Inactive City

Survival of the fattest? Houston is 10th worst city in the nation for an active lifestyle

Several times Houston has earned the dubious distinction as America's Fattest City. Now we know the reason why: WalletHub recently named the Bayou City as the 10th worst city in the nation for living an active lifestyle.

In terms of Houston's ratings in each category, according to the study of 100 cities, results were definitely not great. The only category where the city came in better than No. 30 was parkland acres per capita, where the Bayou City was ranked No. 28 (in categories, No 1 is considered best and 100 is worst). In one semi-positive note, the city's walkability score was placed at No. 38, which is a bit of a surprise given the car-centric nature of residents.

The only category where the city came in better than No. 30 was parkland acres per capita.

With No. 50 considered to be "average," the city fared middling or worse in terms of per capita rankings of the number of sports clubs (No. 42), basketball hoops (No. 50), swimming pools (No. 53), fitness centers (No. 57) and public golf courses (No. 63).

Houston performed poorly in other categories, including per capita numbers of baseball fields (No. 70), the average monthly fee at a fitness club (No. 76) and the percentage of people who participate in any sort of physical activity (an embarrassing No. 85).

But it could have been worse. At No. 91 out of 100 U.S. cities, Houston ranked above four other Texas locales, including Irving (No. 92), Fort Worth (No. 93), Arlington (No. 97) and Laredo (No. 100).

The study found that the Lone Star State is the worst in America for an active lifestyle, with five Texas cities in the bottom 10. Besides Austin (No. 28) and Plano (No. 30), none of the 13 Texas cities on the list placed higher than Lubbock at No. 72, with Dallas at No. 80, Corpus Christi at No. 88, El Paso at No. 89 and San Antonio at No. 90.

For the list, WalletHub examined 25 metrics across two categories: budget and participation, and sports facilities and outdoor environment. The goal of the study was to determine how well a city accommodates or encourages an active lifestyle.

In terms of budget and participation, WalletHub looked at a city’s average cost for things like a monthly gym membership, renting a tennis court for an hour and playing a round of golf, as well as the percentage of people who participate in any kind of physical activity. For sports facilities and outdoor environment, researchers considered per capita measurements for the number of swimming pools, basketball hoops, tennis courts, baseball fields, park acreage and playgrounds, as well as a city’s walkability score.

The five best cities for people living active lifestyles are Omaha, Neb., Portland, Ore., Pittsburgh, Reno, and Orlando.

----------------------------

CultureMap Dallas writer Jonathan Rienstra contributed to this article.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”