Philadelphia has certainly made some strides in the years since Men's Fitness declared us the fattest city in America. In the latest ranking, from 2014, we got a mid-pack ranking of 21st fattest (and therefore 30th most fit!) of the 50 most populous cities in the country. Perhaps our improving fitness ranking has something to do with the incredible number of exercise options that have cropped up in recent years. It seems that these days almost every neighborhood in and around Center City has a gym or two, a crossfit gym, three yoga studios, a pilates place, and maybe some mixed martial arts too. And we have a feeling that Soul Cycle is next, so watch out.
City Fitness has been a great local success story, starting on Spring Garden Street in Northern Liberties and opening locations at 21st & South and 11th & Wharton over the last few years. It looked like a fourth location was coming on Columbia Avenue in Fishtown, but parking concerns put the kibosh on that plan. Instead, they're now working on a larger and better located spot on Frankford Avenue. We actually visited their future home, 1424-34 Frankford Ave., a few months back when we told you about plans for a new Kit and Ace in this one-story warehouse.
As the months have rolled off the calendar, Kit and Ace has opened while construction has proceeded next door. We were pleased to see Kit and Ace reusing the old building, but it seems like the old structure was not suitable for the needs of the coming City Fitness location. Also, they're adding a second story.
The neighborhood already has a bunch of yoga studios and a couple of cross fit gyms, and this place will join the Planet Fitness (located on the other side of the neighborhood) as Fishtown's second mainstream gym. And it will be a great addition to the continually improving and evolving Frankford Avenue corridor, too.