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North Carolina City One Of The Worst For Recreation

By Melanie Day

July is National Park and Recreation Month. We are lucky here in North Carolina that we have several National Parks and opportunities for outdoor recreation. That’s why I was surprised to see that a North Carolina city ranked as one of the worst for Outdoor recreation. The personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best & Worst Cities for Recreation.

The cities at the top of the list offer residents a wide range of leisure activities, both indoor and outdoor. Activities require varying levels of exercise and athletic ability. And surprisingly all the major NC cities ranked towards the bottom of the list. Which considering we have theme parks, greenways, mountains, beaches, etc all within a reasonable driving distance is interesting. I personally, having lived in two North Carolina cities have never felt that I had a lack of options for recreation. But clearly, it could be better in other places! WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 47 key indicators of recreation-friendliness. For each city, they examined the accessibility of entertainment and recreational facilities, the quality of parks, and the weather.

Read WalletHub’s full article here or keep reading to see where the NC cities ranked as well as the Top 10 best and worst cities for recreation!

  • Worst Cities For Recreation

  • 91. Memphis, TN

    Recreation

    Beale St, Memphis

  • 92. Aurora, CO

    Aurora CO

    Aerial View of Aurora, Colorado in Autumn

  • 93. Durham, NC

    Durham NC

    Durham, North Carolina, USA downtown cityscape.

  • 94. Garland, TX

    Texas

    State flag of Texas waving in the wind. Dramatic sky background. 3d illustration.

  • 95. Oakland, CA

    Oakland, CA

    Aerial view of Oakland, CA from the bay

  • 96. Irving, TX

    Irving

  • 97. Newark, NJ

    Newark New Jersey

    Newark, New Jersey, USA skyline on the Passaic River.

  • 98. Jersey City, NJ

    Jersey City

    Skyline of Jersey City, New Jersey along path in Liberty State Park

  • 99. Chula Vista, CA

    Chula Vista

    Houses, roofs and the mountain, Chula Vista, California, USA.

  • 100. Fort Wayne, IN

    Fort Wayne, ID

    Aerial view over the downtown city skyline of Fort Wayne Indiana USA

  • Best Cities For Recreation

  • 10. New Orleans, LA

    New Orleans

    Bourbon St, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA cityscape of bars and retaurants at twilight.

  • 9. Honolulu, HI

    Honolulu

    HONOLULU, HI – JANUARY 18: The sun rises over the 16th green prior to the final round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club on January 18, 2015 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • 8. Atlanta, GA

    Atlanta, GA

  • 7. Albuquerque

    Albuquerque, NM

    Hot air balloons drifting over the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

  • 6. San Diego, CA

    San Diego

  • 5. Scottsdale, AZ

    Scottsdale

    View of Scottsdale, Arizona’s waterfront in downtown Scottsdale

  • 4. Tampa, FL

    Tampa

    Tampa, Florida, USA downtown skyline on the bay at dawn.

  • 3. Cincinnati, OH

    Cincinnati, OH

    The John A. Roebling Bridge was built in 1866 to connect Covington Kentucky to Cincinnati , Ohio. It spans the Ohio River.

  • 2. Orlando, FL

    Orlando, FL

    Orlando downtown skyline panorama over Lake Eola at night with urban skyscrapers, tropic palm tree and clear sky.

  • 1. Las Vega, NV

    Nevada

    Aerial view of Las Vegas strip in Nevada as seen at night USA

  • Where Other NC Cities Ranked

    Charlotte: 74th

    Winston Salem: 75th

    Raleigh: 78th

    Greensboro: 87th

     

Methodology (From WalletHub)

To determine the best and worst cities for recreation, WalletHub compared a sample of the 100 most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions: 1) Entertainment & Recreational Facilities, 2) Costs, 3) Quality of Parks and 4) Weather. Our sample considers only the city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.

We evaluated the four dimensions using 47 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of recreation-friendliness. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample

Entertainment & Recreational Facilities – Total Points: 40

  • Number of Attractions: Double Weight (~2.71 Points)
  • Music Venues per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Coffee & Tea Shops per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Public Beaches per Capita*: Half Weight (~0.68 Points)
  • Tennis Courts per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Public & Municipal Golf Courses per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Public Swimming Pools per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Baseball & Softball Diamonds per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Basketball Hoops per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Bike Rental Facilities per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Fishing Spots per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Bike Score: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Walk Score: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Hiking Trails per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Amusement Parks per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Presence on TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 Amusement Parks” List: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Water Parks per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Boat Tours & Water Sports per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Food & Wine Tours per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Zoos & Aquariums per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Motion Picture Theaters and Drive-Ins per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Bowling Centers per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Pool Halls per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Restaurants per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Food Festivals per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Sports Fan-Friendliness: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
    Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Best Sports Cities” ranking. Sports include football, basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer.
  • Sport Venues per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)
  • Recreational Centers per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.36 Points)

Costs – Total Points: 30

  • Spending on Parks and Recreation per Capita: Half Weight (~1.30 Points)
  • Average Fitness Club Fee: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
  • Average Cost of Tennis-Court Rent: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
    Note: This metric considers cost of rent for one hour during the weekend.
  • Movie Costs: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
  • Bowling Costs: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
  • Grooming Costs: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
  • Average Price per Massage Treatment: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
    Note: Massage Treatment refers to both deep tissue and Swedish massage.
  • Average Alcoholic Beverage Price: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
    Note: “Alcoholic Beverage” refers to both beer and wine. “Beer” refers to a six-pack of 12-ounce Heineken containers, excluding any deposit. “Wine” refers to a 1.5-liter bottle of Chablis, Chenin Blanc or any white table wine.
  • Average Food Price: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
    Note: “Food” refers to both hamburger and pizza. “Hamburger” refers to a ¼-pound patty with cheese, pickle, onion, mustard, and ketchup. “Pizza” refers to an 11″-12″ thin crust cheese pizza.
  • Prevalence of Affordable 4.5+ Star Restaurants: Full Weight (~2.61 Points)
  • Restaurant Meal Costs: Double Weight (~5.22 Points)

Quality of Parks – Total Points: 20

  • Share of Population with Walkable Park Access: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
  • Share of Designed Parkland Areas: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
  • Presence on TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 Parks” List: Half Weight (~1.82 Points)
  • Park Playgrounds per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
  • Parkland as Share of City Area: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)
  • Acres of Parkland per 1,000 Residents: Full Weight (~3.64 Points)

Weather – Total Points: 10

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Council for Community and Economic Research, The Trust for Public Land, Yelp.com, TripAdvisor, Numbeo.com, Areavibes, 2Book, Walk Score, GolfLink and WalletHub research.

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