MONDAY, April 2, 2012 — How far have you walked today?

If brief trips from parking lots to grocery stores, your office, the dry cleaner, and so on, make up the majority of your daily step count, it may not be entirely your fault. Where you live and work plays a major role in how much, or how little, you use your legs every day. Walking to work, to get milk, or to see a friend can range from a walk in the park (literally) to a hassle — depending on your location. They considered the availability of well-lit, pedestrian-friendly crosswalks, walking trails, and walking clubs, in addition to the ease and advantages of sightseeing by foot.

So Prevention scoped out the country's best cities for walking, pulled up their grades on, and ranked the Top 25.

East Coast and West Coast cities dominate the list, but before you get discouraged because your city falls short for walkers, put a little spring in your step for the American Heart Association's National Walking Day, an initiative which encourages people to walk for heart health, this Wednesday.

A brisk, 20- to 30-minute walk can go miles for your health, helping to prevent and control heart disease (it can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels), diabetes, and obesity. But the highways, trains, and automobiles built into our daily commutes and errand-running make it tricky.

In light of recent news that sitting for too long raises death risk (yikes, take a walk around the room — stat!), think about ways to sit less and walk more, even if the city you call home doesn't make it particularly easy. Try going for a stroll around the office, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and parking your car in the spot farthest away from where you need go.

Check out Prevention's Top 10 cities for walkers:

  1. Cambridge, Mass.
  2. New York
  3. Jersey City, N.J.
  4. San Francisco
  5. Berkeley, Calif.
  6. Boston
  7. Paterson, N.J.
  8. Chicago
  9. Philadelphia
  10. Newark, N.J.

Don't see your city? Check out the Top 25 — maybe it's there.

Does your city help or hurt how much you walk every day? Tell us in the comments section!