Rebuilding the Longmont we LOVE so our children return and prosper.
I am running for the Ward one seat because I would like to see the empty Safeway building on east 17 th and Pace turned into a Community Building to house recreation services, a library extension and other City service efforts including transportation connections for the NE side of Longmont. I see potential in ward one to be a proving ground, a place for integrating all the initiatives the city is spearheading, in particular: vision zero, affordable housing, and expanded recreation and library services.
Focusing Police presence in Community Commercial centers will make neighborhood areas safe to walk and protect business assets. Longmont has maintained a centralized approach to City services but now that our growth has pressed to the limits of our City boundaries, a far-flung approach, pushing service availability to the edges of town, makes sense especially for transportation and controlling crime.
Strong, local business adjacent and central to Community Commercial Centers is KEY to preserving accessibility, vitality, and sustainability. Local business creates jobs, provides a steady stream of Property and Sales Tax and attracts tourism. I will be an advocate for business building and support in Ward 1 with the idea that what works in Ward 1 will also work in neighborhoods to the west and south of us, each with their own personality and needs identified.
We are not giving up our cars but we are bringing back safe travel for your teens and aging parents and the joy of driving again. Vision zero lessens fatal and severe accidents by pushing commuter and higher speed through traffic to major arteries traveling around the outside of Longmont. This creates a “soft center” making it easier for motorists to drive 25mph without pressure on residential streets.
It’s important to “date” a few solutions before deciding “this is the one” and proposing “marriage.” Trying a new approach, especially by using existing structures, like the blighted Safeway building, and in areas where transportation can take 20-30 minutes to get anywhere gives the City a chance to try something new before committing high tax dollars to BUILDING something that might not suit tomorrows’ need.
Adequate transportation is a big component to affordability and equity within Longmont. Many of the high-density housing developed to be “affordable” is positioned where there is no public transportation and no easy access to essential services. It is important to me that city services be available to all taxpayers that pay for them and that transportation be equitable. I’m proud to say our Transportation Advisory Board has been instrumental in bringing Microtransit to Longmont.
I’ve lived in Ward 1 for 26 years and in my business have had my ears, eyes, and hands creating success in every type of business in Longmont. I have the skills, education and knowledge to move the City forward.
During Diane’s 2021 campaign as an At Large Candidate, she spoke about the Hyperloop’s potential to solve our Statewide transportation problems with 9 minute travel times between Fort Collins and Denver and DIA to VAIL. The Hyperloop is planned to be operational in the next 10 to 15 years. Time for Longmont to get on board or be left behind!
After the campaign, Diane was appointed to the Transportation Advisory Board in Longmont and is now the Vice Chair of TAB.
Swiss Pod, winner of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop design contest, announced in September of 2021 it would be building an hour long Hyperloop test track in Pueblo at the TTCI PuebloPlex. In March, Swiss Pod began soil studies and broke ground at TTCI, now MxV test facility in Pueblo, CO.
MxV reaches $500 Million in investment dollars and completely redesigns the Puebloplex testing facility to accommodate Hyperloop advancement and safer high speed rail travel using $100M in physical assets and 27,000 hours of labor to achieve the shared vision.
Hyperloop is coming! Right now, Longmont needs to focus on stronger local transportation to fully utilize the regional and statewide advancements that are coming. As the first candidate to introduce this innovative transportation solution, Diane Crist is the perfect Councilor to prep our city for implementation in Longmont.
Ballots mail on October 16 th and must be returned by 7p November 7, 2023
We can pull all these pieces together and create community, independence, and economic strength.
“In my opinion Diane is very creative and an excellent problem solver. She has a wonderful ability to listen to issues and consider all points of view and then will use her creative mind to present solutions.”
“I have known Diane Crist professionally for over 20 years. She is smart, compassionate, and is dedicated to her work. I think her reasoning and problem-solving skills are sorely needed and she would make a wonderful addition to the council. I’m confident that she will be a champion for the people, and will be a trustworthy steward of our resources.”
“Any council would benefit from having Diane as a member. Diane’s education, experience and understanding of how things work together lend themselves to any problem that comes before the City Council. Her family history of service in multiple generations make this a natural fit for her.”
“Diane is very informed, very service oriented, with no hidden agendas. She is always looking for solutions that benefit everyone.”
Paid for and approved by Crist For Council copyright 2023.
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I particularly chose 17 th ave because it travels from WCR all the way west through Ward 3 – making it very accessible to a variety of neighborhoods – and because it has a grocery, pharmacy, restaurant, salon, and other essential services adjacent. By experimenting here, our neighborhood can be a model for building community throughout the City.
Remember how much you enjoyed going to the mall and how it felt like a safe place to let your kids hang out while you browsed the shops? Creating commercial centers draws a perimeter around a neighborhood center making the unusual easier to spot and giving law enforcement an epicenter for drive-by policing.
Through public-private partnerships the City of Longmont can participate in Business Community building using its existing resources until fully developed and tested solutions prove themselves. New parking lots represent double the land grab for any new building. Utilizing existing and underused Parking lots to support business and city services is essential.
A soft center requires more walkable neighborhoods where residents can access needs with short vehicle, bicycle, and walking trips. The idea is 5 stops per trip so having the 10 essential services of jobs, home, school, recreation and library services, grocery, salon (personal care,) restaurants, gasoline, worship, and entertainment opportunities all within a community center is the goal.
Having a library “extension” in each neighborhood makes more sense than another stand-alone building. It is much more efficient and sustainable for patrons to “order” materials through the library computer system and one van deliver the materials each day to the extension storefront than to have a third of residents drive to one location to pick up materials.
The original Recreation building on Quail was too small by the time it opened. A “try before you buy” approach is instructional, less expensive, and adaptable. And incidentally, a principle in the Vision Zero initiative.
Costs of owning a vehicle are quickly rising to half the budget for many “affordable home” dwellers. Since many of our “affordable housing” projects have already been built outside urban areas we must bring jobs, schools, city services, and other opportunities closer to where they have been built and rework or reconstruct the fabric of our neighborhoods into sustainable, reachable Community Commercial Centers. Microtransit will provide a 30 minute pick up and drop off to any destination in the city creating equity of opportunity for all neighborhoods.