Turbulent Civic Image Makeovers

Efforts to create new civic identities -- new logos and slogans -- are often highly controversial.

1 minute read

January 13, 2004, 11:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"California cities have long wrestled with issues of civic identity, generating new logos and slogans designed to polish their image and advertise their attributes like so many boxes of breakfast cereal. In some cases, cities have gone as far as changing their name to whip up civic pride or get out from underneath undesirable reputations... Civic branding takes those efforts to new levels, with a growing number of cities taking a page from corporate America to market themselves to the outside world in order to attract new residents, promote economic development and draw tourist dollars."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Monday, January 12, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

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