Report – NBC 6 South Florida

Miami is often known for its beaches, night life and heavy traffic but a new report puts the city as one the best places for wellness.

According to CoworkingCafe, Miami is the third-best U.S. city that supports healthy living.

In their data, 66 cities were analyzed and 10 different health-related benchmarks were used to generate a score to rank each city.

Some of those benchmarks included a Life-Quality Index, which evaluated the cost of living and purchasing power; Fitness Center Density, which looked at how many gyms there are in an area per 100,000 residents; and Healthy Food Availability, which determined the number of grocery stores that offered healthy food options per 100,000 residents.

Overall, Miami had a score of 64.77 out of 100.

CoworkingCafe said that out of the 66 cities used in their study, Miami had the best Fitness Center Density score with 95 gyms or sports areas per 100,000 residents.

Miami also had the best Healthy Food Availability since it has the highest density of grocery stores, supermarkets and specialty stores, which resulted in 129 healthy purchase opportunities per 100,000 people.

The table below breaks down how Miami scored in the other eight health-related benchmarks.

“Urban residents often face structural barriers that make it difficult to engage in regular physical activity — limited green space; unsafe or disconnected pedestrian and cycling infrastructure; and long commute times are just a few,” said Tyler Quinn, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Public Health, West Virginia University.

“But, beyond physical infrastructure, social factors play a critical role. In one of our recent studies, we found that individuals living in neighborhoods with higher social cohesion — where neighbors trust and support one another — were significantly more likely to meet recommended guidelines for both aerobic and strength physical activity. This highlights that, even when physical spaces are available, social connectedness can influence whether people feel safe and supported enough to use them.”

The city that was the best for healthy living was Minneapolis, MN with a score of 70.09, followed by Portland, OR with a score of 65.41.