New and Renew: Observations of a New Resident of Longmont

The best part about moving to a new city is discovering all the new people, places and things to see and do.  The next best thing is to share my discoveries with people who have lived here many years. They often have forgotten about or take for granted the interesting and inspirational things I am discovering for the first time.  When I tell long timers about my discoveries it often prompts a sense of renewed enthusiasm in them. I see their eyes light up as they remember some of the things they love about living here. They then proceed to tell me of more places I should visit, things I should do and people I should meet. I inspire them and they inspire me.

Cities have a sense of new and renewal too. Longmont is a perfect example. Historically it has been an agricultural town. The personality of Longmont reflects the morals and ethics of the people who live here. Farmers have a kinship with the land that sustains them. They are good stewards of mother earth.  They nurture their land and they nurture each other. Neighbors help neighbors. The city center is historically a place of meeting and gathering. Of commerce and community activities. Values are conservative. Change is pondered before being rushed into. This creates a stable nurturing environment that enhances the quality of life.

In these tumultuous times Longmont has become a popular city to move to by anyone desiring a more mellow place to call home. Longmont is large enough to have all the infrastructure and amenities of large city yet maintain a sense of living on the farm, even if one lives in the ‘burbs. It is only a short stroll or bike ride to enjoy the numerous parks, trails and open spaces the city Fathers had the foresight to create even before it was trendy. I love traveling from my home to, say Boulder and being able to commune with nature along the way. This vision had as much to do with the desire to preserve the agrarian personality of the area as it did to attract new residents.

I recently met a retired couple, Ann and Vinnie, at the Golden Ponds recreation area this past weekend as they were out walking their dog, Tip, along the miles of paved trails around the four beautiful ponds framed by trees and the mountains in the near distance. Golden Ponds is a perfect example of the vision of city planners to turn a once abandoned open pit mine eyesore into both a beautiful park and a water conservation area. The winter melt fills the ponds to the brim in the Spring and helps sustain the land and people around them with water the rest of the year.

Anne and Vinnie moved here 12 years ago from Brooklyn, New York. “It was culture shock when we first moved here to be with our kids,” Ann said. “But culture shock in a good way. We were used to the frantic pace of New York City and did not realize how uptight we were until we settled in here and realized we could slow down and breathe.  We felt re-newed.” Ann and Vinnie live in Old Town Longmont in a 1917 bungalow a few blocks from downtown. They can walk to the shops and restaurants on Main St. which reminds them of the urban lifestyle of NYC or they can take a short drive to mall or the many stores out on Hover Street or Ken Pratt Boulevard, which also connect to major highways and interstates for their sojourns into Boulder or Denver. Longmont also benefits its residents by being large enough to offer modern comprehensive medical facilities, an excellent school system, vibrant arts and expansive recreational areas and activities.

I have heard the same story of slowing down and enjoying life here over and over by the new friends I have met here, a large majority of them also transplants like me from other areas of the country who were looking for a better quality of life and found it here.

When I moved to the Front Range my first order of business was to find a place to live. Not just a physical place to hang my hat, but a mental place to call home. I found it in Longmont and it’s Prospect neighborhood. New and renew.

What I like about the neighborhood is there are several tree-lined parks and a diverse mixed-use business district of shops and offices surrounding the main downtown park where many live upstairs and have their businesses downstairs.

In Longmont, there are numerous community events throughout the year including cruiser bike rides on the new St. Vrains Greenway to destinations like the Oskar Blues Brewery, art walks and charitable events for local and national causes.

People don’t just move to Longmont to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, lower cost of living here or a safe, stable place to raise a family. They actually like living here.

Longmont is going through growing pains for sure, but there is a renewed sense by the new generation of city planners that the future of Longmont lays in the nurturing morals and values of the Long timers who settled this area. What is old is new again. Longmont is renewing itself into what it used to be.

Rob Lagerstrom is a commercial photographer, videographer and freelance writer who recently moved to the Front Range from the Southeast.  His observations on the nuances of life are expressed in words and photos he calls Robservations.

A Robservation by Rob Lagerstrom

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