around,” joked resident Chris Tolbert, who moved to Arlington on Monday.
Tolbert said that when looking for a place to live, he noticed a lot of gyms in the area, and that many residential buildings offered fitness centers.
Irene Hsu was getting in her afternoon run, in Ballston, as temperatures neared 90. She’s said it is apparent that the city has a big workout community.
“Everybody is going to the gym, running, biking, swimming,” Hsu said.
Barbara Moss said the walkability and rideability of the town lured her to Ballston.
“Arlington has a lot of bike trails and have gotten rid of car lanes to allow for bicyclists,” said resident Barbara Moss.
Arlington ties Boston, New York, St. Paul and San Francisco in convenient park access.
ACSM has been ranking cities for healthy lifestyles for 16 years. While Seattle rounds out the top three, Oklahoma City is at the bottom of the list.
The full ACSM report, rankings and city-by-city comparisons are online.
Editor’s note: The spelling of Irene Hsu’s name has been corrected.