Recognitions:
• 2007 The Texas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) presented an Award of Merit to the City of Sugar Land at its annual conference in April. The award for achievement in Planning and Analysis recognizes the City of Sugar Land Urban Beautification Policy that was adopted by the Sugar Land City Council in 1998.

The City has invested in various streetscape improvements, such as: ornamental light standards with banners, ornamental traffic signals, static level ponds rather than dry detention, ornamental sign standards and freestanding columns, sound walls, plantings and irrigation--all done in an effort to enhance the quality of life for residents and attract development.

• 2007 The Texas Public Works Association, Southeast Branch, has presented the Department of Public Works with a Stewardship Award.

• 2007 The Texas Association of Partners in Education has presented a 2007 Texas Government/Agency Partnership Gold Certificate Award to the City of Sugar Land and Fort Bend Independent School District

• 2007 Sugar Land Regional Airport (SLRA) has been named one of the best FBO’s (Fixed Based Operations) in the U.S., Canada and South America.

SLRA placed 7th on a list of 40 FBOs chosen by pilots, dispatchers and users of FBO facilities. Aviation International News conducts the annual survey that asks respondents to judge the line service (fixed base operations): fuel and aircraft maintenance, passenger amenities, pilot amenities and facilities at the airports. There were 2,364 survey respondents in this year’s “The Americas’ 40 Top-rated FBOs.”

• 2007 Sugar Land Regional Airport has also been named “2007 Reliever Airport of the Year” by the Texas Department of Transportation, Aviation Division. The Federal Aviation Administration categorizes reliever airports as general aviation airports located in large metropolitan areas that serve to add additional capacity to major commercial airports.

• 2006 For the second consecutive year, America's Promise -The Alliance for Youth selected Sugar Land as a winner of a national competition to identify 100 Best Communities for Young People. The winning communities -ranging from small towns to urban neighborhoods across America are being celebrated for their commitment to provide healthy, safe and caring environments for young people.

• 2006 Business Week identified Sugar Land as one of the best and most affordable suburbs in the nation, describing the City as a “winning combination of affordability, academics, safety and culture that most families dream about but can rarely find—within their budget.” Business Week named 25 suburbs to the list after looking at home prices, cost of living, crime rate, local schools and the overall economic outlook of the area.

• 2006 MONEY Magazine and CNN/Money have ranked Sugar Land the third best place to live in America. Americans are flocking to places like Sugar Land that offer big-city opportunities and amenities -- with a lot more green space and a lot less stress, according to MONEY magazine.

The consensus was that Sugar Land is one of the country's more diverse communities with excellent job opportunities and affordable housing. Among the top 10 cities, Sugar Land's economy ranked at the top with about a 31 percent job growth rate during the last five years. Sugar Land was also identified as the third most affordable place to live.

Sugar Land's low crime rate, and strong health and education indexes all contributed to high marks for "Quality of Life."

• 2006 The first edition of Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities (Wiley, May 2006) in the United States ranked Sugar Land eighth in the Best of the Best top ten category. The “Best of the Best” towns were determined by demographics, standard of living, education, lifestyle, health and safety. Sugar Land was judged “Best of the Best” in “Standard of Living,” “Education,” “Health and Safety” and “Lifestyle.”

The City placed in the top 10 for both “Standard of Living” and “Education.”

• 2006 Sugar Land Town Square received the "Best Mixed Use Development" award from the Houston Business Journal's Landmark Awards program. The Landmark Awards recognize Houston's outstanding commercial and residential real estate deals and developments that have become focal points in the region's landscape. Sugar Land also received attention for the Landmark Award for Best Headquarters Move. The award went to Thermo Electron and the Simpkins Group for relocating and consolidating Thermo Electron Headquarters to the Sugar Land Business Park.

• 2005 America's Promise -The Alliance for Youth selected Sugar Land as a winner of a first-ever national competition to identify 100 Best Communities for Young People. The winning communities -ranging from small towns to urban neighborhoods across America are being celebrated for their commitment to provide healthy, safe and caring environments for young people.

• 2005 MONEY magazine and CNN/Money chose Sugar Land as one of the 100 Best Place to Live in the nation. The publications spent months looking for Great American Towns, where people want to raise children and celebrate life's milestones. Starting with more than 1,300 cities, including 77 Texas cities, the list was shortened to the 100 best - including Sugar Land at 46. Consideration was given to median household income, population growth, economics, education, safety factors, arts, leisure, park space and more.

• 2005 The Texas City Management Association honored Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard as 2005 Administrator of the Year, an award that recognizes significant contributions to local government in Texas. In selecting Bogard as the state's top municipal leader, TCMA noted his long list of achievements during 2004. His leadership brought about the availability of federal and state funding for public safety, mobility and economic development projects, and he played a leadership role as the city management representative in the creation of a new downtown for Sugar Land.

• 2005 Sugar Land's new City Hall and public plaza, a cornerstone of Sugar Land Town Square, received the "Best Community Impact" award from the Houston Business Journal at the fifth annual Landmark Awards ceremony on April 14. The Landmark Awards recognize Houston's outstanding commercial and residential real estate deals and developments that have become focal points in the region's landscape. Sugar Land's City Hall and 1.2-acre plaza were recognized for their critical roles in the Town Square project, which has created a "heart" of the community.

• 2004 Standard & Poor's Rating Services has included Sugar Land in a list of six U.S. cities that have managed their finances well through the most recent economic downturn and highlighted the credit characteristics leading to this success.

• 2004 Top 100 Places to Live. HomeRoute, a national real estate marketing company, identifies top American cities each year through its Relocate-America program. Cities are selected based on educational opportunities, crime rates, employment and housing data.

• 2003 Money Magazine ranked Sugar Land 17th among its hottest places to live in America. The magazine started with statistics on 271 U.S. cities provided by OnBoard LLC, a real estate information company. These cities had the highest median household incomes in the nation and above average population growth.

• 2002 First Place, Government Environmental Award from Keep Texas Beautiful for a governmental entity that supports KTB's mission through litter prevention, beautification/community improvement and solid waste management on a continuous basis.

• 2002 Environmental Excellence Award from the Recycling Coalition of Texas for the Sugar Land LitterLess Little League project was awarded to the partnership of the City's Solid Waste Division and the Parks and Recreation Department with Keep Sugar Land Beautiful.

• 2002 Achievement Award for the information (marketing) brochure from the International Association of Business Communicators - Houston Chapter. 2002 Bronze Excalibur Award for speech writing from the Public Relations Society of America - Houston Chapter.

• Sugar Land's 2001 annual report/calendar achieved national recognition with a Silver Circle Award from 3CMA, a 900-member organization of city and county marketing and communications professionals.

• The Sugar Land Police Department is the only municipal police agency in the Houston metropolitan area that is nationally accredited. The Department joins the ranks of only 21 other Texas law enforcement agencies and more than 500 law enforcement agencies in the United States who have gained this recognition. TRAPS 2000 Gold Medal Award Winner, Sugar Land Parks and Recreation.