How is Longmont/Niwot? (Denver, Colorado Springs: condominium, townhouse, school district)

[eynewman]

I read in the Longmont Times-Call paper that residents are fed up with the condition of downtown Longmont. They say that it is dirty, run down, and has too many check cashing places and Pawn Shops. Does anyone know if the city is planning on revitalizing the area? What about Niwot? I know the high school there is tops. How do the "personalities" of these to towns compare? Are the politics here basically the same as in Boulder? We are planning a move from So. Calif to the area next year. Thanks in advance for any info!

[jkcoop]

I would not call downtown Longmont dirty and run down. Not sure the condition of Main Street in Longmont should be a deciding factor of a move. We live on the s.w. edge of Longmont. We go to Main Street once a week for music lessons at the music store. Do I spend any other time down there? Yes, we love the brew pub. Do I shop down there? No. But it isn't really that big a deal to me what the shops are. It has been getting a little better, but it is hard for those shops to complete with the big ones moving in. The Wal-Mart situation here was a big deal.
Niwot is a small community and Longmont is a much bigger town. Longmont politics are not the same in Boulder as in it is much more conservative. But many complain it is being Boulderized. We are pretty liberal, so that doesn't bother us.
As far as Niwot High. Even though we are in Longmont, we are zoned for Niwot High. You really need to check boundary lines if you are wanting a specific school. Middle schoolers who will eventually go to Niwot High will go to Middle school at Sunset in Longmont.
Take what you read in the Times Call with a grain of salt. One reason I even bother reading the paper is for the entertainment factor of the complainers around here. Longmont is a wonderful community. I can't vouch for Niwot, but it is definitely very small and will have that small town feel. So it depends on what you are going for.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

I would not call downtown Longmont dirty and run down. Not sure the condition of Main Street in Longmont should be a deciding factor of a move. We live on the s.w. edge of Longmont. We go to Main Street once a week for music lessons at the music store. Do I spend any other time down there? Yes, we love the brew pub. Do I shop down there? No. But it isn't really that big a deal to me what the shops are. It has been getting a little better, but it is hard for those shops to complete with the big ones moving in. The Wal-Mart situation here was a big deal.
Niwot is a small community and Longmont is a much bigger town. Longmont politics are not the same in Boulder as in it is much more conservative. But many complain it is being Boulderized. We are pretty liberal, so that doesn't bother us.
As far as Niwot High. Even though we are in Longmont, we are zoned for Niwot High. You really need to check boundary lines if you are wanting a specific school. Middle schoolers who will eventually go to Niwot High will go to Middle school at Sunset in Longmont.
Take what you read in the Times Call with a grain of salt. One reason I even bother reading the paper is for the entertainment factor of the complainers around here. Longmont is a wonderful community. I can't vouch for Niwot, but it is definitely very small and will have that small town feel. So it depends on what you are going for.

Just to add to jkcoops good information. . .

Longmont is a diverse city of about 85,000 people, with the population representing the full range of socio-economic demographics; from poor to wealthy. Niwot is a small town with a population under 5,000. Niwot is for the most part wealthy; houses are expensive; there are few less costly options for living there, limited to a few condominium and townhouse developments and the cottonwood area (and none of them are cheap). Longmont and Niwot are both in the St. Vrain school district. All of Niwot is in Boulder County; Longmont is split between Boulder County and Weld County.

[Katiana]

Will add to the above: Niwot is more or less a collection of homes with a little "old town". It is unicorporated, that is, it has no local government. It operates under the Boulder County Commissioners, so it has fewer local services. It does have some more middle class-ish homes in some of its subdivions.

[eynewman]

Thanks for the info. We have traveled back and forth from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins, and although my favorite is F.C., the job situation seems somewhat tenuous there. This is why I thought the Longmont area may be a good compromise since it is halfway between F.C. and Denver and may make any commute I have more tolerable. I am an audiologist so need to be near a medical center. We do not have to make our decision until spring of '09. I was scared by the the complainers in the Times-Call, but I will take these with a grain of salt, as you say! Perhaps I will find also that they have good entertainment value . Take care!

[Katiana]

If you need to be near a medical center, I would go closer to Denver. Yes, Longmont, Boulder and Louisville all have hospitals, but they are not what a health care professional would term "medical centers". They are community hospitals.

I would suggest looking in Louisville (still pretty far), Superior, Lafayette, Broomfield, etc if you want to be in the north metro area.

[Comedy]

Originally Posted by eynewman

I read in the Longmont Times-Call paper that residents are fed up with the condition of downtown Longmont. They say that it is dirty, run down, and has too many check cashing places and Pawn Shops. Does anyone know if the city is planning on revitalizing the area? What about Niwot? I know the high school there is tops. How do the "personalities" of these to towns compare? Are the politics here basically the same as in Boulder? We are planning a move from So. Calif to the area next year. Thanks in advance for any info!

Downtown Longmont has its charm but can be a bit tough at night. Niwot HS is where the rich kids go, Silver Creek is the drug school, Longmont can be tough but is pretty typical, and Skyline has some wannabe gang action.

I find people who live in Niwot travel to Longmont for most things. Might aswell stay in town, and you'll get more house for your money in Longmont than you would in Niwot.

Quick bit of advice, when you move here say you moved from a town in Colorado. Most people here don't like Californians or Texans.

[jkcoop]

Originally Posted by Comedy

Niwot HS is where the rich kids go,

Not a terribly fair statement. Yes, Niwot High has very wealthy people who live there. But also a lot who go there who are not. Our son goes there and we live in southwest Longmont. The lines are drawn strange. So Indian Peaks, Burlington Elementary feed into Niwot High. Definitely not rich people.

We are actually closer to Silvercreek but are zoned for Niwot - of which I am glad.

[davya]

A friend had his kids at Niwot and they were made to feel inferior by the rich kids. He told me that it really affected his kids. But that's how kids can be I guess...

[jkcoop]

That is kids and you can get that anywhere. You can be make to feel for a number of things at that age - not being an athlete, not driving a car, not being pretty enough or handsome enough. That's high school.

We've just never experienced problems regarding rich kids - the adults actually end up being the worst offenders, which is why I stay away from them. He's gone to school with this same mix of kids since 6th grade - no new schools are dumped into Niwot High from what there was in middle school, except for other kids coming in for the IB program.