Fremont Walks into Top 10

The March 7 issue of Prevention magazine says Fremont is one of America's top 10 walking cities, beating out local favorite San Francisco for the accolade.

In 2005, San Francisco was named the best big walking city in America in a joint study by Prevention and the American Podiatric Medical Association. The magazine and medical association since have changed their criteria and dropped a special ranking for cities with more than 500,000 people.

This year, San Francisco came in 34th place. Fremont came in ninth.

Although its wide suburban thoroughfares and strip mall sprawl may not make Fremont the most pedestrian-friendly city in the United States, the city's spacious green parks, paved walking paths and clean air are likely behind its stunning finish.

One editor from the health magazine said that if her publication had ranked U.S. cities by the percentage of residents in a city who lace up their walking shoes and pound the ground to stay fit, Fremont would be sitting pretty in the top five. Nearly half of Fremont residents walk for exercise, according to Michele Stanten, Prevention's fitness director.

"Basically, that means (the city) is conducive to people getting out there and being more active," she said. Walking "is one of the best ways to get people to start to be more active."

Prevention's top 10 walking cities for 2006 are, in order: Portland, Ore.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; Boise City, Idaho; Las Vegas; Austin, Texas; Virginia Beach, Va.; Anchorage, Alaska; Fremont; and Raleigh, N.C.

The study gave the most weight to the percentage of people in a city who regularly walk for exercise or to travel to work. Other factors included crime rates, weather, cultural attractions and the percentage of residents who own pets and play recreational sports.

That walking is an easy and inexpensive way to stay fit is hardly a news flash in Fremont, where hoofing around Lake Elizabeth is a favorite fitness activity for many.

On a recent afternoon, despite an overcast sky that later released a torrent of rain, Mary Fresquez walked a 2-mile loop around the lake in Central Park. When asked to describe her daily walking routine, she kept right on walking as she talked.

"I like walking around the lake," she said midstride. "There's no traffic. You don't have the noise of the buses and of the cars."

Fresquez, 55, circles Lake Elizabeth during her lunch break and squeezes in an additional two miles of walking during her morning and afternoon breaks from the Fremont Hall of Justice, where she works as a legal processing clerk. By combining her walking regimen with a Weight Watchers diet, Fresquez lost 50 pounds during the past year.

"It's my form of exercise," she said.

Dr. Henry Tseng, a podiatrist in Fremont who helped the magazine and medical association determine its criteria for this year's list, said he encourages his patients to walk and stop for breaks to stretch out their legs.

"Walking is recommended because, number one, it is considered low impact," he said. "Especially with the right kind of shoes."

Walking can help people lose weight, lower blood pressure, reduce depression and anxiety and help control diabetes, Stanten said. For some people, it can reduce the risk of cancer.

"It helps to condition your heart, so you can be more fit," she said. "For a large portion of the population it's an ideal exercise. It feels good."

Navigation

Fremont Walks into Top 10