Ben Grabacz/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton residents and business owners spoke with city council, planning commission and committee members about the city's identity at the city's Open House. The themes Houghton residents came up with for the city from online surveys were progress, views and people.

HOUGHTON — The City of Houghton held an Open House Tuesday evening at Houghton City Hall in order for the public to learn of the city’s efforts to establish a brand. An online survey was sent out about a year ago asking residents and visitors six questions in regards to Houghton’s character. Nearly 650 responses were received, residents’ answers revolved around three reoccurring themes: progress, views and people.

The reason behind the branding effort traces back to the city’s 2024-2028 Master Plan, which explains its economic development pursuits. Planning Commission Chair Tom Merz said Houghton is what the State of Michigan calls a Redevelopment Ready City, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Redevelopment Ready Certification.

The Master Plan explains, “Redevelopment Ready Communities is a voluntary technical assistance initiate offered by building a foundation of planning, zoning and economic development best practices and integrating them into their everyday functions. The city is certified and has successfully completed most of the six best practices: Plans and engagement, zoning, development review, boards and commissions, economic development and marketing and redevelopment ready sites.” The next step is to complete best practices by developing a marketing plan.

The Master Plan stresses marketing and branding are essential tools for promoting a community’s assets and unique attributes. The Open House was the most recent step taken by the City to discover what residents believe the brand of Houghton to be, and to share with the public what is often cited when discussing the themes of progress, views and people.

Merz explained progress refers to the city’s ability to adapt to changing times to stay relevant. “Places don’t stay the same, if they don’t progress, it becomes ghost town,” he said. Merz added progress, however, does not have to come at the expense of replacing the city’s culture and history, of which will be preserved while progressing. “It’s not that we’re trying to rewrite history — we’re not. Some people said ‘You’re going to remove the miner statue at Franklin Square. You want to forget our past by doing this.’ That’s not true. That’s not what branding is about. We’re not trying to forget the past. We’re just trying to come up with a theme of who we are, and history plays a big role in who we are,” Merz said.

The survey revealed residents’ love and appreciation for the sights of the canal and natural beauty surrounding the city’s architecture. City Manager Eric Waara said many of comments described living in Houghton as like living in a Hallmark movie.

Survey Results, indicated residents’ friendliness and the small-town feel. Residents said they appreciate the easy-going and kindhearted nature of their neighbors. These three themes are meant to describe what Houghton already is as a brand, and not to rebrand and change the direction of city goals and projects.

Waara said the city is trying to learn what it is from a brand perspective, and not what a new brand needs to be. “It’s who we are now, because that’s who we’re going to be,” he said. “It has to be genuine. It has to be repeatable, doable, and we’re living it. So we just have to figure out who we are from a from a brand perspective, so we can really lean into who we are and be better versions of who we are, or the city can be a better version of what we feel we are.”

Waara emphasized the goal is not to rebrand, because it would mean the city could be trying to be something it is not. He said this is not about changing anything, but rather being able to understand what makes living in Houghton so special and being able to lean into it.

“If you can’t deliver on who you say you are, or who you know who you actually are, then your brand is useless,” he said. In regards to how a brand translates into city actions and procedures, Waara said the brand can be something which is considered from decisions made at the City Council and what influences the Master Plan. Waara explained the next step is to digest the input from the public’s response to the themes and brand.

Among those visiting the Open House were Lianne Miller and Robert and Genivere Klimek. Miller is a Houghton resident who believed the event was a cool exercise for residents to determine who they are as a community. “I like that they’ve done this really early-stage feedback session so that we as a community can actually contribute to it. It’s not just someone telling us who we are, but it’s us deciding for ourselves who we are,” she said. Miller hopes however community members do not just speak about the topic at events like the Open House, but also speak about how Houghton sees itself at church, coffee shops and other gathering places.

Robert and Genivere are the owners of the Prickly Pine Cafe, and attended the Open House to learn more of what a brand for Houghton would entail. Robert explained he was hesitant at first, because he believes what makes Houghton special is that it is not branded, and when small towns get brands they tend to cling to them too tightly and start to be viewed as a theme rather than an actual community.

“But coming in and actually talking to people and seeing some of the community feedback, it doesn’t seem to me like they’re going for something silly like ‘Pasty Capital of the World’ or something like that,” he said. “They’re sticking with the nature and the views and the vibes of Houghton, and it seems like something that’s a little more elastic in branding, as opposed to boxing Houghton into one thing.”

Robert said the branding can potentially be beneficial for the cafe’s business. He thinks the branding can attract tourists to the downtown area, though is keeping in mind this branding is in its early stages.

“I think the once we get to that application stage, that’s what’s really going to determine whether or not this is going well or not,” Robert said.

Merz encourages citizens to attend planning commission and city council meetings to be further involved in the discussion of the city’s branding.