Housing Advocacy Campaign

Strong Towns Langley advocates for housing policies that enable incremental development and diverse housing options throughout our community. We believe that the current housing crisis stems from decades of restrictive zoning that has prevented the organic growth patterns that built resilient communities in the past.

Our approach focuses on enabling "missing middle housing" - the diverse range of housing types between single-family homes and high-rise towers that historically formed the backbone of walkable neighbourhoods. This includes duplexes, triplexes, courtyard buildings, and small apartment buildings.

We support community-based planning processes that involve residents and local builders in creating neighbourhoods that evolve organically to meet local needs, rather than being imposed through mega-developments. Our Strong Brookswood whitepaper demonstrates how these principles can be applied to real development challenges in South Langley.

A Successful Example of Community Engagement

The East Clayton neighbourhood in Surrey demonstrates how community-based planning can create successful, sustainable neighbourhoods. This project used a charrette process that brought together residents, planners, architects, and other stakeholders to collaboratively design a new community.

Key features of the East Clayton process included:

• Intensive community workshops and design sessions
• Integration of environmental sustainability with neighbourhood design
• Focus on walkability and community connectivity
• Diverse housing types within a cohesive neighbourhood framework
• Long-term community stewardship and involvement

This model shows how communities can actively participate in creating neighbourhoods that reflect their values and needs, rather than having development imposed upon them.

A Demonstration Plan for South Langley's Future

Our Strong Brookswood whitepaper was created in response to the Township's request for feedback on Brookswood development plans. Rather than incremental tweaks, we proposed radical ideas that could actually address the housing issues that got us into this mess.

The key insight: walkability and local retail make Brookswood a more complete community, which naturally invites more diverse housing types. When people can walk to amenities and services - when all the nice stuff is right there - they're willing to sacrifice space for location.

This means smaller housing units become desirable, diverse demographics are attracted, and the community naturally supports a range of housing types from small apartments to family homes. Instead of fighting over where to put housing, we create communities so desirable that people choose smaller, more diverse housing types to live there.

The Zoning Straightjacket

Current zoning in much of Langley restricts development to single-family homes only, preventing the incremental development that historically built our most beloved neighbourhoods. This creates several problems:

• Limited housing choice forcing people into expensive single-family homes
• Inability for families to age in place with appropriate housing
• Barriers to small-scale local builders and developers
• Pressure for mega-developments as the only alternative

The Result: A Housing Pressure Cooker

As we explained in our May 2024 letter, Metro Vancouver has become "a pressure cooker for housing demand" with limited density options and growth boundaries creating extreme pressure that results in:

• Mega-towers as bursts of hyper-density
• Unaffordable housing costs
• Long commutes from affordable areas
• Loss of community-scaled development

Planning Tools

Educational Resources

How You Can Help

• Stay Informed: Follow municipal planning processes and housing policy discussions
• Attend Council Meetings: Show support for housing flexibility and community-based planning
• Share Your Story: Tell Council how housing restrictions have affected your family
• Support SSMUH: Advocate for full implementation of Small-Scale Multi Unit Housing policies
• Join the Conversation: Participate in neighbourhood planning discussions and charettes
• Educate Others: Share information about missing middle housing and incremental development

Housing is a fundamental need, and everyone deserves access to appropriate, affordable options in their community.