Oregon Public Broadcasting

The National Civic League Thursday named Toledo, Oregon as one of 32 finalists for the All-America City Award.

Toledo is located 8 miles east of Newport, and is the state’s only inland city with a deep-water channel.  36-hundred people live there.

Bob Emmett is a Toledo city councilor.

He says the city should win because it looks just like a Norman Rockwell painting – and what’s more All-American than that?

Bob Emmett: “We have a really neat old downtown that we have renovated. We’ve put new streetlights and really, if you walk down the downtown it’s very Rockwellian. You’re now back in the 1950s or something.”

Ten cities win the award per year.

Finalists are picked for outstanding civic accomplishments.

That includes things like a revitalized downtown or a reduced crime rate.

Five other Oregon cities have been named finalists for the award in the past, but Toledo would be the first to win.

The awards ceremony will be held in July.