San Jose Beats San Francisco in ‘Happiest, Healthiest Cities’ List

A new survey from Prevention.com ranks San Jose the No. 1 happiest and healthiest U.S. city, with San Francisco making it to the No. 7 spot on the list.

Prevention.com, the website for women’s health and lifestyle Prevention Magazine, used a variety of factors while ranking 25 cities:

“We explored the glorious: from access to green space and concert halls to number of farmers’ markets (not to mention the inclination to eat five fruits and veggies a day). We looked at the grim: disease incidence, depression measures, unemployment rates, even FBI crime statistics. After some high-level number-crunching, we came up with 25 hometowns you may want to call your own.”

The survey names San Jose an “organic paradise” with a variety of farmers markets for residents to choose from and 18 community gardens that lend “a sophisticated global flavor to a an already upscale food culture.”

San Francisco reached a respectable seventh-place spot on the list with “Almost endless cultural offerings, perhaps one reason it has high physical and mental health scores, too.” San Francisco was surprisingly beat by the suburban the sprawl in fourth-place Disney paradise Anaheim (“Top score in access to fitness”) and San Diego, ranked No. 5 with “the most active residents.”

Read the complete list.

[Photo Credit: Produce from San Jose urban farm Veggielution. By Jessica Shirley-Donnelly for MetroActive.com]