Longmont, Colorado

Longmont is a city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The name "Longmont" originates from the view of Longs Peak available from much the city. The city is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. 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, in part as a bedroom community to the more-expensive Boulder and to nearby Denver.

Also notable, Longmont was declared an "All-America City" by the National Civic League in June 2006.

Location in the state of Colorado

**Longmont, Colorado**
County	Boulder
Mayor	Julia Pirnack
Time zone - summer (DST)	MST (UTC#-7) MDT (UTC#-6)
Official website: http://www.ci.longmont.co.us

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 StorageTek, Seagate and Maxtor. 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.

For more information on Longmont's history, see the official City of Longmont history on the city's website.

Geography

Longmont is located at (40.171583, -105.109085).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 56.5 km² (21.8 mi²). 56.4 km² (21.8 mi²) 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 1,259.7/km² (3,262.3/mi²). There were 27,394 housing units at an average density of 485.4/km² (1,257.0/mi²). 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
9.72% from other races
2.20% 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.