Cincinnati Named Finalist for Prestigious All-America City Award

CINCINNATI – The National Civic League (NCL) has named the City of Cincinnati to the short list of finalists for a prestigious All-America City Award.

The award, given to 10 communities each year, celebrates and recognizes neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, counties, tribes and regions that engage residents in innovative, inclusive and effective efforts to tackle critical challenges. The 20 finalist communities for 2018 range in size from the seventh-largest city in the United States (San Antonio) to a town of only 22,000 people (Decatur, Georgia).

A full list of finalists is outlined below.

NCL President Doug Linkhart said this year’s finalists share a common bond of working to create equitable communities through inclusive civic engagement.

“These finalist communities are building local capacity to solve problems and improve their quality of life,” Linkhart said. “The National Civic League is honored to recognize these communities, and views their efforts as critical in addressing the challenge to communities issued by the 1968 Kerner Commission, 'to make good the promises of American democracy to all citizens – urban and rural, white, black, Spanish surname, American Indians, and every minority group.'"

Now in its 69th year, the All-America City Award is considered one the nation’s most prestigious community awards. This year, the Award aims to recognize communities for their inclusive engagement processes, projects and community vision.

As part of the application process, the City of Cincinnati highlighted the City’s community-wide commitment to inclusiveness, equity, impact, innovation, civic engagement and cross-sector collaboration. In particular, the City featured its ongoing 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan Update, the Cincinnati Police Department’s award-winning PIVOT strategy, and the Engage Cincy community engagement initiatives out of the City Manager’s Office.

The 20 finalist communities will compete in Denver, Colorado this June to be recognized as one of the All-America Cities for 2018.

You can learn more about the All-America City Awards and the National Civic League on the NCL website.

All-America City Award Finalists

Springdale, AR

Placentia, CA

Stockton, CA

Longmont, CO

Miami Beach, FL

Decatur, GA

Ann Arbor, MI

Battle Creek, MI

Las Vegas, NV

Charlotte, NC

Cincinnati, OH

Beaverton, OR

Allentown, PA

Columbia, SC

Kershaw County, SC

Mount Pleasant, SC

El Paso, TX

San Antonio, TX

Pasco, WA

Tacoma, WA