If one of your New Year's resolutions every year is to tone up, lose weight and get in better shape, where you live might be part of the problem.

Men's Fitness magazine has put out its annual survey of America's fittest and fattest cities. The magazine looks at a number of factors such as the amount of public park space, access to health care, air quality, and relatively small number of fast-food restaurants. While that's far from scientific, the health of a city is important to residents, city planners and businesses that want quality of life for its employees.

Winner for fittest city this year is Baltimore. The magazine largely credits the leadership of Mayor Martin O'Malley for making Baltimore safer, more prosperous and more conducive to fitness. Also in the top five fittest cities were Honolulu, Virginia Beach, Tucson, and Milwaukee.

Deserving applause as the most improved -- Tulsa, Phoenix and Atlanta were on the fattest list last year, but now, they're in the fit column.

Glad to step down from fattest city last year is Houston which slunk into fifth place. Chicago now wears the crown as fattest city, along with top-five finishers Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Dallas. In the hall of shame, five cities that were on the fittest list last year gained a lot of weight -- Los Angeles, Cleveland, San Diego, Fresno and San Jose.

Worth noting is that Baltimore, like many other cities, is in the midst of urban renewal, which is putting a lot of emphasis on revitalizing downtowns and urban in-fill areas with walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods where residents can work, play and relax. City planners take note -- if you want young, active professionals to live and work in your city, give them safe, walkable communities and they will bring fresh development to your town.

For you buyers who are waiting on the sidelines for interest rates to go down again, here's some good news. Pending home sales slowed for the third consecutive month and are now at their lowest point since November 2004. Fewer homes have been placed under contract, which means rising inventories. That translates into more choices for you.

But don't hesitate too long. There are a lot of positive indicators that housing will be just as hot this year as last, and you might be seeing the calm before the storm. Why? Unemployment just hit a new low, dipping below five percent. Jobs are being added at a rate of nearly 200,000 a month. You'll have plenty of competition from other buyers with money in their pockets to spend.

Realty Times advises that one doesn't get fooled by a softening market. Good buys in housing won't wait. When you find the home you want, and it's within the right price range and at a favorable interest rate, and it's available -- that's the time to buy. Otherwise, the stars might not line up so nicely for you again in the future.

Published: January 9, 2006

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.