By Carol McCracken  (Post # 1,446)

For the first time in years, the City of Portland has its own tagline which creators hope embodies much of what Portland has to offer to everyone – residents, businesses and tourists – and that’s what a team of creative people believe they unveiled this morning at a press conference at the city hall.  It is:

“Portland.  Yes. Life’s Good Here.”

“It’s versatile and that was one of the major reasons we selected it,” said David Puelle, the leader of this creative team.  Puelle said the city leaders were trying to address the interests of a wide range of people across the Portland spectrum.  Demonstrating what he meant, athletes, artists, businesses and more stationed around the State of Maine room, displayed placards promoting their interests and using the new tagline:  “Portland.  Yes.  Coffee is good here,” read one sign.

Local brand expert Puelle, of Puelle Designs,  said he hopes the tagline goes viral on the street.  While he expects it to have a shelf-life of five years, it could also be much longer than that – perhaps indefinitely.  In his opening remarks, Mayor Michael Brennan said that during his mayorial campaign he had promised to come up with a “brand” name for Portland.  “We want people to know whether they are in Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon,” he said.

The title of an essay by prolific writer John Preston is credited by Puelle for the inspiration for this new tagline.  The essay – “Maine  Life’s Good Here”  describes Preston’s attraction to the city and the reasons  why Portland  became his home in 1979.  Originally from Massachusetts, he became a champion for gay rights in Portland and an outspoken advocate for equal rights. In 1994, Preston succumbed to an AIDS-related illness.