HOUGHTON - Downtown business owners got a chance to weigh in on branding concepts and ways to improve the downtown at a meeting about the city's new marketing plan Thursday night.
Dave Olsson of the Marketing Department led the presentation on the plan, which was developed through online and street surveys of residents and Michigan Technological University students, as well as a discussion group to talk about the downtown's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
By 2013, Olsson said, there should be 100 new high-income residents in downtown, and all retail and restaurant space should be filled.
Other goals included increasing the number of weekly visits to downtown and developing a consistent brand for the downtown by next year. Also by 2011, there should be a new venue for live music and cultural activities.
Right now, Olsson said, people see the downtown as historical, building and changing, and safe. When asked what they'd like, they still said historical, but added qualities such as vibrant, special and progressive.
The sample size of the respondents was about 10 percent the size of Houghton's population, Olsson said, and closely resembled the overall population demographics.
There was enough response to be absolutely sure about what people don't want, Olsson said.
The less conservative and more overtly promotional the graphics and slogans got, the worse they polled.
The favorite draft logo had the words "Downtown Houghton," with one of the city's new historical streetlights to the side; the right bulb branched down to form the first "o" in downtown. About 43.1 percent of respondents liked the logo, more than double that of the closest competitor.
The least-liked logo was an arrow-shaped "Go Downtown Houghton: Going Some Place Special."
"Three-hundred-and-thirty-six people, not one person named this as their favorite logo, and I designed it myself," Olsson said.
The best-testing slogan, as with the logo, both looked back to the city's heritage and referenced a spirit of progress: "History in the making."
Surveys also found a strong desire for Mexican and Italian restaurants, with deli style, steakhouse and ice cream also getting favorable results.
Fast food, on the other hand, polled badly.
"People want to see unique and different and special," Olsson said.
The top responses for other retail included a specialty shoe store and unique apparel.
"If you're ready to open up a Mexican restaurant, or a shoe store, here's your chance," Olsson said.
Olsson also brought up issues of resource allocation, asking if there is a way to boost traffic at the Carnegie Cultural Museum and the Dee Stadium photo exhibits. He said there could be success in finding family-themed activities, pointing to the success of the Rock Camp performance in drawing people to downtown last summer.
"There were 25 kids there and 600 people there," he said.
Vicki Driscoll, who works in sales and marketing for the Best Western in Houghton, said her guests would like to see a drug store in Houghton. They are also on the lookout for family events, she said.
As for Mexican restaurants, she said, she's spent six years trying to convince the owner of the Border Grill in Marquette to expand to Houghton.
"The next question would be, 'What else do we need to put in a package to the person? What information do we need to get to them?" Olsson said.
Olsson recommended not putting much money into advertising yet, saying it should wait until some of the concerns have been addressed.
"We have vacant storefronts to deal with," he said. "We have a city that in the nooks and crannies, is not well-kept ... if we want to increase the vibrancy of downtown, we have to talk about the types of residential developments we build and remodel."
There was discussion about the feasibility of replacing the parking decks, which were agreed to be in poor shape. Olsson said it would cost $30,000 a parking spot to tear down and rebuild a new parking deck.
Jack Ham of Office Express U.P. remembered the response of tourists who came to the Seafood Fest back when it was held under the parking deck.
"It reminded them of being in Chicago with the L train," he said.
John Julien suggested it would be cheaper for the city to work with companies that would tear down the deck in exchange for building residential units.
"There's companies that would have it done for nothing," he said.
However, people agreed public access to the waterfront, such as the bike path, should be preserved, as should the view.
Houghton City Councilman Craig Kurtz said homes priced at $150,000 typically sell well. However, he said, many people are reluctant to buy homes without a yard.
"The typical person who comes to the Copper Country wants a $150,000 home on the waterfront - with 20 acres," he said.
The recommendations also included creating two committees:
"We've put together a marketing plan," Olsson said. "Here it is. Now we need to figure out the next steps."
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com.
