Is Philly a Healthy Tourist Destination? We’re apparently 7th.

Philly is infamous for a bad rep from cheesesteaks to unruly sports fans. Yet, I’ve never imagined Philly being famous for being a healthy travelers’ destination. That’s one opinion based on a recent study by NerdWallet Health.

Nerdwallet compared 50 largest U.S. cities on four aspects to rank the “Best Vacation Spots for the Health Conscious”: weather (can you spend time outdoors without getting burned?), availability of fresh foods, walkability, and hotel affordability. Philadelphia managed to come in seventh, beaten out only by New York, San Francisco, Portland, DC, LA, and Baltimore.

What does Nerdwallet’s 7th healthiest city ranking say about Philly?

• Fresh Foods: According to NerdWallet, Philly holds its own when it comes to fresh food availability. In a 10-miles radius there is a whopping 62 farmers markets (many being added since the Greenworks plan), being beaten out only by New York City and Washington, DC! Although Philly’s count comes nowhere near touching New York’s 148, it’s a pretty big achievement from a resident’s perspective. If tourists seek fresh food availability, then it’s critical to the people who actually live here.

• Walkability: Philly definitely succeeds in walkability. Ranked as the 4^th most walkable city in the U.S., tourists and residents trek through their almost entire day on foot. According to Walk Score, if you can’t hoof it in Philly, you can easily access public transport. Way to go Philly!

• Bike Score: Even though  NerdWallet didn’t use it, we should talk about biking. Unfortunately, Philadelphia doesn’t do so hot here. Although Philadelphia is the 4th most bike-able city in the U.S, Philly only got a 68/100 from Walk Score, meaning that Philly is categorized as being “only kind of bike-able.” The reasoning? Philly has little infrastructure to support biking (i.e. lack of bike lanes). Even with recent lanes (like the Spruce and Pine) and a 4′ legal buffer, our Walk Score shows that additional bike lanes could be added especially with a pretty intense bike share system coming.

Despite the lack of fresh foods and bike lanes, NerdWallet ranks Philadelphia as a healthy place for tourists.

Think back a couple years. Remember all the negative press Philly got about being one of the unhealthiest cities in the country? Does this mean things are changing for the better?

Unfortunately, Philly’s health stats say no.

• City residents don’t take advantage of walkability enough. Nearly 60% of residents drive to work instead of walking or public transport.
• 50% of Philadelphians say that they have never used the city’s  parks or recreation facilities, with 75% of Philadelphian’s reporting that they do not get enough exercise.
• 30% of Philadelphia’s residents say that they don’t one serving of fruits or vegetables per day.

Regardless of Philly’s positive press, we have room for improvement. The fault doesn’t lie entirely with the city – if Philadelphians aren’t taking advantage of the city resources (like parks and recreation facilities), we won’t see improvements no matter how hard they try.

Let’s healthy Philly!

Readers, what do you think of these stats? How can we encourage residents to take advantage of our walkable streets, public transit and more farmers markets?