An All-America City three-peat: Tallahassee 'on the move' with latest designation
A delegation of local leaders took home the honor Sunday night after a high-energy presentation to the National Civic League conference in Denver earlier in the day.
Twenty cities, ranging from Delray Beach, Fla., to Memphis, Tenn., to Austin, Texas, vied for only ten spots as an All-America City.
It was a nailbiter night with Tallahassee announced as the final All-America City in the list of ten.
"This community is investing in its parks," the announcer said. "This community is planning for a clean and renewable future. I'm not sure we'll be able to hear ... this magnetic city."
With that, a roar went up from the audience and they chanted "Hey Tallahassee."
The local delegation ascended to the stage with hugs and high fives.
"We did it, We are bringing it home," Mayor John Dailey said as he hailed City Manager Reese Goad as "the best city manager anybody could work with."
"You and your team are absolutely amazing."
This is the third time the city has emerged victorious, having gone on to win in 1999 and 2015. The win also means Tallahassee joins an elite collection of cities that have also celebrated a three-peat, including Shreveport, La., Bloomington, Ind., Boston, Mass., Asheville, N.C., Fort Worth, Tex., and Cincinnati, Ohio.
To be named an all-American city this year, cities had to show examples of "strengthening environmental sustainability through inclusive community engagement."
In this year's application and presentation, the city highlighted "key community-driven initiatives" such as the Southside Action Plan, the expansion of the park system to 100 parks and the Clean Energy Plan.
After marching in to the chant of "Hey Tallahassee," the delegation highlighted the three points during their presentation, which was created to emulate a tonight show format with Dailey as the host of "Capital City Tonight."
'For 200 years we have been going strong,' Dailey shouted before a hype video rolled to highlight Tallahassee landmarks and achievements.
One by one, the city touted its key initiatives.
"We were also the first city in Florida to power all the city municipality buildings with our solar energy," Commissioner Jack Porter said.
The delegation was made up of city administrators, volunteers and advocates, including Police Chief Lawrence Revell, morning show radio host Greg Tish and southside community organizer Talethia Edwards. Four of the five city elected leaders were part of the delegation with only Commissioner Jeremy Matlow not in attendance.
While trumpeting plans to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050, officials noted that over 90 percent of residents live in a ten minute walk of a park or greenspace.
Dailey ended the presentation declaring Tallahassee as a place 'where history, nature and innovation truly come together with a little southern charm as well.'
The School of Arts & Sciences middle school rock band Tallahassee Routes closed the presentation out to thunderous applause.
Tallahassee also won the organization's social media award for best use of the platform to promote the All-America effort. The city did numerous posts and videos highlighting the city's success and plans for the Denver presentation.
The latest accolades come as Tallahassee has seen a string of national recognitions that has led Dailey to proclaim that "Tallahassee is on the move." Florida's capital city was recently recognized by HGTV as one of the top 20 mid-size cities in the United States after landing on the same list in 2023. The city was also recently ranked among the top 20 "best-run cities in America," according to Wallethub.
A citywide celebration of the All-America win is expected in the weeks ahead.
(The winners are in bold)
Akron, Ohio
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Austin, Texas
Carrboro, North Carolina
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Delray Beach, Florida
Denver, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Hampton, Virginia
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Kinston, North Carolina
Leominster, Massachusetts
Memphis, Tennessee
Petaluma, California
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Seattle, Washington
Snyder, Texas
Statesboro, Georgia
Tallahassee, Florida
Western Riverside Region, California
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee wins All-America City honors for third time
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