MAUMEE, Ohio — The city of Maumee has a new award to wear proudly.
The northwest Ohio city beat 60 other American and Canadian cities in bracket-style voting to win the national 2024 Strongest Town competition.
"The fact that Maumee got it, we've been working toward this for 4 years," said mayor Jim MacDonald, who was sworn into office in January. "It's about embracing the philosophy that government needs to change the paradigm in what it does. Everything from transportation to housing to infrastructure, race relations, that was what the movement is about."
The city celebrated the award with a watch party Wednesday at the Uptown Fundue and Wine Bar.
"Where most North American infrastructure is overbuilt and creates a dangerous environment that cities can’t afford to maintain, Maumee is progressively changing this status quo. Leveraging Ohio’s Home Rule law, Maumee has transformed its state-owned highway by reducing lanes from four to three, adding on-street parallel parking to add extra pedestrian protection, and more," the city said in a statement Wednesday.
Maumee, the lone Ohio representative in the bracket's sweet 16, beat Norfolk, Neb., in the finals, according to the Strongest Town Contest's website. Maumee also beat Bloomington, Ill., and Medicine Hat, Ala., on its way to victory.
"A 'strong town' is any town, big or small, that prioritizes making progress in transportation, housing, and fiscal resiliency for the long-term benefit of its people. It is not a 'perfect' town, nor does every strong town look the same. This is because strong towns incrementally adapt to the conditions and challenges of their specific place from the bottom up," the contest website states.
The Midwest U.S. as a whole has cleaned up the competition over the years. Two Michigan cities — Muskegon and Traverse City — took home the award in 2017 and 2018. Jasper, Ind., won in 2022 and Lockport, Ill. won in 2021.