Cities with the highest ratios of young, single women to men

1. Baton Rouge A sultry average daily temperature keeps the 15,529 LSU coeds baring it on the Bayou. And if you strike out at the off-campus bars, New Orleans is only an hour away.

2. Baltimore Check out The Brewer’s Art on Charles Street, a brewpub with a big bar on one level and a bigger, dark, smoky bar beneath. “You can meet yuppie babes upstairs or tattooed and tongue-pierced babes downstairs,” says one guy who’s done both.

3. Memphis Skip Graceland and feel like the king at Automatic Slim’s. Just two blocks off Beale Street, Slim’s is brimming with belles. “Damn good martinis, too,” says a regular.

4. Fresno It’s the raisin capital of the country and a great place for dates. Duck into the Elbow Room at the corner of Palm and Shaw for a sampler. According to one local, “It’s not like a typical club where you can’t talk to the women because it’s so loud.”

5. Oklahoma City Slip into the Citywalk, located in the historic Bricktown section. “A lot of cute girls go there,” says a regular from nearby Norman. And why not? With the Citywalk there’s no need to bar hop; it’s actually seven bars in one.

Location, Location, Lats

Your neighborhood can impact your health in surprising ways. are you safe at home?

By JIM GORMAN

You know a good investment when you see it. Or do you? “Most people focus on the house itself—the square footage, the gourmet kitchen, the three-car garage—and discount the quality of life that comes with it,” says Lawrence Frank, Ph.D., a regional-planning professor at the University of British Columbia. “The reality is, the location of your home affects the air you’ll breath, your weight, your level of physical activity, your amount of free time, and your stress levels.” Ask yourself these questions before you make the biggest investment ever . . . in your health.

1. HOW NOISY IS IT?
Persistent traffic noise above 60 decibels—as loud as a dishwasher—boosts a man’s risk of heart attack by 46 percent (and a woman’s by 200 percent), according to researchers at University Medical Center in Berlin. Even a low-level din triggers the body’s stress response, says Stefan Willich, M.D., of the university. Adrenaline and noradrenaline flood the blood, increasing blood pressure and heart disease risk. Living near noisy airports has been shown to have a similar effect. A Cornell University study found that kids living near Munich Airport were under more stress—and fared worse in long-term-memory and reading tests—than kids in a control group. “Airplane noise is far less predictable than road noise, so it’s not as easily acclimated to,” says Gary Evans, Ph.D., a professor at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. To find out if the home you have your heart set on is under a flight path, Google “noise exposure map” and the name of the nearest airport.

2. WHERE IS THE CLOSEST PARK?
Living within walking distance of a park boosts the odds you’ll meet your weekly exercise requirement by 50 percent, researchers at the University of Western Australia found. The best parks are spacious, full of shade, and packed with trails. The best one? Denver’s 165-acre Washington Park, says Karla A. Henderson,
Ph.D., a professor of parks, recreation, and tourism management at North Carolina State University. “There’s a lake at both ends, a stream between, several playing fields, and a 2.6-mile path around it.”

3. CAN YOU HOOF IT?
Residents in “walkable” neighborhoods are 240 percent more likely to do 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, according to researchers at the University of British Columbia. And a San Diego State University study found that people in walkable areas are 42 percent less prone to be overweight.

4. WHERE'S THE NEAREST HIGHWAY?
According to the EPA, the 300-foot swath downwind of a highway is a pollution hotspot. A home in that zone wallows in carbon monoxide, benzene, and fine particulates—all components of vehicle exhaust. At 150 feet away, the pollution is 1½ times worse. And at 75 feet, it triples.

5. HOW'S THE TRAFFIC?
Neighborhoods with more intersections per square mile are less polluted, according to Frank. “It’s easier to find a direct route if you’re driving, and you’re more likely to walk,” he says. And if you live in a city, find a place near a traffic circle or on a one-way street. One-way streets make it tougher to cruise, according to researchers at the National Crime Prevention Council, and traffic circles keep cars moving—more so than traffic lights—and at the same time make a quick getaway nearly impossible. After urban planners added these two traffic-management features, violent crime in one troubled neighborhood in London fell by 50 percent.