Gilbert, Arizona has received yet another recognition as one of the best places to live in the country.  Time’s Money Magazine has ranked Gilbert as the 22nd Most Livable Small City in America. The study reviewed 781 cities with populations between 50,000 to 300,000, comparing factors ranging from the local economy and housing market to schools and healthcare.  Gilbert was the only Arizona city to make the list. The average population of the 50 cities recognized is 87,500, with only two cities, including Gilbert, with populations over 200,000. The study also shows that, of the top 50 cities, Gilbert holds the 4th lowest average property taxes.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from Money Magazine,” says Gilbert Mayor John Lewis. “For a community of Gilbert’s size to be recognized as one of the most livable is an incredible achievement and is a reflection of our great residents, businesses, and schools.”

Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center – Photo Courtesy City of Chandler

Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center 

It’s as if a part of one of the bigger water parks resides within the Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. Included in the center is a lazy river, water vortex, two water slides, family pool with zero-depth entry, toddler slides, and a 752-gallon “big blue bucket.”

http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=733 

Gilbert Aquatics 

Gilbert Aquatics encompasses four public pools: Greenfield pool, Mesquite Aquatic Center, Perry Pool and Williams Field Pool. Visitors of anyone of these locations will be kept busy with the many amenities offered. Between the four pools are water slides, a kiddie slide, a zero depth area, splash pads, tumble buckets, a water sprinkler, geysers, diving boards and shade ramadas. Events like a Family Pirate Party and Dive-in-Movies help to further enhance visitors’ experience.

http://www.gilbertaz.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/aquatics

Rhodes Aquatic Center

The Rhodes Aquatics Center is a place for those who miss the California tides. Aside from its beach-like entry, a splash pad, tumble buckets, and eight lap lanes, the Rhodes Aquatics Complex is also home to the famous FlowRider. The FlowRider crosses snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding into an exciting ride as it simulates real waves that guests of the center can surf. The best part is that anyone can take on the FlowRider. Someone with no experience can jump on a boogie board and almost instantly start doing tricks.

http://www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec/Aquatics/pools/Rhodes.aspx

Kiwanis Wave Pool 

Kiwanis Wave Pool has brought the ocean to Arizona. With its pool that generates three-foot waves, guests can escape to Arizona’s indoor water haven. Kiwanis wave pool also offers a lap pool with six lanes, a 15 ft. tall double spiral water slide along with raft and tube rentals so guests can fully experience those waves.

http://www.tempe.gov/kiwanis 

The Town of Gilbert celebrates its 2014 Playful City USA status. Gilbert is one of four cities in AZ to receive the award eight consecutive times.

KaBOOM! recently announced its Playful City USA honorees: communities that are leaders in “playability,” the commitment to providing balanced and active play to children.

The KaBOOM! Playful City USA program honors cities, towns and communities across America that are taking bold steps to ensure that all children, especially the 16 million American kids living in poverty, have easy access to balanced and active play in their communities. 212 cities nationwide have been recognized this year, 12 of which are in Arizona.

Playful City USA honorees include major cities such as Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago. In Arizona, these honorees include cities and towns across the state. They range from eight-time honorees like Chandler, Gilbert, Tucson and Yuma, to first-time recipient Prescott Valley.

Tempe is once again recognized by KaBOOM! as a Playful City USA community for its commitment to keeping kids active through accessible playspaces and youth sports programs.

These Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to transform their communities to become more playable by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community.

Playful City USA Honorees in Arizona: 

Buckeye
Casa Grande
Chandler
Coolidge
Gilbert
Maricopa
Mesa
Oro Valley
Prescott Valley
Tempe
Tucson
Yuma

To see the full list of the 212 communities named 2014 Playful City USA honorees, or for more information on the Playful City USA program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.

Report identifies key performance metrics; promotes transparency and opportunities for increased efficiency

The town of Gilbert is pleased to present its first benchmark report, which is available online at http://www.gilbertaz.gov/home/showdocument?id=2862. Created as a component of the town’s performance management strategy, the report includes 83 measures across 17 departments, utilizing a total of 33 benchmarks in 15 states. Ten Arizona communities are listed as benchmarks.

Navigating the Report
Page 11 provides a map of the benchmark communities in each state; pages 12-15 include a matrix of the benchmarks and departments, as well as some high-level comparative data, such as median home value and per capita income. Department benchmarks begin on page 17.

Benchmark Uses and Benefit to Citizens
Benchmarks provide greater context to municipal operations and are a valuable tool in gauging performance. They allow a city or town to look outside its four walls to examine how it compares to other municipalities of similar size and function. Similarly, benchmarks offer citizens perspective on the various services their city or town provides. For example: How many acres of developed parks are in each community? What are average response times for fire and emergency services? How do local sales tax rates compare? What would an average monthly water bill cost?

These measures and many more are included in the report.

For the town of Gilbert, benchmarks were also designed to identify not only where the town is excelling, but also where the organization might look to incorporate demonstrated successes and process improvements that other organizations have explored.

As other cities and towns explore similar efforts, each will be able to share data and compare operations – all with the ultimate goal of determining the services and offerings that are best fit for each community. To that end, the town of Gilbert is a member of the Valley Benchmarking Cities group through the Alliance for Innovation and ASU, a group comprised of several Phoenix metropolitan area cities that meet monthly to share and discuss performance metric data. The member cities have been a tremendous help in sharing data and providing feedback on the Gilbert report. The town looks forward to continuing its work with this group.

Through these and other efforts, the town of Gilbert’s performance management strategy drives the organization to continually seek new opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services.

Questions? Comments? Visit http://www.gilbertaz.gov/departments/management-budget.

The Town of Gilbert’s  Development Services Department’s One Stop Shop is making services more accessible and convenient for residents and businesses. Since its opening in March, 49% of permits submitted for review were handled over-the-counter with the new programs, saving both time and money for businesses and residents.

To find out more about Gilbert’s “One Stop Shop,” visit: www.GilbertAZ.Gov.