By Alex Kalkhofer, Candidate for Longmont City Council At-Large
Longmont has worked to incorporate two great roadmaps for our future. The first one, Envision Longmont charts our path toward livable neighborhoods and sustainable growth. The second one, Advance Longmont 2.0, targets high-wage industries poised to strengthen our economy. These aren’t only aspirational documents, they’re blueprints shaped by thousands of community voices and grounded in data. The question isn’t whether our plans are good. It’s whether we’ll actually update and deliver on them.
While Envision Longmont laid the groundwork, it has not kept pace with changes in the national economy and changes in our city’s dynamics. The plan said it needs to be updated over time, which it has not; it is time to update Envision Longmont to reflect today’s realities and ensure our plans remain relevant and actionable. We also need to put in rough cost estimates to execute the plan.
As your next city council member, I’m committed to turning these strategies into results. I will focus my actions on the challenges holding us back: housing our workforce can afford (the people who power Longmont should be able to live in Longmont), transportation that connects people to jobs and services and a business environment that enables our targeted industries to thrive.
Taking a Pause on Development
Given the number of recent apartment developments, I believe we need to pause and carefully evaluate their impacts before moving forward with more. This is challenging to do as not all projects come before Planning and Zoning or City Council if they are in alignment with the code. We must ensure that our neighborhoods maintain their character and vitality of the people who moved here already. We should work to thoughtfully integrate duplexes, townhomes, and small-lot single-family homes also known as “missing middle housing” to provide more ownership opportunities while preserving the character of our existing neighborhoods.
Economic Development: Revitalizing Commercial Spaces
One of the lowest-hanging fruit opportunities for Longmont’s growth is filling our vacant retail spaces. This currently detracts from our vibrant neighborhood centers and weakens our economic foundation. Our broader aspiration is the full commercial revitalization of the Sugar Mill development, which can serve as a key catalyst to attract new businesses and activate this important gateway area. While we excel in attracting high-wage industries, our commercial real estate market has to better accommodate their needs, especially smaller, flexible, and modern workspaces.
I will advocate for revitalizing vacant properties through adaptive reuse to support our target industries and small businesses, and for streamlining development approvals to quickly bring needed commercial spaces online. As I have said before, I want to stand up a permit liaison to help the business navigate and expedite the permitting process. This effort is critical to sustaining local job growth and maintaining the character and vitality of Longmont’s commercial districts. So much of our budget is reliant on sales tax revenue, we have to increase our business Community.
Housing: More For-Sale Homes, Fewer Rental Apartments
Longmont’s housing market today is heavily weighted toward rental apartments, while the supply of affordable for-sale homes is critically lacking. This imbalance pushes many families out of Longmont or into long commutes. We need to shift the focus toward creating more for-sale “missing-middle” housing options (duplexes, townhomes, and small-lot single-family homes) that provide long-term stability and equity building for working families; this is the foundation of the “American Dream”.
These “missing-middle” housing types provide inventory suitable for teachers, nurses, senior care providers and other local workers who earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing but can’t afford today’s high home prices. The current affordable housing requirement creates a cliff effect where families earning just above the income limit are blocked from these opportunities while also being priced out of market-rate housing. Rather than increasing the affordable housing mandate from 12% to 15%, which merely shifts the burden onto market-rate buyers and enlarges costs through inefficiencies, we should focus on driving down overall housing costs through smarter development of starter homes and smaller housing options. This approach creates true affordability for working families without restricting access.
While rental housing plays an important role, too many rental units and not enough ownership opportunities limit community investment and prevent people from establishing roots. I will work to prioritize zoning and incentives that encourage missing middle for-sale housing near jobs and transit corridors, innovative homeownership models for families earning 80–120% of area median income and policies balancing rental development with quality for-sale housing.
Transparency and Community Balance
I believe in transparency about my civic involvement. While I attended three Launch Longmont meetings about 10 months ago to understand their mission, I have not been actively involved since. My stance on growth are different from those of Launch. I have supported various community initiatives, including contributing to conservation easement efforts like the Kanemoto project, because I believe in balancing thoughtful growth with preservation of our community character and open spaces. I also appreciate organizations that activate the community to get involved.
On energy policy, while I support environmental stewardship, we must ensure that the costs of achieving Net Zero 2030 are not passed onto residents who are already struggling with affordability. Energy upgrades and climate initiatives must be pursued through fiscally responsible means that don’t create additional financial burdens on working citizens.
Transportation: Connecting People to Opportunity and Safety
A complete transportation system isn’t just about moving cars. It’s about giving every resident safe, reliable options to reach jobs, schools, healthcare, and services. Envision Longmont envisions a balanced multimodal network. Delivering it means filling gaps in our bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure now, not later. This does not force anyone out of their car, it provides reliable options for people to choose to get out of their car if that is right for them.
I am committed to fully implementing Longmont’s Transportation Safety Plan (formerly Vision Zero), ensuring we reduce serious crashes, injuries and fatalities on all our streets.
I’ll push for completion of missing sidewalk and bike lane links, especially connecting residential neighborhoods to employment centers and schools, enhance transit frequency and routing aligned with employer shifts and first-and-last-mile solutions that make commuting practical without a car. We will get our RTD service returned and we will hold them accountable for the money they have from us for the commuter rail. I will not allow RTD to use the FIFA account for anything other than what we voted for.
From Plans to Progress
Envision Longmont and Advance Longmont 2.0 reflect our shared values and data-driven understanding of where Longmont must go. Now we need leaders who will execute with accountability, prioritizing delivery of real-world outcomes over endless deliberation.
My 15 years managing complex logistics and supply chains, combined with leadership on local boards, give me the skills to turn plans into action.
Longmont needs fine tuning of our vision. We need accountability, transparency, focus, and results. Let’s deliver on the plans we’ve made, for the people who have been here, the workforce that powers our economy, for the families building their futures here and for the community we all want Longmont to be.
Vote Alex Kalkhofer for Longmont City Council At-Large.
Let’s deliver Longmont’s plans together.
Alex Kalkhofer is a candidate for Longmont City Council At-Large in the November 4, 2025 election. He serves as Chair of the Transportation Advisory Board and the Community Action Board, and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Longmont Elks Lodge.
