In Shape!
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF THE SOCCER STADIUM COMING TO ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK SPORTS PARK
Irvine is in the top 10 nationally among cities offering a healthy lifestyle
By Irvine City News staff
The rankings are in, and the results are excellent: Irvine is in very good health. That’s true fiscally, where the city was ranked No. 1 among all cities of significance in the U.S., as noted elsewhere in this issue. It’s also true of the community’s physical health, or at least the opportunities for locals to lead an active lifestyle.
Irvine ranks 9th in the nation among the 100 most populated cities in the country when it comes to opportunities to lead a healthy lifestyle, according to personal-finance website WalletHub. The top city in the U.S., based on the study’s 30 key indicators of an active lifestyle, is Madison, Wisconsin, while the worst city is identified as Memphis, Tennessee.
Irvine came in first in the nation for number of sports clubs per capita. Other categories the city does well in include “overall bike score” (6th), “pick-up soccer games per capita” (6th), “hiking routes per capita” (8th), “fitness centers per capita” (8th), and “walking routes per capita” (9th).
Some of the rankings were surprising at first glance, such as Cleveland first in the U.S. with the most swimming pools per capita and Cincinnati (tied with four other cities), winning with the most public golf courses. Irvine ranked No. 63 out of 100 in both categories.
It makes a bit more sense when one thinks about it: winter cities with long, cold winters may have fewer private home pools, so lots of public pools make sense. And Irvine’s many neighborhood pools wouldn’t be included in the rankings because they’re not open to the general public.
The low public golf course rank adds a good deal of credence to those who support a public course at the Great Park.
Irvine’s lowest scores were for the number of ice-skating rinks (none-apparently the seasonal rink at Irvine Spectrum doesn’t count), public golf courses, public swimming pools, skate parks and fitness and aerobic trainers in the city. Oddly, Irvine ranked No. 1 for sports clubs per capita. Perhaps we prefer to self-train? Either that, or they don’t count trainers employed by sports clubs.
We also rank 44th in both “walk score” and 44th in “bike sharing programs.” The latter is hard to fix (though civic leaders should try), but adding bike sharing extensively throughout the city should be a no-brainer.
Oh, and the cost of bowling in the city ranks us at 83 out of the 100 biggest cities in the country.
While adding the new ice at the Great Park Skating Complex will definitely help in the city’s low ice-skating rink score, Irvine still won’t make up much ground on the leader: Minneapolis ranked 1st with 120.02 rinks per 1,000,000 residents. The new ice complex will begin construction this month, with a public groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. on Feb. 16, at the Orange County Great Park.
The new Sports Park at the Great Park will no doubt considerably boost Irvine’s rankings as a superior city for active lifestyles. The 53-acre first phase is scheduled for completion this year, and will include 24 tennis courts, six soccer fields, five volleyball courts and a playground plus three “championship” stadiums for soccer, volleyball and tennis, while the entire 175-acre complex will include 80 fields for baseball, softball, basketball, rugby, cricket and lacrosse.
Since Irvine only does so-so in rankings for tennis courts (No. 20), and baseball diamonds (No. 38), the new Great Park facilities will help the city’s overall ranking. We’d also like to see “soccer fields per capita added to the metrics, which would improve Irvine’s score.
And what about city recreation programs? Add Irvine’s stellar recreation and sports programs and classes from the Community Services Department into the mix, and we wager Irvine would lead as the healthiest and most active city in the nation.
For sports and recreation classes and courses see the always-excellent Inside Irvine magazine, or go to:
cityofirvine.org/community-services-department/classes-activities
For more active lifestyle rankings and statistics go to:
wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-an-active-lifestyle/8817/
Irvine ranks 9th in the nation among the 100 most populated cities in the country when it comes to opportunities to lead a healthy lifestyle, according to personal-finance website WalletHub. The top city in the U.S., based on the study’s 30 key indicators of an active lifestyle, is Madison, Wisconsin, while the worst city is identified as Memphis, Tennessee.
Irvine came in first in the nation for number of sports clubs per capita. Other categories the city does well in include “overall bike score” (6th), “pick-up soccer games per capita” (6th), “hiking routes per capita” (8th), “fitness centers per capita” (8th), and “walking routes per capita” (9th).
Some of the rankings were surprising at first glance, such as Cleveland first in the U.S. with the most swimming pools per capita and Cincinnati (tied with four other cities), winning with the most public golf courses. Irvine ranked No. 63 out of 100 in both categories.
It makes a bit more sense when one thinks about it: winter cities with long, cold winters may have fewer private home pools, so lots of public pools make sense. And Irvine’s many neighborhood pools wouldn’t be included in the rankings because they’re not open to the general public.
The low public golf course rank adds a good deal of credence to those who support a public course at the Great Park.
Irvine’s lowest scores were for the number of ice-skating rinks (none-apparently the seasonal rink at Irvine Spectrum doesn’t count), public golf courses, public swimming pools, skate parks and fitness and aerobic trainers in the city. Oddly, Irvine ranked No. 1 for sports clubs per capita. Perhaps we prefer to self-train? Either that, or they don’t count trainers employed by sports clubs.
We also rank 44th in both “walk score” and 44th in “bike sharing programs.” The latter is hard to fix (though civic leaders should try), but adding bike sharing extensively throughout the city should be a no-brainer.
Oh, and the cost of bowling in the city ranks us at 83 out of the 100 biggest cities in the country.
While adding the new ice at the Great Park Skating Complex will definitely help in the city’s low ice-skating rink score, Irvine still won’t make up much ground on the leader: Minneapolis ranked 1st with 120.02 rinks per 1,000,000 residents. The new ice complex will begin construction this month, with a public groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. on Feb. 16, at the Orange County Great Park.
The new Sports Park at the Great Park will no doubt considerably boost Irvine’s rankings as a superior city for active lifestyles. The 53-acre first phase is scheduled for completion this year, and will include 24 tennis courts, six soccer fields, five volleyball courts and a playground plus three “championship” stadiums for soccer, volleyball and tennis, while the entire 175-acre complex will include 80 fields for baseball, softball, basketball, rugby, cricket and lacrosse.
Since Irvine only does so-so in rankings for tennis courts (No. 20), and baseball diamonds (No. 38), the new Great Park facilities will help the city’s overall ranking. We’d also like to see “soccer fields per capita added to the metrics, which would improve Irvine’s score.
And what about city recreation programs? Add Irvine’s stellar recreation and sports programs and classes from the Community Services Department into the mix, and we wager Irvine would lead as the healthiest and most active city in the nation.
For sports and recreation classes and courses see the always-excellent Inside Irvine magazine, or go to:
cityofirvine.org/community-services-department/classes-activities
For more active lifestyle rankings and statistics go to:
wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-an-active-lifestyle/8817/