Congratulations are due to the people of Minot and city leaders for a recent achievement not to be overlooked.

Last weekend at its annual conference in Grand Forks, the North Dakota League of Cities selected Minot as the state’s City of the Year. This is the first time Minot has taken the honor since it was instituted in 1984 as a means of recognizing cities for the “quality, number and progressiveness” of activities undertaken in the community. Several major accomplishments fueled the recognition, according to NDLC Executive Director Blake Crosby. These included:

– Completion of the three-year, $29 million downtown infrastructure project

– Ongoing work on the NAWS water project

– Progress on flood protection

– Completed work to protect the Minot Water Treatment Plant from future flooding

Many times it is easier to focus on the city’s weaknesses, faults and foibles than on those things it accomplishes or does well. Recent tough tax hikes and challenging budgets, and a rougher economic environment have made this even more common.

However, there has been clear progress made over the past year or two, as witnessed by the League of Cities recognition. Furthermore, if more projects in the works were taken into consideration, the case for Minot would be even stronger. The expanding zoo features, downtown gathering space and other aspects of the Resilience Program implementation, for example. Were private projects included in criteria, there is the new Trinity campus in development and the impressive support shown by the community for a children’s museum.

That’s a good body of accomplishment and progress – even if sometimes it seems more obvious to people who live outside of Minot.

Let’s enjoy the recognition and remember to take a few minutes now and then to appreciate our successes and progress.