SMALL TOWN, BIG HEART

Liberty Hill Gets a New Slogan

The post received 257 comments, with the top five suggestions being:

 Biggest Little Town in Texas

 The Brightest Stars in Texas

 Liberty Hill…Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future

 Small Town, Big Heart

 Country Days & Starry Nights

As city staff brainstormed ways to market Liberty Hill’s increasingly revitalized downtown better, they asked themselves, “What is our city and downtown known for?”

For many residents, it was Liberty Hill’s smalltown feel that drew them here, something they didn’t think was reflected in the city slogan, Freedom to Grow. “The meaning behind it wasn’t ‘freedom to grow our town,’ it was more about personal freedom,” says Katie Amsler, director of community engagement and communications. “But that interpretation wasn’t always clear. Every time we would use the slogan, people would say, ‘We don’t want to grow, we like our small town,’ ”

Along with the Downtown Revitalization Committee, she and her team set out to create a slogan that would capture Liberty Hill’s identity better a close-knit, small-town community and foster an effective downtown marketing campaign. In October, they asked the community for slogan suggestions via the city’s Facebook page. “As this town grows, we’re very interested to know what our residents want. We also want to make sure they are the ones directing our growth and the way we manage it,” Katie says.

Residents had the chance to vote on their favorite slogan at the Christmas Festival. The top pick Small Town, Big Heart was reviewed by the Downtown Revitalization Committee and adopted by the City Council on December 28. “Small Town, Big Heart it really rang true,” Committee Chair and Agape BBQ co-owner Lonnie Wendling says.

“IT ENCAPSULATED THE HEART OF LIBERTY HILL, WHAT LIBERTY HILL IS TO ITS COMMUNITY, AND HOW WE TREAT EACH OTHER AS RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS.”

He adds that a slogan is key to establishing Liberty Hill’s brand as the city seeks to develop the downtown into a vibrant destination for citizens and visitors. “If you look at places like Fredericksburg, Marble Falls, Salado, or Bastrop, they’ve done a good job in their own way of clarifying their identity and building their brand. It’s important to establish both early on so we’re not just meandering into the future. It reflects how we identify ourselves and now is the perfect time since the city is going through tremendous growth. If that growth not managed properly, we may lose our identity.”

EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY STARTED ON OR FAILED TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS, IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO ADD SOME LIFESTYLE CHANGES FOR A HEALTHIER, MORE JOYFUL 2023.

by Charlotte Kovalchuk