Despite Jersey City's burgeoning arts community and rapid growth in recent years, one website says it is one of the worst cities for recreation in the country.

WalletHub.com looked at the general financial cost of recreation, park quality and the availability of entertainment and recreational facilities to rank America's best and worst cities for recreation. Weather was also a factor.

Out of the 100 largest cities in the United States, Jersey City came in at a very dismal No. 95. Its neighbor, Newark, came in dead last.

Jersey City also came in ahead of Charlotte, N.C., Fremont, Calif., Chula Vista, Calif. and Laredo, Tx.

For those living in JC, this may come as a surprise with arts, culture and community events almost every day of the week. We have a go-kart racing track, a golf course, an international film festival. Many of our restaurants and shops host concerts and art events. So why did Jersey City rank so low? A look at WalletHub's methodology gives us an idea.

Financial Facts

WalletHub analyzed the cost of movie tickets, bowling, trips to the beauty salon, beer and wine, and pizza and burgers in each city and also looked at the prevalence of affordable 4.5+ star restaurants.

With the cost of living in Jersey City and most of the Greater New York area being fairly high, we can't imagine JC did very well in these categories. Indeed, its rank in the Financial Facts category was No. 77 in the country.

Park Quality

In this category, WalletHub looked at how much of the population has walkable park access, playgrounds per capita, acres of parkland per capita and more criteria. So how did Jersey City do? It came in at No. 91 nationwide.

According to the City of Jersey City's website, JC has nearly 60 different parks, including Lincoln Park and Liberty State Park, which is over 1,200 acres large and is home to a wide variety of recreational space and activities. There are also plans for additional parks in the city, like Berry Lane Park in Bergen-Lafayette.

It's in this category that densely populated, urban centers like JC are most disadvantaged. While the stats account for population differences, it does not recognize the advantage cities with more acreage have in available space for building recreational centers or reserving as open public space.

Entertainment and Recreational Facilities

Lastly, the website looked for the availability of music venues, coffee and tea shops, public beaches, tennis courts, public golf courses, swimming pools, ball diamonds, basketball hoops, bike rental facilities and other attractions.

While many of these are already available in Jersey City, many in the community have expressed frustration with the lack of music venues in the area that are available year-round and specifically designed for concerts and shows. JC came in at No. 86.

Weather Conditions

This was the best category for Chilltown, with it coming in toward the middle of the pack at No. 55.

More Rankings

WalletHub also gave us some of Jersey City's rankings in specific categories:

84th – Spending on Parks per Capita

82nd – Acres of Parkland per Capita

47th – Number of Attractions per Capita

24th – Coffee & Tea Shops per Capita

85th – Average Food Price (Pizza & Burgers)

84th – Average Drink Price (Beer & Wine)

52nd – Bowling Costs

81st – Park Playgrounds per Capita

75th – Swimming Pools per Capita

As for Newark, they came in No. 72 in Financial Facts, 86th in Park Quality and 95th in Entertainment and Recreation Venues despite being home to the Newark Museum, Prudential Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center and other major venues.

Somehow, despite being next to Jersey City and basically having the same weather conditions, WalletHub says Newark came in at No. 97 in that category, a ranking difference of 42.

Do you agree that Jersey City and Newark are some of the worst cities in the country for recreation?