Canton Honored With Visionary City Award

CANTON, GA — During the Georgia Municipal Association 2022 Cities United Summit, the association and Georgia Trend magazine presented the City of Canton with a Visionary City Award for the city’s Roadmap for Success initiative.

Awarded to nine cities each year—three from each population size group: under 4,999, 5,000-24,999, and over 25,000, the Visionary City Award honors cities that have created positive community change through effective civic engagement and collaboration.

“The City of Canton is extremely honored to receive the Visionary City Award from the Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Trend magazine,” Mayor Bill Grant said in a news release. “This prestigious recognition for our city's forward thinking, collaboration, and civic engagement is a true testament to the exemplary leadership our council and management team have demonstrated with the creation and implementation of our Roadmap for Success.

“While this award is a high honor,” Grant continued, “it is even more gratifying to have other cities and leaders in Georgia contacting us to learn how Canton's Roadmap and vision can help them move their own communities forward. This is truly leading with success, and we are humbled by this special recognition.”

Preference for the Visionary City Award is given to initiatives/projects that are measurable and judged on how well they demonstrate civic engagement, inclusiveness and equity, collaboration, innovation, and long-term value to the community. The city’s Roadmap for Success, for which the City of Canton received the award, was designed with eight overall guiding principles, or tenets, that are incorporated into all city projects, initiatives, and efforts. These tenets are:

• Creating Great Neighborhoods
• Celebrating the Diversity of our Community
• Advancing Regional Economic Success
• Enhancing Historic Downtown Canton
• Sustaining our Natural Environment
• Connecting Citizens through Parks and Recreation
• Improving Infrastructure for Future Demands
• Leading with Excellence

Each tenet in the roadmap includes action steps, a list of projects already underway, supporting documents, major partners and stakeholders, and measurable goals. In early 2021, the Canton City Council prioritized and created a timeline for the initiatives in each tenet. Several of the projects identified within the tenets began to take shape in 2021, and new projects brought to the city by developers will be held to the principles set forth by the Roadmap.

The City of Canton, along with the eight other Georgia cities bestowed with the honor this year including Ringgold, Tybee Island, Cornelia, Acworth, Moultrie, Covington, Macon, and Lawrenceville, will be featured in the February issue of Georgia Trend. The magazine will further highlight these outstanding cities who are leading the way with innovative programs and creative solutions.