Borough Branding Initiative Pushes Forward With Focus Group

Residents and committee members participate in a series of exercises aimed to help define Lansdale's identity

The Lansdale branding initiative took another step forward on Tuesday night, as members of the Communications Commission and the Economic Development Committee served as a focus group for the community branding consultants from North Star Destination Strategies. Led by North Star president Don McEachern, the committee members -- and a handful of residents -- participated in a series of exercises aimed at gathering honest feedback on what people like and dislike about the borough. Among the features that residents enjoyed most were the walkability of  the town, affordable housing, accessibility to major highways and public transportation, the farmers' market, and the many annual activities and celebrations. On the flip side, concerns about …

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Chopping Blocks of Trees

The borough's shady street trees come down, ushering in a new light on a faded Main Street

If you've been out on Main Street in the past two days, you would have surely noticed an abundance of sunshine and a lack of shade. Welcome to the beginning of the overhaul of downtown Lansdale. The tree removal is another major step for the borough's streetscape project, which aims to beautify, as well as update, Lansdale's rather outdated Main Street infrastructure. Previously, work could be seen on Broad Street as well as the Madison Parking Lot, but now the efforts of the borough are abundantly clear, with Main Street looking somewhat barren as they prepare to install new trees and sidewalks. "The work that has begun in the Madison Parking Lot will soon be visible along Main Street, as the streetscape project is now in full swing," …

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BJ Rau-Putnam

7:55 am on Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I hated to see the trees go, they were one of the things I really enjoyed about downtown. However, we really do need new sidewalks. If we were going to lose the trees in order to replace the sidewalks, at least they're going to be replaced with some hardy species. I'm looking forward to smooth, nice looking sidewalks to walk to work on and beautiful trees to shade my way.   more ›

News from Lansdale Borough

Lancaster Officials Offer Lansdale a Helping Brand

Lansdale's Economic Development Committee played host to a couple officials from Lancaster, in an effort to learn about the branding process.

While the Lansdale streetscape project has begun on Broad Street and Madison parking lot, the borough now has its eyes set on their branding initiative. The borough took another step forward Monday night, as the Economic Development Committee viewed multiple presentations by officials from Lancaster, who recently underwent a branding process of their own. "This way, we won't have to reinvent the wheel," said councilwoman Mary Fuller, chairwoman of the Economic Development Committee. First up was a presentation by Jennifer Baker, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, otherwise known as MOOSE. As Baker flipped through the slides of her presentation, she explained her city's goals in creating a brand. "We want those who …

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What is Lansdale?

The Lansdale Communication Commission is seeking to define the borough's identity through branding

"What makes us who we are?" The question was posed Tuesday night to the members of the Lansdale Communication Commission by their chairman, Denton Burnell, as the commission begins the task of defining the borough's identity as part of a much larger branding effort. On the heels of newly released census data, which shows that Lansdale experienced population growth for the first time since 1970, the commission wants to create a distinguishable logo and byline which defines the borough and its history. Councilwoman Mary Fuller, member of the Lansdale Economic Development Committee, recently returned from a trip to Lancaster, where she learned about the city's experience with the branding process, including its successes and failures. Though …

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What is Lansdale?

Borough manager Timi Kirchner is working with staff and the community to determine branding of the borough.

What is Lansdale? Lansdale Borough Manager Timi Kirchner, borough staff and its departments are looking for the answer to that question in an effort to brand the borough. At a recent borough council meeting, Kirchner informed council that, in addition to being a concept introduced to the new communications commission, the thought of branding Lansdale Borough is something of a hot item in the borough. “We started talking about this business with branding this community: Who are we? What’s our theme? What story do we have to tell as a community?” she said. The idea is to take these questions to the community at-large, but Kirchner has now begun working on the municipal level by finding out staff’s thoughts and feelings on the subject. …

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