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Longmont named an 'All-America City'

The National Civic League bestows the award on communities that, "leverage civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation to successfully address local issues."
Credit: Kelly Jensen KUSA
Main Street

Longmont is among 10 communities across the nation to receive the National Civic League's "All-America City" Award.

The National Civic League bestows the award on communities that, "leverage civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation to successfully address local issues," according to its website.

This is the second time Longmont won the award; the last time was in 2006.

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"This award affirms Longmont’s commitment to building a vibrant community,” Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley said. “We acknowledge and embrace the societal challenges in our City and work collaboratively with community members to make positive change.”

Longmont said in a press release that it was chosen because of three specific projects:

  • "Supporting Action for Mental Health," a collaborative that raises awareness to address mental health issues in the city.
  • "Connecting a Community," a community-owned broadband internet service.
  • "An Engaged Community Deals with Disaster," an effort launched following the 2013 floods that focused on building affordable housing and modifying infrastructure. Longmont experienced the most devastating flood in its history from Sept. 11-15, 2013.

"Although Longmont is not alone in dealing with the issues of affordable housing, homelessness, mental health, traffic and growth, Longmont has tried to address these challenges with compassion, understanding and innovation," Bagley said. "We also understand that government alone can’t address these issues. Meaningful progress is not made on any of these issues without cooperation from the business community, non-profits, volunteers, professionals and many others."

More than 500 communities have received the award since its implementation in 1949. In Colorado, those communities are:

  • Aurora (2008)
  • Brush (2014)
  • Colorado Springs (1981)
  • Colorado Springs (Hillside) (1997)
  • Delta (1992)
  • Fountain (2002)
  • Grand Junction (1962)
  • Greeley (1989)
  • Lakewood (2011, 2016)
  • Lamar (1959)
  • Leadville (1958)
  • Longmont (2006)
  • Montrose (2013)
  • Pueblo (1954)
  • Wray (1993)

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