PSL named an All-America City Award finalist

Published on April 02, 2025

Recognizing the City’s efforts to engage its residents in decision making and strategic initiatives, the National Civic League has named the City of Port St. Lucie as a finalist for the 2025 All-America City Award.

For over 75 years, the National Civic League’s All-America City Award has highlighted and celebrated outstanding civic innovation, recognizing communities that harness the power of local collaboration to drive meaningful change. Each year, cities, towns, counties, and regions nationwide apply for this prestigious recognition, showcasing how their civic capital—the relationships, networks, and capacities that enable problem-solving and resilience—fuels progress.

This year’s twenty finalists have distinguished themselves through their commitment to strengthening environmental sustainability, using inclusive community engagement to create lasting, impactful solutions, according to the National Civic League.

"Communities thrive when all residents have a voice in the policies and decisions that shape their lives. This year’s finalists are leading the way by removing barriers to participation and implementing programs that foster sustainability, resilience, and inclusive engagement,” said Doug Linkhart, President, National Civic League.

Since 1949, the National Civic League has recognized ten communities annually with the highly respected All-America City Award. This years’ finalists are: 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; and Western Riverside Region, California.

Finalists were chosen through a competitive review process led by an independent panel of experts, with each application evaluated on the criteria of shared vision, civic engagement, inclusiveness and equity, collaboration, innovation, and impact. Now, these outstanding communities are preparing for the next stage of the competition— the All-America City Award Event in Denver this June—where they will present their stories of success and showcase the impact of their initiatives.

Port St. Lucie’s application focused on an extensive array of engagement activities between the city, residents and community, including  its annual #IamPSL Citizen Summit and its citizen-driven strategic planning process. It also focused on the city’s major environmental efforts, including Port St. Lucie’s Septic-to-Sewer program, the St. Lucie River/C-23 Water Quality Project at McCarty Ranch and the community-driven establishment of the City’s new Naturally PSL: Green Spaces and Places Program.

The winning cities will be announced June 29.