Council hears about City of MLT branding, addresses project concerns and gaps

The Mountlake Terrace City Council on Thursday heard more about the City’s branding project from the Economic Development and Community Engagement team. The goal of the branding effort is to help the City and residents to create a cohesive, visual identity and story that reflect Mountlake Terrace’s history and character while guiding how it communicates across city departments and public spaces.

The City hired Chicago-based consulting firm All Together last October to help enhance Mountlake Terrace’s image, attract investors and boost economic and business development. The City also held an open house Feb. 11 to invite the public to review and give feedback about the proposals.

All Together and City staff gathered 313 responses from an online survey and found that there is almost a 50-50 split between those who want to maintain Mountlake Terrace’s existing character and those who want to embrace change and growth. 

The team also had 16 conversations with different City departments and stakeholders and used several documents to understand Mountlake Terrace’s history and infrastructure, such as the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the recently published book about Mountlake Terrace, A History of Four Square Miles.

“Mountlake Terrace offers something that everyone needs, a place where quality of life is the whole point,” All Together Principal and co-founder Rachael Aziz said. “This is a place where businesses are really rooted in the community, where customers become neighbors and success is measured in relationships as much as revenue. And [that’s the] balancing act that maintains who Mountlake Terrace is, and embracing evolution is something that we are looking to accomplish throughout our work.”

Visual Designer Robyn Marquand proposed three brand directions: Modern and bold, human and emotional, and nostalgic and outdoorsy.

Marquand said the modern and bold look expands the existing city logo’s geometric forms by using a system of strong, colorful shapes across printed materials. She said the photography remains human‑centered but with a more polished and modern look. 

For the human and emotional option, Marquand said this adds human elements to the current logo, such as photography of people and illustrations that are a little more “down to earth, but playful.”

Also included is the City’s public art, which “leans into human interaction and engagement,” she said.

The nostalgic and outdoorsy option focuses more on nature. Marquand said that was something she heard a lot about at the open house. “People really feel strongly about how beautiful nature is in MLT,” she said. “So this one, it also evokes sort of a dreamy nostalgia, sort of a grounded, calming, illustrated approach, but also with the colors and photography and public art blending [with] nature.”

Aziz described the “Time Out on the Terrace” campaign, which  frames Mountlake Terrace as the place where you take a restorative “timeout” from the pace of the region.

“You step off the light rail, and immediately you feel it. Your shoulders drop, your breathing flows, your pace changes. This is the ritual of coming to Mountlake Terrace,” the campaign draft reads. “This is a place not to check out, but to tune into your surroundings.”

Aziz added that the branding targets three main audiences: Residents, visitors and businesses.

“We’re not looking for the fastest build or the biggest footprint; we’re looking for partners who understand that four square miles means that every project matters,” she said.

Councilmember Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said she liked all three visual branding options and asked if all three could be combined, such as using the modern and bold option for the frame with the human and nature options as the focus. Aziz said that was something she heard many people said at the open house.

Councilmember Sam Doyle asked if the branding team had taken opinions from children and teens. She said her 17-year-old daughter told her that Edmonds has a “cute downtown” and Lynnwood has a commercial center, but Mountlake Terrace doesn’t have any of those things. “She just said it like it is,” Doyle said. “I’m a parent. I would love to know what kids think of art. Like do they want interactive art? Do they want bright colors? Do they want nature oriented?”

While All Together has not surveyed many residents who are under age 18, Aziz said they will look into that.

Councilmember William Paige Jr. said he was concerned about the survey demographics and what the community identity score (5.3 out of 10) means and how it could be improved. He added that the project is missing youth and other underrepresented voices.

Paige recommended the team to find creative ways to involve high school, middle school and even elementary students through activities at places like the Recreation Pavilion, so they can say what makes their city fun. 

“If they [kids] can sit down and do some art while they’re in the Pavilion, or speak [about] some things about the city, that would give you information that you’re seeking on how to build this brand,” he said. “So I think that’s a missed opportunity.”

“I think we can regroup and think about some ways that we can expand the process,” Aziz said.

Doyle added the branding should also reflect the Indigenous people who have been on the land for thousands of years. She said she didn’t want the branding story to imply the community began only when the city was incorporated in 1954.

“I don’t want to lose the truth that this was the land of Coast Salish people…before Mountlake Terrace [was] a legal entity,” she said.

Aziz said she had a similar conversation at the open house and agreed there should be room in the branding story to acknowledge the older heritage of the land. 

Councilmember Erin Murray said that Mountlake Terrace’s regional positioning as proposed feels too long and vague compared with other cities. She recommended that it be pared down to a clear, concise statement highlighting a few key qualities so it’s easier to remember and communicate.

“I would worry that that would be kind of a word salad that would get lost,” she said. “So I think if there is a way to make it more consistent with those other cities where it is a strong sentence that talks about like three or four things that they’re known for… I think that would be more useful.”

Councilmember Laura Sonmore asked what “marketing positioning” actually means in practice. “Are you suggesting every time somebody buys a house, we send them the story, or how are we going to put the story out there so people want to remember it?” she asked. “ So what’s your strategy? Because we’ve had stories out there before. It may change over time.”

Aziz said the focus of the marketing message is how Mountlake Terrace is different from its neighbors and its relationship with them, not on economic capacity like housing or business growth.

Regarding public art, Economic Development Manager Ryan Doss said the branding work will not override or control the work of MLT’s Arts Commission. The Commission will continue to choose art as it does now, he said, while the branding project offers assets the commission can use if it wishes. He added that there is no plan to replace all of the City’s existing monument signs immediately, such as the “Welcome the Mountlake Terrace” signs.

Also, Doss said that while effort includes neighborhood branding, the goal isn’t to rename every subareas of Mountlake Terrace. Instead, it’s to strengthen neighborhood identity so people actually know and use the names of the areas they live in. 

“It’s further exploring [the names] that we’re all familiar with: Town Center, Melody Hill, Lake Ballinger,” he said.

Mountlake Terrace doesn’t get many visitors because many “don’t know who we are,” said Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl. “I think that’s really important to our business community, for them to be able to attract more customers, being able to we’ve got to be able to attract more people to our area,” he said.

Mayor Steve Woodard thanked the branding team, adding that he liked Mountlake Terrace to be called a “pause.” But I want to call us a destination city,” he said.

All Together and City staff will give City Council an update on the project in March. Details of the branding proposal is on the City’s website.

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In other agenda items:

• City Civil Engineer Lucas Kragt proposed several amendments to the city’s Engineering Development Manual. These include categorizing accessory dwelling units (ADU) as one‑half of a residential unit for stormwater billing and capital facility charges; changing the standard right‑of‑way width for local access streets from 60 feet to 50 feet; and changing the word “manhole” to “maintenance hole.”
• Community and Economic Development Director Christy Osborn announced her retirement after serving Mountlake Terrace for eight years. Several councilmembers thanked her for her service.
  
  

  

  “I don’t think that the community and many of the councilmembers know exactly how bad in shape we were after we had the wonderful Shane Hope…and then you came along, and you started cleaning all that up. And it was not easy,” Matsumoto Wright said. “We didn’t give you enough thanks at that time. We made you do things that made things harder for you. But you stayed and you fixed it, and you’re still fixing things as you’re going out the door. We’re going to miss you a lot.”

  Osborn said the City is in good hands with the current Community and Economic Development team. “Whatever happens with the new director position, I’m sure it’ll be a very good person that gets hired,” she said. “I just appreciate just over eight years for me here in the City. I’ve enjoyed the opportunities here and the projects that we’ve got to participate on, and just moving the City forward and trying to do good work and work that people are proud of. So thanks very much.”