Hey Milwaukee we are back in the top ten. Up 6 spots from last year, it must be all those workouts and healthy eating that Cynic, Lance and I have been up to.
There are 300-plus sunny days a year in Colorado Springs, but this is not one of them. While the peaks of the Front Range to our west are slathered in deliciously skiable snow, those of us in the Garden of the Gods, a century old city park with the grandeur of a national reserve, are being bitch-slapped by the kind of moist, icy winter blast that leaves the sky the color of a forehead knot three days after hitting a steering wheel in a head-on fender bender. But man, is it gorgeous. You know those bumper stickers that claim the worst day fishing is better than the best day working? That's how it is in "the Springs"-the ugliest day here is prettier than the prettiest day in a whole helluva lot of places. That's why tall, trim orthodontist/marathoner Ed Poremba and his pink-cheeked teenage daughter/future marathoner, Becky, are still getting in their six-mile Saturday morning run amid the jagged red rocks, clingy junipers, and placid deer, despite the fact that the Garden of the Gods has been coated in a vast, flavorless Slurpee.
"It's the best!" Poremba proclaims of his town, without knowing that the Men's [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Fitness[/color][/color] 10th annual survey of the Fittest & Fattest Cities in America had reached the same conclusion. "Of all the places I've lived in, you can't beat it."
Ranking third last year among the Fittest Cities, Colorado Springs leapfrogged Albuquerque, N.M. (last year's No. 1; No. 3 this year), and held off Minneapolis (which rose from fourth to second) to claim the crown for the first time ever. Other Fit Cities risers included No. 5 Portland, Ore. (which leaped four slots), and No. 6 Virginia Beach (nine slots). Milwaukee just cracked the top 10 after finishing 16th last year. "There's a lot less movement overall this year for a lot of reasons, but we think the most important trend is more and more city officials are making their citizens' fitness and wellbeing a higher priority," says Jeff Lucia of RedFlash Group, the California research firm that conducted the survey for MF. "Today, six out of 10 cities in our survey have a municipal office that promotes [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]fitness [COLOR=blue! important]and [/color][COLOR=blue! important]health[/color][/color][/color] in their cities. In the past those cities were the exception. Now they're becoming the rule."
On the flip side, congratulations Las Vegas, you're the New England Patriots of the Fattest Cities list-perennial championship contenders. In fact, Sin City is the Fattest City in America for the second consecutive year, due largely to poor eating habits. It held off Arlington, Texas, which rose 12 slots to become the second-fattest town in the land. In fact, while Vegas is undoubtedly the Fattest American City, Texas is home to more Fat Cities than any other state in our survey. Six of the 10 Fattest cities in the land hail from Lone Star land: No. 2 Arlington, No. 3 San Antonio, No. 4 Fort Worth, No. 5 El Paso, No. 6 Dallas, and No. 10 Houston. (Although Houston is making a helluva effort to shed its place on this list. See Houston's Report Card.) "If there's one thing we'd like to see change in Texas, it's the activity levels," says Lucia. "Data from the CDC consistently show that people in most Texas cities we surveyed are less likely to [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]exercise[/color][/color]. Houston residents are 51% less likely to exercise in their leisure time than residents of Colorado Springs are."
Back in Colorado Springs, everyone who passes by on the street, regardless of their stage in life, seems to be living up to the Fittest City title. And all of them are happy to reveal the ways that fitness influences and improves all parts of their lives, from friendships and family life to sex. And not always in that order. "Fitness provides a lot of social opportunities in the city," says 26-year-old mechanical engineer Lianna Miller, while adjusting her bike helmet and ear warmers at Wooglin's Deli, a turkey-andprovolone hangout near the Colorado College campus, before heading back into the freezing fog. Chief among them: the 5k run that starts at the Jack Quinn Irish Alehouse & Pub at six every Tuesday night and ends at the same place, where $2 beers await all participants. "It's basically a meat market," Miller laughs, adding with the teensiest bit of prodding that this is actually a good thing since the Springs lacks the singles scene of, say, Boulder, 98 miles away.
Ah, Boulder. The city to which Colorado Springs is inevitably compared. Like C.S., it's also a college town (home to the University of Colorado at Boulder). It's also snuggled beneath the Rockies and is a cycling, [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]rockclimbing[/color][/color], and running mecca. But from the Springs' viewpoint, it's preposterously liberal and obnoxiously self-laudatory. "I lived in Boulder, and they have this elitist attitude, but Colorado Springs is 10 times better than Boulder," says Poremba.
Not that Colorado Springs doesn't have its own battle with misconceptions. To most of the country, the city of more than 300,000 is the kind of place where Christian fanatics go to megachurches to plot Armageddon, and airmen in a gigantic cave plot, well, the same thing. Indeed, thinking too hard about the proximity of these overlapping subcultures- churches like the right-wing Focus on the Family (which was founded in the city) and the U.S. Air Force Academy, located on the north side of town, Fort Carson to the south, and Peterson Air Force Base to the east-could lead you to picture life in the Springs as a triple bill of Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and The Apostle.
Fortunately, things aren't nearly that bad. The religious right does have a voice in the town, but it's not overwhelming. And while the military presence is huge, the place doesn't really feel like it's under U.S. occupation. Instead, it feels like fun. Consider The Colorado Running Company, a locally owned shoe and gear store that's as much about socializing as it is shopping. "Do you see what the weather is like outside?" asks manager John O'Neill. "I put on a race today that had 85 people. The big comment was, 'This is Colorado. That's why we live here.' Look, the sun's coming out. It could be 75 degrees this afternoon."
The sun hadn't made its reappearance just yet, but O'Neill was right: It could at any second. Huge temperature swings and fast melts are common in C.S., as are community runs, such as those put on by The Colorado Running Company, itself an outgrowth of a Wednesday night social run and happy hour. "We think running is great, and we think adult beverages are great," says O'Neill. "We came up with the idea for this store through many, many bottles of wine. So on Wednesdays we do some running, come back, and enjoy a few beverages, and tell a lot of lies about how much we run and how fit we used to be."
Alcohol consumption-or shall we say alcohol overconsumption-is frowned upon in MF's Fittest & Fattest survey, and Colorado Springs definitely lost points due to that weakness. But in the end, C.S. was so far ahead in other categories that even that setback couldn't keep the city from winning the title. In fact, while it would be absurd to suggest boozing causes [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]fitness[/color][/color], it seems accurate to say that, in the Springs at least, imbibing correlates with fitness in some twisted yet enviable way.
As if great weather and beautiful scenery weren't enough to fill Colorado Springs with fit folk, the U.S. Olympic Training Center also makes its home in the city, and draws a steady stream of top athletes into town. Many put down roots and set up shop in the Springs, competing with but also drawing sustenance from one another, kind of like how art galleries always open next to art galleries and burger joints next to burger joints-only better. The Porembas, for example, train with Lisa Larsen Rainsberger, who was the last American woman to win the Boston Marathon (back in '85). Rainsberger came to the Springs from Kansas with her husband hoping to make the 2000 Olympics in triathlon but achieved another life goal instead-pregnancy-and retired from competition. Kansas instantly lost its appeal. "We were so dug into the community," says Rainsberger. "Not only did we like to run, but we were able to explore things like [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]snowshoeing[/color][/color] and skiing. And in the summer, we can go to a country club with a 50-meter outdoor pool. Those kinds of things are hard to give up. Colorado Springs has the kinds of facilities that make having a healthy lifestyle appealing."
So Rainsberger's husband relocated his financial business. She hung out a coaching shingle, and business has been booming ever since. "I just hired another coach to work with me because I can't handle the workload," she says. "In Colorado Springs, people are willing to invest in themselves, and one of the ways they do it is by hiring somebody to help them with their workout."
Fittingly, this city full of athletes is also a city full of trails. Colorado Springs residents made an important investment in 1997 when 51% of them voted for TOPS-Trails, Open Space, and Parks-a 1/10 of 1% sales tax that generates $6 million a year to acquire undeveloped land of environmental interests. (The plan came up for an extension in 2003; 68% said yes.)
Christian M. Lieber, a landscape architect with aspirations of one day [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]cycling[/color][/color] across the country with his family, manages TOPS for the city parks department. Unfurling a big map, Lieber explains how he's turning one of Colorado Springs' least attractive features-sprawl-into an asset. About a third of the city remains undeveloped, so he has his eye on huge parcels that could remain open as the housing market revives, uniting far-flung neighborhoods. Springs officials believe growth, conservation, and fitness can all happen together. "We recognize that growth and development are good for our economy. But we try to find a balance," Lieber says.
One of his best gets was the Bock family estate, a series of canyons over 789 majestic acres that the late owner once wanted to develop into casinos and condos linked by cable cars. It took Lieber five years to negotiate the family down to $12.5 million (they originally wanted $15 million), and the property, now called Red Rock Canyon Open Space, has since become a hit with [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]runners[/color][/color] and mountain bikers. Some of the rock was quarried decades ago for buildings as far away as New York, and those gashes now provide-what else?-trail access.
Recreational opportunities in the Springs aren't limited to inside the city line, either. Neighboring jurisdictions like Manitou Springs are working to get their trails to link up with one another and with those controlled by the state. "Colorado Springs has a lot of great things within city limits, but when you combine that with the surrounding Pikes Peak Region, it's really outstanding," says Lieber. Take the proposed Colorado Front Range Trail. This 876-mile hiking trail, launched in 2003, will stretch uninterrupted from New Mexico to Wyoming. And a good number of those miles already exist, and just happen to traverse Colorado Springs. One popular trail even cuts through the Air Force Academy.
Even then, we still haven't even begun to cover the activities Colorado Springs' residents are able to work into their evenings and weekends. [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Kayaking[/color][/color], boating, and cycling in the summer; snowboarding, skiing, even indoor skating in the fall and winter. Combine that with low television viewership, good schools and a smart citizenship, an abundance of healthy eating options, and more, and it's easy to see why the city inevitably does so well in our rankings.
Still, the city's residents are the first to admit they live in a truly unique place. "You either love it or hate it. We just absolutely fell in love with it," says Rainsberger. "I've lived in Seattle and Boston and Kansas, and this is by far the most fit, activity-driven community I've ever lived in. In Kansas, when you get together socially, it's all around food. In Colorado when you get together socially, it's at a trailhead."
A fitting gathering place indeed for America's Fittest city.
That was a great article. Notice how many Texas cities were in the top ten? I think they made up the entire top 5!
I thought it was interesting though because the author discussed the first thing that came to my mind about Colo Spgs when I started reading... It is full of megachurches and religious fanatics. A big enough deterrent for me to never want to move there, but it is a pretty city. I much prefer Boulder though. I guess I'm a latte drinking, tofu munching liberal.
Boulder is home of some of the biggest freaks of nature I have ever witnessed though. I feel pretty athletic here in Little Rock, but when I go up there I realize that by their standards I'm actually a fat slob couch potato.
I was very surprised to see that Milwaukee has been in the top 25 for several years. Normally Madison is there but we don't have a great history for being healthy in my hometown. Too many bars, good restaurants and tailgate parties.
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I see that I must be solely responsibe for the blue stars (good rating) along the I-95 corridor, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, because there are a lot of out of shape people in this area. LOL
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
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I thought it was interesting though because the author discussed the first thing that came to my mind about Colo Spgs when I started reading... It is full of megachurches and religious fanatics. A big enough deterrent for me to never want to move there, but it is a pretty city. I much prefer Boulder though. I guess I'm a latte drinking, tofu munching liberal.
I could say the exact same thing about Charleston SC.
Now, as for Charlotte, I think air quality, commute, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, and obesity initiatives were overgraded, access to healthcare undergraded. The rest seemed right on.
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as always, the methodology makes this about as useful as which celebrity has the best abs. But maybe I'm jaded because as JP points out, Texas had so many cities in the top 10.
Boulder is home of some of the biggest freaks of nature I have ever witnessed though. I feel pretty athletic here in Little Rock, but when I go up there I realize that by their standards I'm actually a fat slob couch potato.
Yes, Yes it is. It's incredibly humbling when you are holding 21-22 mph on a road ride, and you get passed by some mutant who looks like he's out on a leisurely stroll. Brutal.
E
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And if I were in Boulder Eric would be the mutant blowing by me. I know I can hold JP off though
They are right in giving L.A. an F for fitness facilities, parks, and rec facilities.
But it's definitely top ten in laziness as well. I'm consistently shocked by how many people I've talked to have never been hiking or biking in the Santa Monica Mts., a 15 minute drive from where I work. Nor ever been kayaking or surfing.
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Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
And if I were in Boulder Eric would be the mutant blowing by me. I know I can hold JP off though
Hey now, be careful what you say there... many of made such claims in the past, and when the time came, they were crushed by my testosterony mightiness!
The Fittest and the Fattest
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