SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio has retained its “gold medal city” status from CityHealth, an initiative that rates cities on public health policy adoption.
San Antonio again joins seven cities nationwide in the overall gold medal category and continues its place as the only city in Texas with the designation, according to a Thursday news release.
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“The 2024 gold medal rating represents San Antonio’s unwavering commitment to creating a healthier, more equitable future for our residents. By embracing innovative policies, we are building a community where every individual has the opportunity to thrive,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.
Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Portland and St. Louis join San Antonio in the top seven.
Below are the 12 policy areas CityHealth weighs in its ranking and San Antonio’s medal status this year:
- Affordable Housing Trusts - Gold
- Complete Streets - Gold
- Earned Sick Leave - No medal
- Eco-Friendly Purchasing - Bronze
- Flavored Tobacco Restrictions - No medal
- Greenspace - Gold
- Healthy Food Purchasing - Gold
- Healthy Rental Housing - No medal
- High-Quality, Accessible Pre-K - Gold
- Legal Support for Renters - No medal
- Safer Alcohol Sales - No medal
- Smoke-Free Indoor Air - Gold
Most of the categories where San Antonio did not medal carried over from last year’s rankings.
Complete Streets carries
One place San Antonio improved from last year was in the Complete Streets category.
San Antonio City Council passed an update to its policy in September, establishing a framework for street design that considers all users.
San Antonio received a gold medal in this category in 2021.
However, new policy standards set by CityHealth prevented San Antonio from receiving a medal in the category in last year’s rankings.
“This honor underscores the power of collaboration and vision in addressing public health challenges,” City Manager Erik Walsh said.
This year, 43 cities were awarded gold, silver and bronze medal statuses, according to a CityHealth news release.
Related coverage on KSAT:
City Council passes update to Complete Streets policy amid new city budget