For these residents who’re involved about progress, high quality of life and a rising value of residing, I too worth what makes Longmont particular — our open areas, the sense of group, our native companies, and the affordability that after outlined our metropolis. However that high quality of life is underneath menace at this time — not due to progress itself, however due to how poorly we’ve managed it.
Your issues about flats, site visitors, and rising prices mirror a broader frustration that I share: Our present Metropolis Council has good intentions however doesn’t know how one can ship on our values.
Let’s be trustworthy about one thing: Longmont has been a boomtown for 60 years, including about 14,000 folks each decade since 1960. Progress isn’t new. What’s modified is our means to accommodate it whereas preserving what makes Longmont particular.
The present council says they care about housing affordability however are overly centered on insurance policies that assist just some folks. They pledge to repair site visitors issues however concentrate on huge developments that generate car-centric journeys as an alternative of including houses to our current neighborhoods that may enhance walkability. They declare to assist common households and native companies, however should not centered on the rising value of residing, which is harming each.
This failure of management has actual penalties for longtime residents. Many retirees wish to downsize however can’t discover smaller, extra inexpensive houses of their neighborhoods. Households see their grownup youngsters priced out of the group they grew up in. And our distinctive native companies — those that give Longmont its distinctive character — battle to outlive as prices rise.
I like to recommend specializing in three sensible priorities that immediately handle your issues:
First, lowering site visitors by real options. When fewer folks must drive for easy errands, or to get to work, or take their youngsters to highschool, there might be much less site visitors. Two-thirds of Longmonters assist changing automobile lanes with protected bike lanes, in keeping with the town’s Transportation Mobility Plan. Concentrate on making it secure for folks to stroll and bike for on a regular basis journeys, giving us actual transportation selections whereas lowering site visitors for many who have to drive or simply select to.
Second, sensible progress that advantages current residents. We should always permit small-scale housing like duplexes and fourplexes inside our current neighborhoods. This might give seniors locations to downsize, younger households alternatives for residence possession, and create sufficient native clients to assist neighborhood companies like nook shops and occasional retailers.
Third, responsive native authorities that delivers. My conversations with former metropolis workers encourage me with their ardour for public service however disappoint me within the many ways in which council insurance policies make their jobs tougher. We should always belief metropolis workers to serve residents truthfully and pretty, as an alternative of getting of their approach. We should always measure the effectiveness of Longmont’s authorities by how nicely it delivers for residents — not on the complexity of the processes we mandate.
Extra stroll. Much less speak. The values espoused by many present Metropolis Council members are ones I agree with. However it’s time for us to stay as much as these values. Which means a willingness to strive new concepts, and new methods of doing issues, with the general public profit as our north star.
I hope for a future the place my youngsters not solely wish to keep right here after they develop up however can afford to. The place longtime residents don’t really feel squeezed out by rising prices. The place our native companies thrive and contribute to our distinctive id. The place we protect what’s particular about Longmont whereas making it work higher for everybody.
Shakeel Dalal is a board member of the Longmont Neighborhood Basis, a volunteer on the town’s Skilled Requirements Unit, and the co-founder of LAUNCH Longmont Housing. He’s a candidate for mayor of Longmont within the November 2025 election.
