Atlanta landed eighth among the nation's 100 largest cities in the 2026 American Fitness Index, and the traits that lifted it there — connected trails, walkable design, parks woven into daily life — mirror what Alpharetta and Milton have been building along the Big Creek Greenway.
The index, published Tuesday, July 14, by the American College of Sports Medicine and the Elevance Health Foundation, evaluates cities on 35 indicators including exercise habits, chronic disease rates, parkland, recreational facilities, and bicycling and walking conditions. Arlington, Virginia, held the No. 1 spot for the ninth straight year. Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, and Irvine finished ahead of Atlanta; Madison and Boston rounded out the top 10.
The study ranks only the City of Atlanta, not the broader metro area. Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek, Roswell, and other North Fulton cities are too small to appear in the 100-city pool. But the report's core finding applies here: communities that connect parks to neighborhoods through safe trails and sidewalks see residents move more.
"The healthiest cities don't just encourage exercise — they make movement part of daily life through infrastructure, transportation and community design," Stella Volpe, chair of the Fitness Index Advisory Board, said when announcing the results July 14.
Local trail infrastructure
Alpharetta's Big Creek Greenway stretches 12 miles within city limits, according to the city's Connected Alpharetta website. The 12-foot-wide paved path runs from Windward Parkway at Marconi Drive south to Mansell Road, open year-round to walkers, runners, cyclists, and in-line skaters. The full greenway spans roughly 26 miles across multiple jurisdictions, according to the Alpha Loop Foundation's website.
The city's Alpha Loop trail network already exceeds six miles and links four activity centers: Downtown Alpharetta, Avalon, North Point, and Northwinds. A new connection to North Point Mall is under construction. Once complete, the Alpha Loop will let residents bike from City Hall to the Chattahoochee River via the Big Creek Greenway.
Construction underway
Encore Greenway Park, at North Point Parkway and Encore Parkway, broke ground in March 2025 and will bridge the Alpha Loop to the Big Creek Greenway. As of a May 2026 update from True North 400 CID, crews are working on bridge foundations, retaining walls, and storm drains. No completion date has been announced.
A separate Big Creek Greenway Community Connectivity Project, a roughly two-mile multi-use path from Old Holcomb Bridge Road to Liberty Square Park, is in the design phase with a $2 million financial commitment and $500,000 in CID investment, in partnership with the City of Roswell.
Alpharetta has set a goal for 77 percent of residents to live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 2029, according to the city's trails and parks plan.
The challenge ahead
The North Atlanta Star noted that suburban residents often must drive to reach trail systems. Wide arterial roads, disconnected sidewalks, and long distances between homes and commercial centers can make spontaneous walking difficult even in communities with attractive parks. Volpe told USA Today on July 14 that access matters: if a city has barriers between residents and its parks, "it's not going to resonate."
