The City of Coral Gables (FL) has shown what happens when focused, disciplined action results in world-class results. By aligning five strategic goals, the city didn’t just make progress – it delivered measurable improvements in quality of life for residents and businesses, ranking in the top 20% across Miami-Dade County, the state of Florida, and even the nation. So, how did they do it?
A Proven Framework for Community Success
In 2019, Coral Gables adopted the Malcolm Baldrige, Communities of Excellence framework to bring its vision—a world-class city with a hometown feel—to life. It began with a simple one-page strategy map built around five strategic goals:
- Quality of Life
- Educational Excellence
- Health & Wellness
- Safe Neighborhoods
- A Thriving Economy
By “stacking” these five goals and aligning a few strategic objectives to each, the leadership team created a powerful flywheel effect—driving faster, stronger progress toward their community vision.
Every month, the Community of Excellence leadership team meets to:
- Review performance
- Celebrate successes
- Identify performance gaps
- Apply a 3-step process improvement system to quickly close performance gaps
Dramatic Improvement in Just Six Years
Using this disciplined and laser focused approach, the city’s Community of Excellence team was able to achieve the following results, all in the top 20th percentile ranking when compared to overall Miami-Dade county, Florida, and the United States:
Quality of Life
- Resident satisfaction with quality of life: 97th percentile nationally
- Business satisfaction with quality of life: 99th percentile nationally
Safe Neighborhoods
- Violent crime down 41.8% per 100,000
- Fire Department maintained an ISO Rating of 1
Educational Excellence
- High school graduation rates up 8.8% to over 97%.
Health & Wellness
- Accidental death rates per 100k is down 75%
- Residents without health insurance reduced by 31.6%
- Significant reductions in heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, COPD, and asthma compared to Florida and U.S. averages
- Increased colon, mammogram, and cervical cancer screenings compared to state and national averages
Thriving Economy
- Median household income up 24.9%
- Unemployment down 44.7%
- Maintained AAA bond rating
Are You Ready To Achieve Similar Outcomes
If you would like to learn how we can help your community can quickly achieve similar results, using the Malcolm Baldrige Community of Excellence framework, please click the request information button above.
About Coral Gables, FL
Located in the heart of Miami-Dade County, Coral Gables spans 12.9 square miles and is home to more than 50,000 residents. Since its founding in the early 1900s, “The City Beautiful” has been known for Mediterranean-style architecture, tree-lined avenues, plazas, fountains, and green spaces—balancing hometown charm with world-class ambition.
About Communities of Excellence
In 2022, Communities of Excellence became the seventh category of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards—giving American communities the opportunity to earn presidential-level recognition for systematic performance improvement. Cities, counties, and regions can now apply the same proven practices used by top businesses and nonprofits to improve outcomes in health, education, economy, and quality of life.