Pensacola Recognized as America's Strongest Town

Crowd in a theater celebrating Pensacola's strongest town award

Pensacola was recognized Tuesday, Aug. 20 for being voted America’s Strongest Town earlier this year, celebrating progress the city has made toward being financially strong and resilient.

Strong Towns founder Chuck Marohn visited the Rex Theatre in downtown Pensacola to celebrate Pensacola’s victory and give a free Strong Towns presentation to a packed audience as part of CivicCon.

Mayor Grover Robinson accepted the award Tuesday evening on behalf of the city, along with other elected officials and local leaders.

Pensacola beat out 16 other towns for the honor in April, winning with 58 percent of the vote against Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the final round. The first Strong Towns champion from the South, Pensacola joined a pantheon of winners that includes Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Traverse City, Michigan, and most recently, 2018’s champion, Muskegon, Michigan.

From the Strong Towns winner announcement: “Pensacola impressed us from the start with a Round One application that emphasized its remarkable turnaround in the past decade. The city is growing in population, it is dramatically expanding its local economy and tax base, and it’s doing it largely by focusing on the city’s heart and soul: its historic downtown, which was first built in the 18th century.”

Read more about why Pensacola was selected as the 2019 Strongest Town on the Strong Towns website.

PPD Headquarters Designated as an Official Community MeetUp Spot for Safe Online Transactions

The City of Pensacola has teamed up with OfferUp and Safe Trade Spots to designate the Pensacola Police Department as an official Community MeetUp Spot.

Buyers and sellers can use the lobby of the Pensacola Police Department, which has an officer 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as an Internet Purchase Exchange Location. The Pensacola Police Department is located at 711 N. Hayne St.

"The Pensacola Police Department has offered their lobby as a safe, secure place for internet purchase exchanges previously," Mayor Grover Robinson said. "This partnership just gives an official designation and is one more resource to limit criminal opportunities."

“This is one more example of how we can team up with our community to prevent crime," Pensacola Police Chief Tommi Lyter added. "We are grateful for the opportunity to be a Community MeetUp Spot.”

Read more about the designation in the city's press release.

Mayor Robinson Gives State of the City Address to Pensacola Business Community

The Greater Pensacola Chamber hosted Mayor Grover Robinson for a State of the City luncheon Tuesday, Aug. 20 at the Pensacola Yacht Club, where Mayor Robinson addressed the local business community about the City of Pensacola's economy, development and plans for the city's future as it continues to grow.

The event was the first in a series of "state of" addresses presented by the Greater Pensacola Chamber, which will include updates on the state of the city, state of the military and state of education.

Mayor Robinson highlighted several areas of growth in the city, including residential and commercial permits, ad valorem and sales tax revenue increases each year, along with success at the Port of Pensacola, Pensacola International Airport and Pensacola Energy.

Read more about the State of the City address here.

Mayor Grover Robinson addresses the crowd at the State of the City luncheon

Assistant City Administrator Kerrith Fiddler addresses the crowd at the State of the City luncheon

Mayor Grover Robinson with members of the greater pensacola chamber

Join us for the Morris Court Park Ribbon Cutting Aug. 31

The community is invited to join City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation for a ribbon cutting event for the reopening of Morris Court Park on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. Join Mayor Grover Robinson and Councilwoman Jewel Cannada-Wynn in celebrating improvements to the park.

Improvements to the park include a new basketball court, walking path, new lighting and landscaping throughout the park and improved parking. In addition, the City of Pensacola added Make Play Smart Early Learning Decals near the playground in partnership with the Studer Community Institute.

Morris Court Park is located at 1401 W. Lloyd St.

City Sanitation and Escambia County Collect 27 Tons of Bulk Waste During Neighborhood Cleanup

City of Pensacola Sanitation Services assisted Escambia County on Wednesday, Aug. 14 with the Brownsville South Neighborhood Cleanup, which collected 234 tires, 20 tons of yard waste and 27 tons of bulk waste.

Thank you to all of the residents who participated so we can help keep their neighborhood clean. Great teamwork by all!

House with tires and debris in front of it

5-2-1-0 Day of Play is Sept. 13

The City of Pensacola has teamed up with the Florida Department of Health and the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Escambia program for a day of fun activities and learning about healthy lifestyles from community sports and fitness partners and heath organizations.

The best part? Admission is free!

So, what does 5-2-1-0 mean? It is a guide for a child's healthy lifestyle. Five is the number of fruit and vegetable servings they should eat every day. Two is the maximum number of hours children should spend looking at a screen. One is the minimum number of hours children should be active each day. Zero is the goal for sugar-sweetened drinks.

Learn more on our website at PlayPensacola.com.

People dressed up in fruit and vegetable costumes

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Dog sitting in front of Pensacola City Hall sign

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