Seven years ago, I bought my first apartment in Chicago, and not just anywhere in Chicago: in Wicker Park – one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods, known for its concert venues and hip restaurant scene.
But what I most fell in love with in the neighborhood were the fitness opportunities it opened up for me. Being surrounded by options completely changed my outlook on health and wellness and helped me quickly form a community.
My home was in walking distance from my favorite hot yoga studio, 105F (@105fhotyoga), and my early Saturday morning classes became a ritual that recharged me after a long work week and got me ready for the weekend.
As I walked to my favorite place on Saturday morning, sacrificing sleeping in for a good workout, I saw others in my neighborhood doing the same and realized the fitness community was bigger than just my own experience.
The more my neighborhood changed, the bigger that community became, as retail shops continued giving way to fitness gyms and studios.
Today, 47 fitness clubs dot the map around my apartment, spanning the whole exercise spectrum, from yoga to CrossFit to boxing. Our neighborhood even got its first cycling studio, Spynergy (@SpynergyWickerPark), completing my fitness routine.
However, as it often happens, once our lives get comfortable it’s time to shake things up. My city apartment started getting tight once my boyfriend moved in, and we then made plans to leave the neighborhood.
Did Moving Away from My Neighborhood Mean Moving Away from Fitness?
After a few weeks we moved to a new house in Norwood Park. Though we are happy for the extra space, we knew we would be sacrificing the perks we enjoyed in our old neighborhood.
For me, the biggest struggle would be losing the fitness community and easy access I so enjoyed in Wicker Park. Moving from a neighborhood with 47 fitness options to a neighborhood with only two, I worried about losing my cherished fitness routine of yoga and cycling.
I knew my fitness woes feel like a non-problem in the large scheme of issues in Chicago, but it made me think about access in my city, particularly when it comes to fitness facilities.
The more I looked into it, the more it looked like the usual tale of two cities.
While over 800 fitness clubs exist in the Chicagoland area, the health & wellness picture looks very different depending on which zip code you’re living in.
Health and wealth are increasingly growing hand in hand, with fitness clubs popping up more and more in the more affluent suburbs of Naperville, Elmhurst, Park Ridge, and most northern suburbs, yet failing to catch on in the south and southwest suburbs.
Zooming in on the city, the distribution looks similar: the north and near west sides benefit from abundant exercise options, while the south and far west sides noticeably lack health and fitness club investments.
The distribution is clearly far from equitable, as the below graph makes very clear. While the below 10 neighborhoods – all notably on the north, and near west sides – account for 60% of all fitness clubs in Chicago, but they only account for 28% of the population.
Finding Fitness Wherever You Are
How can we make sure our health and wellness isn’t affected by our geography?
As I prepared for my move, I asked myself that very question every day. I hoped to maintain my wellness routine in my new neighborhood with the following tactics:
- Get Outside: I’m going to take my indoor cycling routine outdoors on the bike trails in my new neighborhood. This idea also works with walking and running, and provides a good way to get to know your area.
- Get Tech-Savvy: With a growing number of fitness apps and streaming options, exercising at home is gaining ground – as long as you can find the motivation and discipline to do it on your own!
- Form a New Community: I’ll work to establish a new fitness community in the closest “fitness hub” to my new neighborhood in Park Ridge.
- Keep Ties with My Old Community: I hope to go back (though less often) to my old neighborhood and sweat with the people that have motivated me for years.
Who Is In Your Strong Circle?
Since community is so important to me, I focus on those last two tips, trying to establish a new fitness community while also maintaining contact with my old one. The support network I have found in fitness clubs has been essential for me to build and maintain healthy habits.
I grew to love the uniqueness of each club and the passion that everybody working there had. My yoga teachers helped me grow more confident and build strength from the inside, while my cycling instructors brought out a competitive side that I never knew I had.
I was lucky for the seven years to have had access to such a vibrant fitness community in Wicker Park, but I also looked forward to expanding My Strong Circle in this new chapter of my life in Chicago.