A Longview man hopes to stop traffic in its tracks with his new website.
Just a year and a half after moving to Longview, Jeff Nelson launched the Longview Perspective to provide information about businesses, attractions and events in the village of just over 300 people.
“The idea was to have a website that’s useful for people that might be visiting Longview,” Nelson said. “This is just another way of providing information to people so they can find what stores and businesses are available here.”
Nelson and his wife, Josephine, moved to Longview from Calgary in 2018 after Josephine got a job nearby. Nelson was impressed with all the little village had to offer.
“It’s a nice little community and we’ve got at least four different destination businesses,” said Nelson. “People come from all over to the Longview Steakhouse, Longview Leather, Longview Jerky Shop, Garside Art Gallery and even the Twin Cities Hotel. They even get in their helicopters and land at the Longview Steakhouse.”
During the past year, Nelson has been visiting merchants and shop owners to create a page for each business on the Longview Perspective.
“I’ve got most of them on there and my goal is to get them all,” he said. “It’s a work in progress.”
Another section Nelson plans to add to the Longview Perspective is nearby attractions, featuring such places as the Kananaskis and Okotoks Erratic. He also plans to populate a news page, which currently contains information on the COVID-19 crisis.
“I want people to learn about Longview and come and visit,” he said. “I don’t know how valuable it will be this year with almost all the businesses closed here at least in April and maybe even into May. It’s a tough time. The COVID-19 crisis has taken a bunch of the energy away, but I figured I would start it and get it going and build on it the next year or two.”
Nelson said the website is just one way of bringing tourism to the village.
He’s a member of the Longview Economic Development Committee, which consists of Longview citizens and council members working to draw more visitors to the village.
“Ideally, what we’re looking at is ways to get people to get out of their cars and into stores,” he said. “We’re gearing up for a whole bunch of things. We’re talking about different events, although mostly we want to work with Eden Valley to create a teepee village.”
Visit the Longview Perspective at https://www.longviewperspective.ca/
For updated information, follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
