Does a Body Good: Bethesda Receives Kudos

PERHAPS IT WAS SAN FRANCISCO'S love of carb-heavy Rice-A-Roni products that did it in. Because in SELF Magazine's 9th Annual America's Best Places for Women survey — released today — the reigning champ was knocked to second place by Bethesda, Md. Features director Sara Austin wasn't surprised by the suburb's impressive showing. It's the first year the area was ranked separately from D.C. (which, along with Alexandria and Arlington, came in at a very respectable 15 out of 100 cities). "It's a combination of smart habits and good resources," she says, noting such factors as low rates of disease and access to health clubs.

Bethesda has the least unemployment and the most doctors per capita (it can't hurt to have the National Institutes of Health in its territory). Residents are also the second least stressed (after Cambridge, Mass.), and spend their days in the second-healthiest workplaces (after Seattle, Wash.). After all, a winner needs high marks across the board.

Not that all's perfect in Montgomery County. "We all have our health bugaboos to work on," Austin adds. Bethesda's rates of STDs were above average, and while it gets kudos in the magazine for being a commuter's heaven — thanks to Metro and the Capital Crescent Trail — the average round-trip work commute of one hour, 12 minutes represents a big chunk of the day. Better get working on that for next year to keep San Francisco in its place.