This Indiana City Ranks 10th Worst in America for Recreation

There's no denying how important it is to stay active, especially for our mental and physical health. It's more important than ever for cities to offer residents a variety of ways to stay active. Some cities do a better job than others, and according to a recent study, one Indiana city really needs to step up its game.

I will be the first to acknowledge that some of the reports/studies I see are just plain silly - sharing information that no one could possibly care about. I do think, though, that this particular study from WalletHub is interesting, even bordering on important. The report looks at the 100 biggest cities in America and ranks them from the best to worst for recreation.

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

The rankings were determined by looking at data in the following main categories and dozens of sub-categories...

Entertainment & Recreational Facilities: The number of music venues, beaches, tennis courts, baseball fields, hiking trails, fishing spots, and many others.
Costs: How much does it cost to bowl or see a movie? What is the average gym membership? Things like that.
Quality of Parks: Acres of parkland and the number of parks/playgrounds.
Weather

This Indiana City Is One of the 10 Worst for Recreation

It brings me no joy to report that FORT WAYNE, IN was ranked 91st on a list of the 100 best/worst cities for recreation. What makes it so bad? Well, it all comes down to the numbers, and here's how Fort Wayne scored in the main categories.

Entertainment & Recreational Facilities Rank: 80th
Costs Rank: 8th (not too shabby)
Quality of Parks Rank: 91st (yikes)
Weather Rank: 96th (also yikes)

It's Not All Bad News for Fort Wayne

I'm all about trying to find the silver lining for these less-than-favorable rankings, so here are a couple for Indiana...

Recreational activities are really affordable in Fort Wayne - the 8th best in the country!
Fort Wayne is moving in the right direction - it was ranked 94th in the 2023 report, compared to 91st this year.
In a different study by this same website, Fort Wayne ranked as the 8th BEST run city in America!

Wanna see how the rest of the country is ranked? Scroll over the map below, and if you've got some time to kill, you can look through all of the data collected HERE.

Source: WalletHub

Beautiful Photos from Popular Kentucky and Indiana Hiking Trails

From climbing rocks to lush green forests and rushing waterfalls, enjoy incredible photos from hiking trails in Kentucky and Indiana.

Gallery Credit: Mary-Katherine Maddox

LOOK: Here are the 25 best places to live in Indiana

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in Indiana using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.