In the last month, Moorhead has been honored with a couple Internet lists. They were both valid lists based on quantifiable facts, which makes it exciting. Moorhead has been dubbed the Healthiest Housing Market in Minnesota, and more recently, the Best Small City (less than 75,000 population) in the United States. They used factors such as how long people live in their houses, likelihood that the house is sold at a loss, unemployment rates, poverty rates, median income, median household costs, etc. So, cool! I love that Moorhead is being recognized. We are a wonderful place to live, work and play.

As a CPA, I tend to be all about facts, but what I love most about Moorhead is hard to measure – it’s our sense of community. We are the community that has neighborhood block clubs; we are the community that has 70-80 barbecues on the same night once a year; we are the community that solves our problems together. That’s why I do my Coffees with the Mayor, that’s why I encouraged our public art, including the sidewalk poetry, that’s why I like sharing what is happening in our community on my Facebook page, that’s why I encouraged our Community Voice meetings, that’s why you will probably hear me talking about how you can be part of a neighborhood block club, and/or have an event in your neighborhood on Nite To Unite evening (1st Tuesday in August every year.). Moorhead is growing. It’s particularly important to keep that sense of Moorhead Pride, that sense of community. That’s what makes the Best City in the United States. #proudmayor