The city of Oxford was recently listed as one of the best places to live in America, and Thursday the mayor of the city served as guest speaker for the weekly Rotary Club of Vicksburg meeting.

“Vicksburg and Oxford have a lot in common,” Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill said as she addressed the group.

“I was driving around town this morning and it occurred to me all the similarities we share. We are both rich in history. We both have historic courthouses. We both have great restaurants and we have thriving tourism industries,” she said.

Tannehill was elected mayor in 2017, and while serving as the executive director of the Oxford Tourism Council was the brainchild behind the Double Decker Arts Festival, which now draws more than 60,000 people to Oxford.

“I believe communities like Oxford and Vicksburg can make Mississippi better and one of the ways we can do this,” Tannehill said, “is by sharing ideas and working together.”

Recently a group from Vicksburg traveled to Oxford for that very purpose, she said.

Also, Tannehill said she and Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. work in tangent to promote the state.

“When in D.C., George and I have the opportunity to tell Mississippi’s story to a whole lot of people and it is a great story,” she said.

“There is so much good stuff going on in the state of Mississippi, and George and I both think that it is our job to spread the good news about our home state, because if we can cause one person to rethink the way they consider Mississippi or what they picture when they hear Mississippi, then we feel like we are making progress,” she said.

“Mississippi is where a lot of opportunity exists. It is a place where businesses are thriving, and where we all take care of each other,” Tannehill said.

“And it is a place where George Flaggs brings home the dad-gum money,” she laughed.

During the meeting, Tannehill also shared some of Oxford’s challenges that have taken place due to its growth, which include infrastructure, affordable housing, law enforcement and parking.

When asked what she believed were key reasons for Oxford’s success, Tannehill said, “Fifteen years ago when everything moved out to the highway and there were strip malls, we maintained the heartbeat of our community — the historic business district. I believe that has made a real difference,” she said.

Also growth has come from the successful public school system, she said.

“Having the school district we have has been a game changer,” Tannehill said.