Six Valley cities have been certified by a national group that encourages cities to use data to help inform their policy decisions.

Gilbert this year received a gold certification from What Works Cities; it joins Phoenix, which moved up from silver to gold this year, and Tempe, which was recertified as gold.

In addition, Glendale was certified at the silver level; Mesa and Scottsdale won that recognition last year.

Mark Brodie/KJZZ

Downtown Gilbert has stand-alone buildings, which house locally-owned shops and restaurants.

The group evaluates how well cities are managed by measuring how much data and evidence local government leaders incorporate into their decision-making.

No Valley city has achieved the top level of certification — platinum — but the region has the most cities total that have received some level of certification.

To learn about the rankings, The Show spoke with Jenn Park, a vice president and managing director at Results for America. She founded the What Works Cities Certification program in 2017.

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