Saint Louis Wins "All-America City" Award

From Fox Business

The St. Louis region, represented by a diverse contingent of 20 citizens and leaders, won the 2008 All-America City Award tonight, presented by the National Civic League in Tampa. St. Louis was the only "region" to make the finalist group from among the nominees, and is only metro region in the nation to be designated an All-America City. Now in its 59th year, the award is considered the 'Oscar' of community recognition for civic progress and improvement. It is the oldest and most prestigious civic recognition in the nation. This is the first time since 1956 that St. Louis has been recognized as an All American City. The region will celebrate the All-America City award at Saturday's grand opening of the McKinley Bridge Bikeway and Trestle at Branch Street from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The bikeway is the latest addition to The River Ring -- a unique, 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways that will encircle and connect the St. Louis region. The River Ring played a key role in the region's winning nomination for the All-America City Award. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay noted, "It has been more than 50 years since St. Louis won this outstanding award. This is a strong acknowledgement by an objective source of the improvement in the quality of life in both the City of St. Louis and the entire region." "This is a great, great moment for the St. Louis region," said d*ck Fleming, president and chief executive officer of St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA), which led the rigorous effort. "Being recognized as a region that is building a stronger community by tackling challenges through collaboration, inclusiveness, and innovation underscores the theme of our region's branding effort, 'St. Louis: Perfectly Centered. Remarkably Connected.'" Over 100 communities submitted applications this year for the All-America City award presented by the Denver-based National Civic League. St. Louis was one of 16 communities named as finalists in March. Each finalist community sent a delegation to Tampa this week to perform a community presentation in a three-day award competition before a jury of national business, government, philanthropic, and nonprofit leaders. The St. Louis region's nomination and presentation focused on the challenges of revitalizing the region's central city, the need for connecting the region through trails and parks that was holding the region back from competing with other metro areas in environmentally-friendly mobility, and the need to empower youth to succeed in the arts.