Leading The Charge
For a third time, Tallahassee has been named an All-America City
Out of over 19,000 municipalities across the United States of America, only 20 are invited by the National Civic League to apply for the prestigious All-America City Award. Last June 2025, Tallahassee emerged as one of 10 finalists who took home the title.
The honor is nationally recognized to be one of the highest awards a community can receive and is bestowed upon those who demonstrate outstanding civic accomplishments, citizen collaboration, and innovative initiatives. This year marks a third victory for Florida’s capital city.
“I’m really proud of the community coming together to achieve this,” says Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey. “Tallahassee is a great place to live, work, and play, and I think our secret’s getting out!”
Photos courtesy of the National Civic League and Jason Melino
The focus of this year’s All-America City Award revolved around the theme of “strengthening environmental sustainability through inclusive community engagement,” something Dailey says Tallahassee has been fostering via its dedication to clean energy usage, the further development of its green spaces, and a citizen’s approach to community planning and redevelopment.
One key initiative that led to the city’s designation this year was its adoption in 2023 of its Clean Energy Plan, a foundation of 87 goals that will lead to the achievement of 100% net clean, renewable energy. Thus far, progress has been made in the form of the development of infrastructure for electric vehicles with over 500 home charging stations, improvements to grid resilience, and energy efficiency, leading to more economical electricity bills and the fact that 42% of the city’s fixed-route bus fleet is now electric.
Tallahassee also boasts one of the nation’s largest on-airport solar farms, which has led to the further implementation of renewable energy across thousands of households.
“We’re very proud of our sustainable efforts,” Dailey says. “We are one of the leaders in producing solar energy at our facility, and we like to think we’re leading the way.”
Dailey also lauded the efforts of the city’s parks and recreation team, as park system expansion has officially put Tallahassee past the 100 park mark at 102 and approximately 4,000 acres in green space, with more in the making.
Photos courtesy of the National Civic League and Jason Melino
“I think we’re up to about 95% of having the entire municipal population living within a 10-minute walk of a park or a green space inside the city limits,” Dailey says.
The expansion has made possible increased participation in city athletics and community center programs, enhancements to infrastructure, public safety, and the beautification of underserved neighborhoods, which include the Southside.
And, on that note, Dailey says the Southside Action Plan, a comprehensive effort to directly address the needs of neighborhood infrastructure, planning, and housing, is an essential part of the application they submitted for the award. Through surveys, virtual meetings, and special events, Tallahassee addresses citizens’ needs directly, resulting in the addition of over 2,000 affordable housing units, more than $200 million invested in renewed infrastructure, increased public safety measures via new transit, and aesthetic improvements.
“It’s a prime example of what happens when we listen to our citizens and come together with a shared vision for Tallahassee,” he says.
Photos courtesy of the National Civic League and Jason Melino
For the All-America Award presentation itself, Dailey and his team headed to Denver, where each finalist put on a presentation before a panel of civic leaders. These presentations have evolved over the years, Dailey says—it’s not a dry PowerPoint, and the serious stuff was in the writing submitted early on. He advised his team to concoct something that demonstrated Tallahassee knew how to have a good time.
The result was a Daily Show-type of skit in which Dailey and Tallahassee residents, officials, and community leaders hilariously conveyed the fruits of their labors as they were hosted by local radio personality Greg Tish.
They left quite the impression, and the fact that Tallahassee has received the designation for a third time is something Dailey doesn’t take for granted.
“I think it shows that Tallahassee has, over the decades, been on the right track, and we still are,” Dailey explains. “To be recognized for our excellence is a humbling experience. The citizens have worked really hard to get to where we are, and I’m just proud to be the mayor.”
