Taking the temperature

This Houston neighbor weighs in as the healthiest county in the region, says U.S. News

Fort Bend County offers a sunny and healthy lifestyle.

For babies and baby boomers alike, Fort Bend County stands out as the healthiest county in the Greater Houston and surrounding areas, according to a new study by U.S. News & World Report.

Fort Bend County lands at No. 291 on U.S. News’ list of the 500 healthiest counties. U.S. News assessed 2,735 of the 3,143 counties across the U.S. but ranked only 500 of them.

For the study, U.S. News examined 89 metrics across 10 categories tied to health:

Community health
Health, income, education, and social equity
Education
Economy
Housing
Food and nutrition
Environment
Public safety
Community vitality
Infrastructure

Fort Bend's highest score was in the economy category (90); its lowest score was in the environment category (25). The bustling county also scored well in education (80), with 94.3 percent of residents graduating high school (compared to a national average of 89.4 percent) and an impressive 54 percent holding advanced degrees — compared to a 30.6 national average.

Some 77.5 percent of Fort Bend residents own homes, compared to 73.2 percent nationwide. Little wonder, then, that Fort Bend was recently named the second-richest county in Texas.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas' Collin County lands at No. 50 on U.S. News’ list of the 500 healthiest counties in the U.S., making it the healthiest county in the state. Two other counties in Dallas-Fort Worth made the top 500 in the U.S. News study: Rockwall County wound up at No. 70 and Denton County landed at No. 180.

Other Texas counties that fared well in the U.S. News study are:

No. 91 Kendall County (San Antonio). Its highest score was in the economy category (79); its lowest score was in the housing category (53).
No. 121 Williamson County (Austin). Its highest score was in the economy category (93); its lowest score was in the housing category (52).
No. 295 Travis County (Austin). Its highest score was in the infrastructure category (92); its lowest score was in the equity category (41).
No. 453 Comal County (San Antonio). Its highest score was in the economy category (75); its lowest score was in the environment category (43).

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share the road

Texas is one of the least cyclist-friendly states in the nation

Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Houston, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Houston, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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