The National Civic League is excited to announce that Lakewood, Colorado is the 2025 All-America City Hall of Fame Inductee. An All-America City in 2011 and 2016, Lakewood is being recognized for the collective work of the Sustainable Neighborhoods Program. Lakewood will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at this year’s All-America City Award Event in Denver, CO, June 27-29.
Sustainable Neighborhoods Program: The Greening of Lakewood
Starting over a decade ago, Lakewood, Colorado began to examine ways to accomplish the “greening of Lakewood,” which was a shared vision of residents, businesses and the city to create a more sustainable community. The most high-profile, resident-driven program that has grown from this mission is Lakewood’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Program. The program was conceived as a way for residents to establish more sustainable lifestyles and reduce their ecological footprints. From its conception onward, the program has been based on a simple principle: Having residents and the collective efforts of their neighborhoods determine and direct how they want to accomplish sustainability. Residents are the decision-makers, action-takers and community builders who have designed, shaped and executed the program. The city supports the program by publishing the sustainable neighborhoods’ newsletters, mailing event and informational postcards, providing connections to experts, arranging trainings and talking over strategies. Based on the neighborhoods’ breadth of activities and endeavors, the city also certifies neighborhoods as either a Participating Sustainable Neighborhood or an Outstanding Sustainable Neighborhood each year, and the city erects a sign in the neighborhoods to show off that certification.
The impact of this program has been nationwide. What began as a pilot program with one neighborhood in Lakewood has grown to a network of cities called the Sustainable Neighborhood Network. In 2014, when Denver heard about the program and wanted to harness their residents’ passion for sustainability, Denver’s staff worked with Lakewood to adopt the program, thus forming the Sustainable Neighborhood Network. Since that time, Wheat Ridge, Colorado; Fort Collins, Colorado; Sedona, Arizona; and Portland, Maine, have been part of the network. Lakewood’s program has served as a national model.
In Lakewood, the program now includes 10 neighborhoods, with 21,939 households participating! During the last 10 years, the neighborhoods have organized more than 1,260 events, programs, workshops and activities, with more than 100,450 residents joining in. Bee-safe gardens have been planted, composting has increased, paint has been recycled, energy audits have been conducted, and most impressively, 15 tons of electronics and metal have been recycled each year through a now-annual event that the neighborhoods coordinate to offer citywide to all Lakewood residents.
In February of this year, the city organized a discussion for Sustainable Neighborhood volunteers on engaging diverse audiences with their projects, and the conversation included examining how to reach out to people and how to develop anti-racist practices. With grant funds the city secured in 2022, Lakewood coordinated a speaker series and developed an online “Best Practices Guide for Engaging Diverse Audiences in the Sustainable Neighborhood Program.” Four speakers shared ideas and resources during the series, and the city developed a guide and summary that’s available on the Sustainable Neighborhood website.
Lakewood’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Program truly brings to life the values and criteria of the All-America City Award. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Lakewood!
Lakewood is the eighth Hall of Fame Award Inductee. The National Civic League created the All-America City – Hall of Fame Award in 2019 to celebrate the ongoing work of past All-America Cities. The award recognizes communities that have implemented a community-driven initiative that resulted in significant local impact due to community engagement.
Submissions are evaluated based on the National Civic League’s civic infrastructure measurement tool, the Civic Index. Applicants must show that the community initiative featured a Shared Vision, Civic Engagement, Inclusiveness and Equity, Collaboration, Innovation, and Impact.
For more information about the award and past winners, visit: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/america-city-award/hall-of-fame/
