Natalie Watson loves watching Port Huron thrive Heather Burt
Natalie Watson loves watching and helping Port Huron thrive Heather Burt
Natalie Watson is ready to help make Port Huron a destination. Heather Burt
Though he’ll deny it, Port Huron City Manager James Freed is something of a trend-setter: in early 2014, the Port Huron native returned from the west side of the state, where he’d lived since the 1990s. Following his lead, dozens of others have done the same, returning from across the state, and the country, to their Port Huron roots, to be a part of the revitalization that’s happening here, in every imaginable sector.
“They’re doctors, investment bankers, young entrepreneurs,” Freed says, adding that he and the others he knows who’ve made the pilgrimage back to Port Huron are excited to be helping the return of their hometown. The relationship seems to be circular--as more people return to the area, and create more growth, others see that growth and return, too--creating even more opportunity.
It’s opportunity that drove young people to pursue college and careers outside of the area, Freed says, and now that opportunities abound in Port Huron again--with the very real possibility the city will be better than it was, even in its heyday--people who were born and raised here, like Freed, can’t wait to return.
Downtown Development Authority and McMorran Marketing Manager Natalie Watson is another native who’s returned home from the west side of the state. Like Freed, she was attracted to the possibilities of the new Port Huron. Since her return in 2015, she’s witnessed and contributed to the revitalization of the entire area; in her words, “Port Huron is on the precipice of awesome,” and Watson has a three-pronged approach to continuing that growth in the downtown.
First, she wants to bring attention to what’s currently happening in the downtown.
“People don’t always realize how much we’ve already got here,” Watson says. “I would encourage anyone to just park and walk from one end of the downtown to the other, and just take it all in. I want people to look to the downtown for all of their entertainment and other needs.”
Next, Watson’s set her sights on continuing to beautify the streetscape. She remembers with pride last year’s Christmas displays and decor in the downtown.
“It really was the next level, but in 2017, I want to take our holiday streetscape to the NEXT next level,” she says.
She’d also like to expand outdoor entertainment in the warmer months, and she has plans for other seasonal streetscape improvements.
Of course, Watson says, she’s also driven to encourage more growth in the downtown, making it, in her words, “even better than when it was at its best.” She has a number of tools her predecessors didn’t have access to, like social media, to raise awareness and promote growth.
“Port Huron never was a cookie-cutter city,” Watson says. It was in part Port Huron’s uniqueness that lured her back to the area. “We have so many great annual events, a combination of things you just won’t find anywhere else,” she says.
Her favorites? The farmer’s market, Art Hop, Boat Week, the Santa Parade, and Chilly Fest.
“There really is something for everyone, all year round,” says Watson.
In a word, Watson says, Port Huron is “vibrant,” and she’s sure Freed, herself, and others like them are just the vanguard of what’s sure to be a steady stream of natives returning home to continue the growth of their hometown.
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