How is your area/city promoted --for visitors, a place to live, etc.

[shootingstar]

Our mayor is promoting Calgary as a great place to live.
I guess. It's not the worst place in Alberta but not great. It does have way more to improve ...including cycling infrastructure, needs more cultural diversity, etc.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/shaping-the-future/we-heart-our-town-but-will-you/article2182152/

“A city brand is the experience that people have, not the story the city tells about itself, Mr. Clark says. Branding should be part of an improvement process, he urges, from repairing infrastructure to getting the cab drivers to live that brand a little more. “Otherwise people are selling a product that isn’t working.”

How about your area? Do locals/a tourism organization promotes it well?

[NbyNW]

I kept hearing good things about Calgary when I was living in Edmonton, so they must be doing something right. Calgary probably would have been better for me from a professional standpoint but that's all water under the bridge now.

I think it takes decades of good leadership to build a city brand. My hometown of Pittsburgh has made some efforts towards this in order to attract business, since unemployment was so high there in the 70s and 80s. I think the results have been mixed, but for the most part it has managed to leave its "Smoky City" image of the past behind.

I think the point about buy-in from local residents is an important one. When I meet someone who is passionate about their city, it makes me want to know more.

[Roadtrip]

Oy, my city is so messed up right now, the city leaders are incapable of doing even the simple things. They squabble over budget and every year they say they'll have to lay off firefighters and police, but end the end, they find money and the projects they are supposed to help the city flounder and not properly funded. We can't even agree on gargage collection for peats sake!

Many years (a decade ago!) ago the communities across the river hatched a plan to develop the riverfront and DID it. We have access to a nice theater, dining, and entertainment... Yet on this side we bicker about what businesses will be in the new development before a developer is even selected or a shovelful of dirt is turned in anger. A decade later and we finally have progress and dining options opening along the riverfront with condos and townhouses (wouldn't those have sold better before the housing market crash???) coming soon. With a few exceptions, we are the perfect example of Urban decay, empty downtown store fronts that used to be thriving local businesses.

We have a transportation 'master plan' that includes bike lanes, but I for one will not ride the local roads, at least until there is some serious education innitives. Drivers way too aggressive and that makes for unsafe routes for cyclists. There are niche areas that are more bike friendly and while I'd like to move, it's just not feeasible, plus I'm conveniently to bus routes and work at the moment.

Tax burdens in the city proper have only gone up while the suburbs have abatements etc, which mean way less taxes, causing the city population to shrink as people move to the burbs... meaning those remaining are further burdened in an economy already hitting the middle class so hard right now.

Guess this just fires me up a little and the rant switch flipped :) I honestly wish this city had a clue. Tourism is a small thought at the moment, but when there was more of a focus on our perceptions from outside the city, it almost always surrounded our two professional sports teams. Now, it's just trying to not have national sports writers mugged at gunpoint outside the stadium!

Shannon

[shootingstar]

Ummmm.....Calgary is demographically way more diverse now compared to 1 decade ago. I mean non-European and non-white racially.

However I think locals here are hell-bent on making money, assimilating fast, conforming, etc. because of the oil and energy industry money. It truly dominates the local economy.

So stuff related to social justice, social issues aren't articulated in the press much, etc. The voice of the marginalized is suppressed which in a city of 1 million that has grown fast with bust and boom economic cycles, is bound to have some problems along with it.

We have a wonderful, articulate mayor that other Canadian cities wish they had him. But well, I think some of his promo messages right now is just a tad much.

You are right NBYNW, the good things about a city must have local buy-in.
I can only get passionate about Calgary ...a particular area in town (actually where I live, it's one of the more scenic areas) and its bison meat.

[Koronin]

Hmmm, I think that would be the towns north and south of us. North of us is the Crystal Coast (Emerald Isle, Atlantic Beach, ect) south of us is Topsail Island. They are promoted for tourists for beach vacations. Emerald Isle actually is working on a bike/walking trail. Much of it is completed, by they are wanting to extent it. The city we live in (Jacksonville, NC) is actually a military city and really doesn't seem to promote it's self at all other than that, the largest Marine base in the country. The local beach is only accessible to military and civil service who work on the base. So even though Jacksonville is right on the ocean, they can't promote it because visitors can't get there.

[Kathi]

Oy, my city is so messed up right now, the city leaders are incapable of doing even the simple things. They squabble over budget and every year they say they'll have to lay off firefighters and police, but end the end, they find money and the projects they are supposed to help the city flounder and not properly funded. We can't even agree on gargage collection for peats sake!

Many years (a decade ago!) ago the communities across the river hatched a plan to develop the riverfront and DID it. We have access to a nice theater, dining, and entertainment... Yet on this side we bicker about what businesses will be in the new development before a developer is even selected or a shovelful of dirt is turned in anger. A decade later and we finally have progress and dining options opening along the riverfront with condos and townhouses (wouldn't those have sold better before the housing market crash???) coming soon. With a few exceptions, we are the perfect example of Urban decay, empty downtown store fronts that used to be thriving local businesses.

We have a transportation 'master plan' that includes bike lanes, but I for one will not ride the local roads, at least until there is some serious education innitives. Drivers way too aggressive and that makes for unsafe routes for cyclists. There are niche areas that are more bike friendly and while I'd like to move, it's just not feeasible, plus I'm conveniently to bus routes and work at the moment.

Tax burdens in the city proper have only gone up while the suburbs have abatements etc, which mean way less taxes, causing the city population to shrink as people move to the burbs... meaning those remaining are further burdened in an economy already hitting the middle class so hard right now.

Guess this just fires me up a little and the rant switch flipped :) I honestly wish this city had a clue. Tourism is a small thought at the moment, but when there was more of a focus on our perceptions from outside the city, it almost always surrounded our two professional sports teams. Now, it's just trying to not have national sports writers mugged at gunpoint outside the stadium!

Shannon

I've been following the politics in Ohio, tax abatement's are not just happening in the suburbs but across the state. The state govt keeps cutting funding for cities and schools while giving concessions to corporations. This has been happening for years. This was one of the reasons I retired from Cincinnati Public Schools, I got so tired of being expected to "do more with nothing".

In the almost 7 years I've been here in Colorado I've been back to Cincinnati 5times, 3 for family obligations. Even though I was raised there and still have family there the city and state offer none of the attractions I have here in Colorado.

The only thing I ever missed was Graeter's Ice Cream and I can buy that here in Denver so, I'm sorry to say, there is no need to visit Cincinnati.

One of the problems is that the true treasures of the city (museums, Playhouse in the Park, CCM, School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Music Hall, parks, etc.) take a back seat to 2 major league sports teams. So much of the areas resources are tired up with the burden of 2 sports stadiums. The entire tri-state area and outlying counties should share the cost.

I could go on and on about Cincinnati and Ohio's problems but that's all behind me now. I do predict that many more jobs and residents will leave Ohio before things get better.

[Crankin]

The greater Boston area does a good job of promoting itself to tourists, mostly due to the natural historical attractions we have. I was in NY recently and saw ads on TV about coming here. I also think the sports teams pull people in, though I don't think we spend on them to the exclusion of cultural stuff. We have great museums, restaurants, and a wide range of outdoor activities.
I get to see a lot of tourists, living in Concord; they are here all year round, with the exception of maybe January and February. The town appreciates them, even if it took a ten year battle to get a public rest room downtown (I lived in a neighboring town when this battle was being fought, thankfully). There's a push now to get tourists to visit west Concord, which is a little more down to earth and has a sizable arts community, alternative health practitioners, a natural foods grocery/pharmacy, and some restaurants.
What I don't see is any promotion to get people to move here. There's a lot of reasons for this, I think. First, we have a large supply of college students who come to the area every year and I think we bank on a lot of them staying. They don't, though, unless they are from the area. Second, housing costs are high here (I still can't believe how low housing prices are in some of the places TE members live), although there really is a pretty wide range of housing choices. We don't have large numbers of huge housing developments and land is scarce for new building. Then, there's the perception of "Taxachusetts," which really went out the window a long time ago. We don't have a sales tax on food or clothing, which is different from a lot of states. And finally, Boston has had a problem attracting professionals from diverse racial/cultural groups because of stuff that happened here 40 years ago. Recently, a very large convention group of African Americans came here after much work on the part of the city. I think the consensus was they were generally surprised at how much things have changed here. However, some places around here are still very "parochial," not just for different cultures, but for anyone who is not a native! Case in point: I was questioned by a co-worker a few years ago, about how I got a low numbered license plate, which indicates you have lived here a long time. There's a good amount of silly prestige associated with this. I was questioned, since the person knew I had moved here from AZ, not knowing I was a native. When I said the plate had been in my family since 1932 and my grandfather willed it to me (yes, this is true) it earned me instant brownie points. Seriously, this is stupid, but it indicates the attitude of a lot of "townies" around here.

[tulip]

Richmond VA will be gearing up for the 2015 World Road Racing championship. I predict that the city will become very bicycle friendly in the next few years, which will go a long way towards attracting new residents and visitors. It's already a big draw for history buffs, for obvious reasons. It also has great architecture, an active recreational river, and is very accessible to most places on the east coast of the US.

Oh, and several universities and a wonderfully low cost of living.

[westtexas]

No one wants to live in my city. You come here to work - there isn't any tourism. West Texas isn't really very... scenic - although the sunsets/rises and night sky are superb (the climate too). Pretty much if you're not a roughneck, a landowner or an engineer working for an oil company, you're here to support the town the oil folks live in so they can work in the fields. It's not really a bad place to live, especially for a homebody like me. And the roads are flat and we have a great LBS!

[Pax]

If Geonz doesn't chime in here you might want to PM her. She's on our city's committee regarding cycling so she could probably share some info about what they've done.

[Trek420]

Currently located in the East Bay actually but the SF Bay area really does not have to do much to attract:p:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryF9p-nqsWw

[Bike Writer]

As a state our tourism advertising campaign (Pure Michigan) is a real winner and can be found http://www.michigan.org/ at that link. We are the Great Lakes State and have a lot to offer in recreation tourism that is really all seasons not just summer. Fall color tours and hunting play a big role in that tourism as well as downhill and cross country skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. This campaign promotes the state overall, various communities and regions also do a very good job with promoting and branding, others, not so much.

I believe that if you are familiar with my postings you can tell I am a big promoter of Michigan and love living here for all that we have to offer. Michigan is incredibly diverse in it's natural features and resources. Plenty of big cities with their accompanying urban sprawl and miles and miles of untouched shoreline, lakes, rivers and steams that are pristine. I'm bragging about my state, but we do have it all.

[NbyNW]

No one wants to live in my city. You come here to work - there isn't any tourism. West Texas isn't really very... scenic - although the sunsets/rises and night sky are superb (the climate too). Pretty much if you're not a roughneck, a landowner or an engineer working for an oil company, you're here to support the town the oil folks live in so they can work in the fields. It's not really a bad place to live, especially for a homebody like me. And the roads are flat and we have a great LBS!

Sounds a lot like Edmonton, only warmer.

[Kathi]

This discussion is very interesting. I looked up the tourist websites for Cincinnati, Denver and Lakewood. I looked at them from the viewpoint of a tourist looking for things to do in the area that didn't require a car.

The attractions for tourists in Denver and Lakewood consisted of things to do in their downtown areas. Many were within walking distance. B Bikes are also available in downtown Denver. The websites are easy to navigate and promoted attractions within the cities. Denver's website also promoted attractions outside the city including Denver Parks (Red Rocks and the Buffalo Bill museum). The site promoted other state attractions, ie the Mt's and ski areas. Denver's site also talked of it's history and neighborhoods. Lakewood promoted it's parks and golf courses as well as hiking and biking. Both the Lakewood and Denver website were attractive with promotions of upcoming and past events.

Cincinnati's website was more oriented to locals and business. Most of the home page dealt with community concerns such as taxes and garbage. Compared to the Denver and Lakewood site it took me some time to figure out what I'd do if I didn't have a car. There was no promotion of the City of Cincinnati itself, rather, all the activities of the Tri State region. While there seemed to be lots of things to do I had to sort through the non downtown Cincinnati activities to find what I wanted. In the moving to "Cincinnati section" all suburbs were included even though they weren't part of Cincinnati proper and some were not in the county.

While I didn't spend time on every link major events like Taste of Cincinnati, Oktoberfest and River fest weren't even mentioned. I did find promotions of the Reds, Bengals, the Cincinnati Zoo, the Cincinnati Ballet, Nascar races andthe Aquarium in N.Ky. Cincinnati is so much more than this but to an outsider it's not obvious.

I also learned that Denver was rated as the 4Th highest walking city in the country and that Lakewood received the "All American City" award by the National Civic League.

If I had to chose which 3 cities to visit based on the websites, I definitely would chose Denver over Cincinnati, Lakewood second then Cincinnati.

[SadieKate]

Our Anti-Corona ad --

http://www.visitbend.com/Discover-Bend-OR/Media-Gallery/Oregon_Video_-_Visit_Bends_Anti_Corona_2011_TV_Commercial