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Cedar Hill unveils new economic development and tourism websites to boost transparency and visitor outreach
Summary
At a Dec. 9 briefing, city staff unveiled a new economic development site (growcedarhill.com) and a tourism portal (visitcedarhilltx.com), highlighting a searchable properties database, event calendars and initial traffic metrics; council members asked about image representation, vendor updates and promotion plans.
Cedar Hill city staff on Dec. 9 showed council members two new public websites intended to centralize business‑attraction tools and tourism information.
Henry Florsheim, introduced as the city’s economic development corporation director, walked the council through a new economic development site at growcedarhill.com and demonstrated pages for downtown, Uptown, West Midtown and industrial green space. Florsheim pointed to a properties database tied to a third‑party vendor and cited a Placer report showing "454,000 visits in a year" of downtown foot traffic as an example of the data available to prospects. He said the old EDC URL (cedarhilledc.com) will redirect to the new site and that staff can add project renderings, photos and videos as developments progress.
The site’s property tool will be updated monthly by the city and the vendor, Florsheim said, describing a standing monthly video call and pre‑call internal review to catch missing details. "We get a report showing what's new and what's been removed," he said. He added the EDC will coordinate a social media and communications plan to promote the site once council has previewed it.
Michelle Ebanks presented the tourism site, visitcedarhilltx.com, saying the platform — launched in February under the council’s tourism strategy — has drawn early interest. "Over the past 7 days, the site has received over 1,300 page views with visitors exploring an average of 4 pages per visit," Ebanks said, and noted the site currently lists more than 115 food offerings and a robust events calendar with filtering by category and family‑friendliness.
Council members praised the design and asked operational questions. Councilwoman Azzin said she "loves" the interactivity and data layers; Mayor Pro Tem Tim Glover asked how the city will market the site and how the third‑party property database will be kept current. Councilmember Sims raised concerns about photographic representation on the site, observing that the rotating images appeared to emphasize people of color in a way she wanted to ensure felt welcoming to all visitors; Florsheim agreed to review imagery for representative balance.
Council members also queried the site’s contact options and language support. Florsheim said a general email goes to a staff member who is notified automatically and noted individual staff addresses are listed on the site; Ebanks said the tourism platform offers translation options and staff will look into adding Spanish directly on the page.
The new EDC and tourism sites are live and will be promoted through the city’s channels; staff told the council they will monitor the property listings and update the sites regularly, and return to council with any recommended changes.
