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Introduction

Through the Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR) and Colorado MetroLab, CU Boulder and the city of Longmont recently developed a long-term partnership to bring university research to the community guided by local priorities for urban development, design and policy. Shaping Downtown Longmont, to be introduced at the May 1, 2019 event, is the kickoff project for this long-term partnership. 

History 

During 2018 and 2019, CEDaR participated in meetings with small cities in Colorado to identify opportunities for CU Boulder to develop focused collaborations, connecting student and faculty research to city priorities. During these conversations, Longmont emerged as an area to build a collaboration, and the downtown project was identified as a priority when CEDaR engaged in conversations with the LDDA and the city of Longmont.  

CEDaR and the city of Longmont agreed to collaborate and then agreed on a set of activities, including surveys of residents and businesses, interviews and other research related to how Longmont’s downtown area is changing. Students then focused research on opportunities for enhancing the plazas, breezeways, alleyways and creative businesses in the downtown area. Tasks were defined, a scope of work was determined and CU Boulder’s Longmont Downtown Studio class was developed in the Program in Environmental Design to carry out the scope of work. These and other students will continue doing projects through the 2019 summer and the following semester.