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WALKING RESOURCES & ADVOCACY > Prevention/APMA 2008 list of Best Walking Cities

Prevention/APMA 2008 list of Best Walking Cities

March 4, 2008 - Prevention Magazine hits the stands today with a ranked list of 501 U.S. cities. Four of seven expert committee members have strong ties with America Walks. Prevention and the America Podiatric Medical Association labored to improve their evaluation criteria, but this list will no doubt still be controversial.

Applying a weighted set of criteria and drawing on readily-available data, Cambridge, MA, emerges as this year's "Best Walking City" in the US. More residents walk to work and there are more parks per square mile here than in any other city evaluated. New York City is second, followed by another college town, Ann Arbor, at #3. Prevention and the APMA annually team up to rate walkability as walking is one of the most effective preventive measures. Prevention Magazine reports that it remains the most popular form of physical activity with now 87.5% choosing walking as their preferred form of fitness.

New in this years survey: read the evaluations for more than 500 U.S. cities, including D.C., view the rankings of 10 most populous cities in each of the fifty states!

Read the full, interactive feature: www.prevention.com/bestcities

View the Weighted Ranking Criteria

Expert Ratings
 Professionals from six organizations devoted to making communities more walkable rated cities that they are familiar with based on a 4 to 1 scale, with 4 being the most walkable and 1 being the least walkable. See the list of experts and organizations.

This years 10 best and 10 worst walking cities in the United States, according to the Prevention/APMA study:

10 Best U.S. Walking Cities of 2008
1. Cambridge, MA
2. New York, NY
3. Ann Arbor, MI
4. Chicago, IL
5. Washington, DC
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Honolulu, HI
8. Trenton, NJ
9. Boston, MA
10. Cincinnati, OH

Ten Worst U.S. Walking Cities of 2008
1. Oklahoma City, OK
2. North Las Vegas, NV
3. Gadsden, AL
4. Davenport, IA
5. Mount Pleasant, SC
6. Enid, OK
7. Laredo, TX
8. Springdale, AR
9. Clarksville, TN
10. Lafayette, LA

America Walks is providing recommendations and feedback to Prevention Magazine for the process they use in 2009. Sign up/log in to enter comments on their list from your perspective below.

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