Ennis, Texas

allow people to have greater access to our outdoor spaces.” “We want to be known as that ‘City of Choice,’ that provides a robust economy, housing, and family values – all the things that we feel have created our community,” says Mayor Angeline Juenemann. “We are a city that has a very authentic, small town charm, but one that understands that change is necessary. So, we want to keep the culture that we have, but we also want to improve and give everything that we possibly can to our citizens, now, and to those who may join us in the future. We want to attract our younger people who have been raised here and went to college, to come back and bring their families. We also want to bring jobs and opportunities in new sectors of the market for our younger people. That’s very important to our community.” “About a quarter of our population is over the age of 65; another quarter of our population are just starting a family,” Dixon adds. “So, security and safety are very important. In ad- dition to investing in parks and quality of life, we are also investing in our fire and police. We just created a new fire station and hired 16 additional firefighters. We had a 2-rating – one of only a hundred cities in the United States to have a 2-rating from the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association). That’s a very big thing for us and we are well on our way to getting a 1. That would put us in a very select group, indeed, as being a place that is one of the safest places to live from a fire-safety standpoint. In addition to that, we’re investing in a 35,000-sq.-ft. public safety facility that is, right now, being bid out. It will be under con- struction within the next few months and will be completed within the next year and a half. Those are the types of investments the city is making into the quality of life side of things.” Ashley Colunga, Ennis’ Marketing Director, says she has spent the better part of last year focusing on a rebranding campaign whose aim is to better tell the story of the city’s revitaliza- tion efforts, and why people should move