Longmont, Colorado

Longmont is a Home Rule Municipality in Boulder and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Longmont is the 13th most populous city in the State of Colorado. The word "Longmont" comes from Longs Peak, a prominent mountain named for explorer Stephen H. Long that is clearly visible from Longmont, and "mont" from the French word for mountain. The city is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. In contrast to its better-known neighbor, Longmont has a much more quiet and residential feel, although the city has begun to grow rapidly in recent years. The population was 71,093 at the 2000 census.

Also notable, Longmont was declared an "All-America City" by the National Civic League in June 2006. The city was also named number 50 on the 2008 list of the top 100 places to live in the United States by Money Magazine.

History

Longmont was founded in 1871 by a group of Chicagoans who had decided to found a new town in Colorado. Originally called the Chicago-Colorado Colony, the men sold memberships in the town and with the proceeds purchased the land necessary for the town. As the first planned community in Boulder County, the city streets were laid out in a grid plan in a square mile. The city began to flourish as an agricultural community after the building of the Colorado Central Railroad line arrived northward from Boulder in 1877. In the 1940s the city began to grow beyond these original limits. In the 1960s the federal government located an air-traffic control center in town and IBM built a large plant near the city. As agriculture waned, more high technology has come to the city especially in the computer hard drive industry including companies like Seagate and Maxtor. In April 2009 GE Energy relocated their control solutions business to the area. The downtown along Main Street, once nearly dead during the 1980s, has seen a vibrant revival in the last decade. In the mid 1990s, the south edge of the city became the location of the first New Urbanist project in Colorado, called Prospect New Town, designed by renowned architect Andres Duany.

Further information on Longmont's history, see The Official City of Longmont History and the Longmont Museum & Cultural Center.

Geography

Longmont is located at . Elevation is about 1525 meters (approx. 5000 feet) above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.8 square miles (56.5 km²), of which, 21.8 square miles (56.4 km²) of it is land and 0.05% is water.

Longmont is an exurb of Denver, on U.S. Highway 287. By 2016, it will be the Route 36 Corridor endpoint for the FasTracks commuter rail network.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 71,093 people, 26,667 households, and 18,453 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,262.3 people per square mile (1,259.7/km²). There were 27,394 housing units at an average density of 1,257.0/sq mi (485.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was:

• 84.76% White
• 0.54% African American
• 0.97% Native American
• 1.76% Asian
• 0.06% Pacific Islander
• 9.76% from other races
• 2.2% from two or more races.
• Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.07% of the population.

There were 26,667 households out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,174, and the median income for a family was $58,037. Males had a median income of $40,978 versus $29,582 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,409. About 5.9% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

thumb|Downtown Longmont. According to the Longmont Area Economic Council, the top eleven employers in Longmont are:

• St. Vrain Valley Schools (regional school district) with 3020 employees
• Longmont United Hospital with 1324 employees
• Seagate Technology with 1276 employees
• City of Longmont with 828 employees
• Amgen with 750 employees
• Intrado with 722 employees
• Federal Aviation Administration with 503 employees
• McLane Western with 500 employees
• DigitalGlobe with 450 emplyees
• Butterball, LLC formerly ConAgra (which operates a turkey processing plant) with 443 employees
• Crocs with 410 employees

Notable residents

• Vance D. Brand, former astronaut
• Greg Biekert, professional football player (born in Longmont)
• John R. Kelso, U.S. Representative and author (lived and died in Longmont)
• Kody Lostroh, professional bull rider for the PBR
• David Pauley, pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles
• Kristen Schaal, comedian and actress, grew up in LongmontThe Kooky Monster - The Age, March 13, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
• Dan Schmatz, Moved from Longmont to Louisville in 2007. former professional cyclist
• Dan Simmons, author (1990 Hugo Award winner)Myth and madness in the frozen north

Mayors

This is a list of Mayors of Longmont.

Sister cities

Longmont is a sister city of these municipalities:

• Chino, Japan
• Guzman, Mexico

See also

• Boulder County, Colorado
• Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Colorado municipalities
• Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area
• Front Range Urban Corridor
• Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area
• List of mayors of Longmont, Colorado
• State of Colorado
• Weld County, Colorado

References

Note: For Dan Simmons, ref http://www.dansimmons.com/about/bio.htm is for Front Range Colo, not for Longmont.

External links

• City of Longmont website
• CDOT map of the City of Longmont
• History of Longmont
• Longmont Ledger (local newspaper)
• Bestof-Longmont (Directory of locally owned businesses in Longmont)
• InfoLongmont (local community website)
• Longmont Times-Call (local newspaper)

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Categories: Cities | Cities in USA | Cities in Colorado, USA