On Thursday, July 26, 2023, Mayor Harry Rilling announced the City of Norwalk's new official logo: "I Love Norwalk."
Please see the City of Norwalk's official video of the new logo launch, here, where members of the community, key stakeholders and leaders of local organizations share why they love Norwalk.
"Norwalk is a community with a heart," said Mayor Rilling. "Our residents take great pride in our city, whether it's our fantastic restaurants and downtown areas, parks and beaches, world-class schools and transportation options, or our thriving arts and cultural community. Norwalk has something for everyone and has been on the rise for quite some time. However, what I believe sets us apart from other cities and towns and what I love most about Norwalk is the people. The people in our community value kindness, inclusivity, diversity, and above all, love. That's why I think it's most appropriate, and I am happy to announce the City's new branding logo: ‘I Love Norwalk!’"
The new logo aims to create a brand that reflects how the community feels about Norwalk and attracts more people to live, work, visit, learn or start their business in the City. The new official "I Love Norwalk" logo will be substituted with the City's "Sound of Connecticut" logo, which included a message that didn't resonate with many members of the community and an outdated image of the old Imax theater at the Maritime Aquarium that has since been removed.
Instead, the City of Norwalk wanted to rebrand with a message fitting to Norwalk's strong sense of community spirit and appeal to visitors. "I Love Norwalk" is a statement commonly and genuinely expressed by residents throughout the City.
The artwork for the design of the “I Love Norwalk” logo is an evolution of logos that have been used by the City for several years, including the Visit Norwalk and Norwalk for Business logos. The artwork for these logos was presented and refined through several design concepts. The designs were shared with a committee of city employees and key stakeholders within the business community. Once the committee chose a direction, the designs were presented to the public for comment through an online survey. The design colors and style included in the "I Love Norwalk" brand received the highest total number of points awarded by the respondents.
Additionally, in the past decade, the City of Norwalk has become a national example of a thriving and dynamic smaller city. In June 2023, the City of Norwalk was recognized by CT Insider, Fortune Magazine and Livability.com as a top City to live in. Fortune Magazine ranked the City of Norwalk as the best place for families to live within CT and 29th in the nation. In their analysis of nearly 1,900 cities across the country, the best places to live scored high in areas such as health care, education, and resources for seniors. Livability.com curated a list of the top 100 cities based on nearly 100 data points and an algorithm that measures a city's economy, housing and cost of living, amenities, transportation, environment, safety, education and health. Finally, CT Insider ranked the City of Norwalk as number one for quality of life among 25 of the most populous cities in CT.
