looking for info on longmont (Fort Collins, Boulder: relocate, house hunting, trip)

[Temecula, Ca]

Gangs? Do you mean some spray painting and rude behavior? How about shootings, rapes, breakins, metal detectors at the school entries, cops on school campus, prostitution in the school bathrooms, knifings after school and cars that have more bass than horse power. Welcome to San Diego and Riverside County California. Take the time to stop the problem before it get's too bad. We have a problem of looking the other way here in California.

[Mike78613]

That's crazy!!

[KKroeger]

"Welcome to San Diego and Riverside County California. Take the time to stop the problem before it get's too bad. We have a problem of looking the other way here in California"

You mean welcome to most of California. I was born in Inglewood, LA and raised in Sac. Most of CA has gotten so out of control with gangs/violence/etc. that the police can't do much about it anymore except stay on the defensive.

[Temecula, Ca]

You mean welcome to most of California. KK your right. I am jaded about Southern Cal. and even up into centeral Ca. concerning gangs and the toleration there of. I was raised in a small town of 2000 people on the Oregon Coast and bad kids whould take the for sale signs out of the front lawns of peoples homes and put them on the front lawn of the High School. They would smash mail boxes or go drink at the beach or at someones home. I can't watch the nightly news I get from L.A. because it is so depressing and San diego is better but the mindset of our news coverage is "if it bleeds it leads" just makes me want to go away. My wife was raised on a horse ranch on the outskirts of San Diego and we thought that Temecula would be far enough away from the junk that we would feel better about living out here. It is much better where we live but I still must commute into San Diego County. A 55min drive and that is if the traffic is moving. My last commute was 1hr 30min to 1hr 45min. I'm rambling now. My head is full and I feel like I'm drowning here. I am looking for our place, our home. Getting ready for church now, gotta go.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by westiedogs

I am also thinking about Longmont - I am a single woman in my early 50's - are there fairly decent opportunities to meet other folks or is Longmont strictly family-oriented? I was looking at the area around 66th & Pace - looks nice - lots of new construction, etc. Anybody have opinions on that area?

I live there now and it's a nice area. Most of the residents seem to be youngish couples, retirees or ladies of "a certain age" , but it's a nice cross-section. It's also very close to two shopping area with two 24-hour supermarkets and a Starbucks and dry cleaners, etc, etc. There's a golf course very nearby if you play and a bus stop into the centre of Longmong about a 3/4 mile walk. The only thing about that area is that I rarely see any of my neighbours. I know they're there, but even during the Summer at the weekends I'd be the only one sitting out on my balcony catching the sun and enjoying the mountain view. Sometimes I get to say hi to a dog-walker, but I've only lived there a few months. PM me if you need more details.

[kristenfromdenver]

I work with gang kids just west of Denver and this may sound strange, but many of them are very very sweet kids who get pulled into something and get in over their heads. A lot of them are in it for protection from kids who pick on them at school. Sometimes their parents aren't there for them so they find a group of people who are. The biggest crime I see them committing are graffiti and an occasional auto theft in my side of town in north west denver. But honestly, when you run into them on the street they are often very polite nice people. The kinds of gangs you see in the movies do not exist here. Where I went to high school in Illinois, I drove past the 'nice, upper middle class high school' on my way to the charter school on the bad side of town and must tell you, both my mom and I agreed the gang kids were soooo much more polite than the spoiled kids.

[BDGFN]

We are also looking to relocate to the Boulder area from Southern California. San Diego, to be exact. I know exactly what Temecula is talking about. We used to live downtown. I miss many of the things about that, but the downside outweighed the up. My wife has a very close friend who used to live in Longmont and now lives in Boulder, so we have been focusing on Longmont since Boulder is so much more expensive. We also more recently started looking at Firestone and Frederick. Not sure just yet exactly where we will settle down, but we'll rent at first so we can look at all areas and decide where to buy when the time is right. We'll be moving shortly after the first of the year, and we are both looking forward to it. I have lived all over, but my wife has never lived outside of Southern California. I'm thinking her first winter is going to be quite the culture shock!

[Ingamar1960]

to reply about gangs in America, I can't in all honesty reply to the Boulder/Longmont/Denver area, although i have family from Colorado, but im in California, which is supposed to be the Capital for Gangs, and this is the facts, Gangs in America are mostly Hispanic, mostly 2nd or 3rd generation from Mexico, some are Mexican Nationals, who are into drugs, grafitti, and all around general maliciousnesss if you don't live near them, act out being bigotted or loud about hate, or so-called, "get on their bad side" You're ok, the closest encounter i've had, I accidentally bought a vehicle, which was really cheap, that belonged to a gang member, (i didn't know this), and the vehicle windshield was bashed in by rocks, a group of young gangsters trying to show their "turf rights" Living on a street that was highly hispanic, and being the only white people on the street, i kinda figured it was time to move on, so i did, but i was living with other people at the time, so it was easy to move... I haven't really experienced this since, however i have observed some on-goings with boom-boom cars, which are sometimes just young people, sometimes gang and drug people, you don't really know, you just try your best to be careful, but as for being mugged, or personally assaulted, this is something unless you are related, living in very close proximity, or in a so-called, "bad area" you just aren't generally going to find this, you almost have to go looking for it, not that it doesn't sometimes happen, it could happen anywhere, it's just that grafitti, and urban blight kind of come with the territory of gangs, and you'll know where they are, if people get into neighborhood watch programs it helps a lot, we have really minimized a real problem with drugs in our neighborhood this way..You just have to be aware, and it's not always that bad, but if people ignore it, it will not go away.

[BDGFN]

I read an article on cnn.com recently that indicated the total number of gang members in the US is something like 600,000 to 750,000. No, that isn't a number to scoff at, but compared to the size of the entire population, it's less than 1%. Granted, those gang members will be centered in major metropolitan areas for the most part, and when they are found in smaller areas, there presence is much more widely publicized. But I do agree with Ingamar. There is a gang population in San Diego, but it is pretty limited to certain locales, and rarely moves outside of those areas, so if you stay away from theose areas, you're generally going to be okay.

[westiedogs]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am surprised not everyone is out and about with all the common areas. That is one of the appeals to me - I am trying to get through a divorce and figure out employment out there but am looking to relocate with my dogs sometime in 2008. Are there things going on my women in mid-50's? NOT the bar scene to find men.......