Earlier this month, the mayor of Phoenix declared the city’s third annual Stress Free Day.

Of course, I’d love it if we could be less stressed every day, but it’s great that the city took time to raise awareness of stress as a quality of life issue. It looks like a local health club/spa was the driving force behind the initiative, offering to consult with local businesses about how they could help their employees relax.  Maybe their success will encourage individuals and health businesses in other cities to talk to their elected representatives about raising awareness and providing stress management/stress relief initiatives.

I hope other cities adopt this idea! I’d love to see towns competing to see who has the calmest, healthiest population! Last week, Forbes issued its list of “Most Stressful Cities.” (warning, just reading the article may be stress-inducing!). By inverting the list to ask the question in a more positive way, I can report for you of America’s largest 40 cities, using Forbes’ methodology, here are:

The 10 Least Stressed Out Large Cities

1. Austin/Round Rock, TX
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Nashville/Davidson/Murfreesboro/Franklin, TN
4. Dallas-Fort Worth/Arlington, TX
5. Kansas City, MO-KS
6. Denver/Aurora, CO
7. Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News, VA-NC
8. Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown, TX
9. Jacksonville, FL
10. Columbus, OH

Wow, Texas with 4 out of 10! I lived in Houston for a year, and must admit it was a pleasure to ride my bike year-round. And they do know how to go swimming and BBQ. Phoenix, if you’re wondering, is 14th.

And I’m heading to Kansas City this weekend, so I’ll be sure to investigate their low-stress ways.

What, to you, makes a city and its citizens less stressful? How’s your city doing?

Related posts:

1. Twestival! More social media for good!
2. Breathing – the ultimate soft tool
3. Welcome to Be Softer!