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Is Austin a better place to live for men than women?
Apparently, Austin’s a better place to live if you’re a man than a woman.
That, according to Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines, which just released its annual ranking of America’s Best & Worst Cities for men and women in the January/February issues of both magazines.
Austin came in 10th place on the men’s list. It didn’t even break the top 10 for women.
The editors factored in 35 criteria when making their lists. Among them? Air quality, employment, life expectancy and commute times. They also looked at death rates from more than a half dozen causes, obesity rates and the ratio of single women to single men (and vice versa).
The best part about these lists is arguing about why they’re wrong.
I think Austin should rank higher. And I’d like to know what brought it down, especially on the women’s list.
Has the economic crash meant an exodus of men employed by the tech industry, making that guy to girl ratio suffer? And what about our fitness scene? The article mentions that Minneapolis, Minn., has the fourth highest number of female joggers. What? That frozen tundra has a better running scene than Austin, with it’s weekend races, crowded downtown running trails and wildly popular marathon? No way!
According to the magazines, Seattle is America’s top city for men and San Jose, Calif. is best for women. Birmingham, Ala. is the worst place to live if you’re a guy, and Philadelphia is worst for women.
I have to laugh at some of the cities that rank above Austin on the women’s list. Particularly Fargo, N.D., which came in at sixth. Really? Would you rather live there than Austin? Even in mid-February, when we’re out running a marathon in shorts?
What do you think?
Here are the lists:
The 10 Best Cities for Men
- 1) Seattle, WA
- 2) Madison, WI
- 3.) San Jose, CA
- 4) Fargo, ND
- 5) Burlington, VT
- 6) Manchester, NH
- 7) Minneapolis, MN
- 8) Salt Lake City, UT
- 9) Lincoln, NE
- 10) Austin, TX
The 10 Worst Cities for Men
- 91) Toledo, OH
- 92) St. Petersburg, FL
- 93) Louisville, KY
- 94) Charleston, WV
- 95) Memphis, TN
- 96) St. Louis, MO
- 97) Detroit, MI
- 98) Jacksonville, FL
- 99) Philadelphia, PA
- 100) Birmingham, AL
The 10 Best Cities for Women
- 1) San Jose, CA
- 2) Madison, WI
- 3) Seattle, WA
- 4) Aurora, CO
- 5) Minneapolis, MN
- 6) Fargo, ND
- 7) San Francisco, CA
- 8) Lincoln, NE
- 9) Salt Lake City, UT
- 10) Colorado Springs, CO
The 10 Worst Cities for Women
- 91) New Orleans, LA
- 92) Baltimore, MD
- 93) Jacksonville, FL
- 94) Oklahoma City, OK
- 95) Toledo, OH
- 96) St. Louis, MO
- 97) Detroit, MI
- 98) Memphis, TN
- 99) Birmingham, AL
- 100) Philadelphia, PA
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment Categories: general fitness
Comments
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By BKinATX
December 30, 2009 9:32 AM | Link to this
I really hope you’re not getting PAID to write this kind of dreck. There’s NOTHING here. Not a damn thing worth reading. You could have just linked to the lists and put in as much effort as you have. If this is what passes as blogging (and God help me if it’s PAID blogging) then shoot me & my family now. The world has finally gotten too stupid to live in.
By BKinATX
December 30, 2009 9:32 AM | Link to this
I really hope you’re not getting PAID to write this kind of dreck. There’s NOTHING here. Not a damn thing worth reading. You could have just linked to the lists and put in as much effort as you have. If this is what passes as blogging (and God help me if it’s PAID blogging) then shoot me & my family now. The world has finally gotten too stupid to live in.
By elvis
December 30, 2009 9:49 AM | Link to this
Seattle always ranks high on all these types city rankings. It’s a really nice place, but I’m skeptical about Seattle being so great for men..according to the last census, single women outnumber single men in Seattle by over 40K, but in Austin single men outnumber women by less than 3K. I enjoy visiting but I wouldn’t want to live there.
By Lary
December 30, 2009 10:54 AM | Link to this
Only Seattle and San Jose belong anywhere near Austin on this list.
By Barbara Johnson
December 30, 2009 11:57 AM | Link to this
Minneapolis has a great running scene — I used to live there. There are many more lakes to run around that are relatively close to the downtown area (which are always full, like Lady Bird Lake), and the streets are definitely more pedestrian-friendly than Austin. They too have a great marathon.
By Cate
December 30, 2009 2:01 PM | Link to this
Intriguing lead, but the fact Austin isn’t listed in the top 10 for women doesn’t mean (according to Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines) that it is a better city for men. There could be more good cities for women than there are for men, not necessarily Austin is worse for women. The magazine didn’t pit the city’s pros and cons of being each gender against each other and declare Austin better for men.
Of course, what the magazines say about Austin doesn’t affect what we already know about our fair city :) So it’s kind of pointless to argue. The title “Is Austin a better place to live for men than women?” might be misleading though.
By CO2creator
December 30, 2009 4:06 PM | Link to this
The only conclusion worth drawing is Philadelphia sucks for everyone.
Pam, how about you make up a criteria for judging cities. You could use objective measurements like: Does Pam live here?, Does snow on the streets keep Pam from commuting to work less than 5 days per year?, Is Big Bend Park in driving distance for Pam?, …