The Garden City Telegram
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Community turns attention to city entrances
Published 6/23/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
The challenge in sticking up a sign, monument or other object for passersby to read on their way in or out of town is that the city has a short time span — a matter of seconds — to make an impression, according to Nathan Preheim and Nick Bowden, with Olsson Associates.
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Stephanie Farley/Telegram — A map of the community's gateways sits on a table Monday during a meeting with Olsson Associates and the public to discuss the gateways, which are essentially any entryway into the community. The firm, which is updating the city's comprehensive plan, is holding meetings today at the Finney County Historical Museum to discuss quality of life. The last meeting is 5 p.m.
Bowden said a city could have all the money it needed to build the nicest feature possible at one of its entrances to the city, but if the feature doesn't resonate with the audience or convey how the city would like to be perceived, it won't have the desired impact.
On Monday, Bowden and Preheim were in town for another round in a series of meetings Olsson Associates is holding to gather public input as part of updating Garden City's comprehensive plan. The firm first held visioning meetings in January to gather public input, and from those meetings, Bowden and Preheim developed five consistent themes of what the community wants to address: economic opportunity, quality of life, enhanced or revitalized downtown, enhanced gateways and enhanced parks and recreation.
The two focused on enhanced gateways on Monday and are discussing quality of life today at the Finney County Historical Museum, with the last meeting starting at 5 p.m., with dinner provided.
Four people attended Monday's meeting to give their input and learn about gateways, which Preheim and Bowden describe as any entryway into a community. A gateway serves as the first impression to visitors as they enter a community, the consultants explained.
Bowden asked what Garden City would like to be when it grows up, because 20 years is a blink of an eye when it comes to community development, he said. What the city would like to be or how it'd like to be seen then affects its branding and also its logo, which, Bowden explained, is the graphic representation of the brand.
Preheim and Bowden showed the group photos of various entryways to communities, as well as various community brands: "A town so nice, they named it twice" for Walla Walla, Wash.; The "Windy City" for Chicago; "Little Apple" for Manhattan; and Denver as the "Mile High City."
"Does it tell you anything about the city?" Bowden and Preheim asked the group of both the logo, brand and entryway signs.
"Remember, you get three to four seconds," Bowden told them of the time a city could have to make a first impression on someone passing through.
Logos, Bowden said, are circulated on shirts, letterhead, any official document for the city -- a lot of places, he said. But while a lot of people see the logo and it serves as an impression of the city, he said, the logo often is overlooked, and some people don't feel it's an important detail.
The group considered Denver's logo, which is a skyscraper-type building, mountains and sun forming a "D" for Denver.
"This is something you can put all over town," Bowden said of Denver's logo, explaining it says something about the community.
Garden City's brand is "Just Plains Success," which, Bowden said, seems to play more to the rural side of the community.
Bowden said that some of the feedback he'd heard from the earlier meetings was that some in the area view Garden City as the bigger city for the region. So, he suggested the city could play more into that perception of being the bigger community, with an urban feel and services in the region.
Preheim and Bowden also brought up Lee Richardson Zoo as being an asset of the community and possibly incorporating that into the entryways, logo or brand.
Gateways also are about every sense, Bowden said, explaining one community they've dealt with often leaves people with the first impression that it smells terrible because of a meat packing plant. The town has a great riverfront that's often overlooked, he said, because of the smell.
"What can you do about that?" resident Carole Geier asked, explaining the smell is a part of that community's industry.
Bowden said the community tends to ignore the smell, explaining a different approach might be somehow incorporating the industry in the community's logo, branding and image.
The group looked at maps laid out on tables showing the five generally agreed upon gateways to Garden City — the entry at Taylor Avenue and Mary Street, Kansas Avenue and the overpass area, where Main Street and the Arkansas River meet, Kansas Avenue and Main Street and the southeast gateway as people go to and from Garden City Regional Airport.
Bowden and Preheim said they've averaged 30 to 40 people for each round of outcome meetings — and while that's not a large number, attendance helps gather a wide range of input for the comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan is a planning document for future development in the city.
What do you think Garden City should do to make a good first impression? Talk about it at SWKTalk.com.
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