A new survey suggests that three Texas cities offer little in the way of fun. According to personal finance website WalletHub, Irving, Houston and San Antonio rank among 10 worst cities in the United States for recreation.
WalletHub researchers set out to determine the cities with the “most diverse opportunities for recreation, sports and culture.” That includes everything from parkland and tennis courts to movie theaters and live music venues to burger joints and coffee shops. Oh, and bowling.
Irving took the No. 91 slot out of 100. San Antonio ranked 93, followed by Houston at 94.
To determine the rankings, WalletHub looked at 24 metrics in four categories — financial (everything from spending on parks to, oddly, average prices for beer and wine, pizza and burgers, and beauty salons), park quality, entertainment and recreation facilities, and weather — for the 100 largest U.S. cities. The site pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Council for Community and Economic Research, Trust for Public Land, Yelp and TripAdvisor.
Of the three Texas cities, Irving scored less abysmally in the financial category (67) but ranked 85 out of 100 for entertainment and recreation facilities. San Antonio fared decently in the weather category (73), while Houston got a 64 for park quality.
Other fun Texas facts noted in key findings: Austin has the third-lowest bowling costs; Lubbock, however, has the second-highest. Corpus Christi and Laredo tied for No. 1 in lowest movie costs, but Corpus Christi ranks among the five worst for parkland, coffee shops per capita and live music venues per capita.
Speaking of live music, Laredo, Plano and Garland also appear in the bottom five — which means Texas has four of the five worst cities for live music.
The best U.S. city for recreation is Cincinnati. Orlando came in at No. 2, followed by the epicenter of fun known as Omaha, Nebraska.
Houston ranked 94 out of 100 on WalletHub's list.
