The city of Phoenix has long seen itself as an innovative leader — and some signs around town still list it as the “Best Run City.”

And on Wednesday, Governing magazine honored Phoenix with its first-ever Governing and Living Cities Equipt to Innovate award. The award was presented at the annual Summit on Government Performance.

To learn more about how Phoenix set itself apart in the survey, we spoke with Rhiannon Gainor. She is director of research at the Governing Institute.