The city of Longmont, Colorado has been around since 1871 and it has long been seen as the smaller cousin of Boulder, Colorado, the county seat of Boulder, Colorado. However, while Longmont may have been just another small town until the 1980s, the relocation of GE Energy's Control, in the 1980s that bolstered an already impressive array of businesses (including Seagate and Maxtor) meant new growth. Today, Longmont is a thriving city with nearly 90,000 residents, but you will find, when moving to Longmont, that it still retains that small town feel. In fact, Longmont, which is named for the nearby ‘Long's Peak,' is listed at number 50 on the top 100 places to live in the U.S.
Economy:
From the 1960s to the 1980s, many of the largest companies in the U.S. contributed to economic growth in Longmont, by moving their companies, or a specific division, to the Longmont area.
Many of those companies are still in Longmont, and some of the top employers in the area include Seagate, Amgen, Butterball and the Federal Aviation Administration, with many smaller local businesses also providing employment and economic opportunities.
Longmont is definitely a city in the middle of a growth phase. In fact, between 1990 and 2000, the population of Longmont jumped more than 20,000, and between 2000 and 2008, its population expanded by more than 14,000 residents, which meant that moving companies in the area have been mighty busy!
History:
Officially, the founding of Longmont is attributed to a group of Chicago natives who, in 1870, started what they called the ‘Chicago-Colorado Colony,' by selling memberships in the new town. They used the money from those sales to buy land where Longmont now stands, and in 1871, they started building the town, which was called Longmont in order of the nearby Long's Peak. They were not, however, the first cross country movers to call the area home!
In fact, the Longmont area, and the surrounding land, had been home to roving tribes of Native Americans throughout the years for over 14,000 years. In the 1500s, the Cheyenne, Dakota, Comanche and other native American tribes took up residence in the area, and Major Stephen Long, for whom Long Peak is named, and other European adventurers, all arrived in what is now Longmont long before the city was even thought of.
As the town of Longmont grew, more immigrants began moving to the area, first to farm the area, and later to work in factories and companies that sprang up. Swedish immigrants, Germans and Mexican natives all moved into Longmont over the years, and while there have been ups and downs through the decades, (including lean times during the Great Depression, and a brief spell being run by the Ku Klux Klan), the city is now flourishing more than ever. More people are moving to Longmont than ever before, and it is clear that this is a city to watch!
Tourism:
Longmont is a popular destination for lovers of the outdoors, with the Long Peak and other mountains surrounding the town that sits at nearly 5,000 feet above sea level! Aside from hiking, lakes and other outdoor activities and attractions, there are also the Fox Hill and Twin Peaks Golf Courses to play on, and more than 1,500 acres of parkland to enjoy. The 300 days of sunshine that Longmont enjoys throughout the year also makes it a popular tourist destination, and new developments like the Prospect New Town, which is a mixed use shopping, eating and living precinct in Longmont mean there is plenty to explore.