Be part of the growing Strong Towns movement in Langley, British Columbia, Canada 🍁 !
Welcome to Strong Towns Langley! We are a Strong Towns Local Conversation group made up of local residents who want to make Langley a better place.
Small Bets, Big Impact: Small changes to urban planning, design and infrastructure can do a lot to enhance and improve residents lives. Our approach is to actively listen to community members, including those in our group, about their concerns and ideas. We also regularly observe our community to identify issues that may go unnoticed. These could range from improving intersection safety to enhancing public spaces or simply addressing accessibility needs. We believe in the Strong Towns approach of “small bets”, small strategic improvements that can lead to significant positive changes.
Advocating for Incremental Development: We champion the practice of incremental development, which emphasizes small-scale, gradual changes, such as extensions, mixed-use, and garden suites and coach houses. By encouraging small, manageable projects, we empower local developers and community members to participate actively in the evolution of their neighbourhoods.
Solutions to Transportation: We advocate for a balanced approach to transportation in our community, and want to see alternatives to using cars to get around. The goal is to have more walkable, livable urban spaces, and an evidence-proven path towards reducing traffic.
Housing Accessibility: We advocate for improving housing affordability and increasing housing supply, we are part of More Homes Canada, and want to see not only more market housing, but also more social, non-profit and non-market housing. We also work to promote housing solutions that improve the quality of life in existing (often residential-only) neighbourhoods, such as low-mid rise mixed-use buildings that provide ground-floor local retail, cafes and other services with housing above.
Promoting Public Spaces: We advocate for the creation and improvement of public parks and public gathering spaces. We focus on reclaiming public space for people, advocating for general-purpose parks that cater to all ages and all interests that can serve as community "back-yards", and supporting other human-scale spaces like public plazas and pedestrianized streets.
Infrastructure, Taxation, and Growth: We strive for equitable and sustainable approaches to taxation and infrastructure development. We explore how responsible growth strategies can support the fiscal health of Langley, reduce liabilities, and enhance community well-being without over-reliance on expansion.
Environmental and Agricultural Challenges: We prioritize protecting natural habitats and local agriculture. By containing urban sprawl and encouraging efficient land use, we support environmental stewardship that enhances the overall quality of life in Langley.
We want to hear from you and grow the movement locally, so that means we want you to join our conversation!
upcoming events
Our monthly online meetings are held on the last Friday of every month and are open the public, you can join with any web browser or the jitsi meet app. Check out the meeting calendar for more options on how to connect.
We welcome everyone who has an interest in these issues to come to our meetings and events, even if you have limited time for advocacy, we still want to hear from you and hear your thoughts and concerns in the community.
join our online discussion groups
Outside of monthly meetings we chat about news, ideas and more on our discussion group. Join our Discord server to participate!
join our mailing list
Provide your email below to receive our substack posts and be notified about upcoming meetings.latest posts
what is strong towns?
Strong Towns is a non-profit organization which began in Brainerd, Minnesota in the United States, founded by Charles Marohn. Strong Towns pushes back against the the weaknesses, problems and costs of the suburban “top-down” development model.
| Suburban Model | Strong Towns Model |
|---|---|
| Exact land use determined by municipality | Organic collaborative land use patterns |
| Build and plan to an exact finished state | Guide, don’t specify every detail |
| Use heavy handed bylaws and regulations | Place trust in people and the market |
| Future density change is difficult | Incremental density change is supported |
| Overbuild roads and prioritize personal vehicles | Build for people, moderate road capacity and accomodate all modes of transportation |
| Plan for a final population count | Adapt to an ongoing increasing population |
We believe that a “Strong Town” is a place where residents have a voice in shaping their community. Residents are free to make small bets on their town, such as starting a local business or being allowed to adapt their property to a different use or denser form incrementally over time.
In the past, this manifested in more traditional urban-style development practices that come from “bottom-up” city development like we see in older cities around the world. When we put people first, and allow residents to make incremental changes in and small bets on their communities, neighbourhoods organically become more people-oriented and the local economy becomes stronger.
By growing organically to meet the needs of the community, instead of being dependent on rapid suburban growth, the local governments of Strong Towns are typically more financially stable and resilient.
With this approach, land is used most effectively and efficiently for homes and wealth-creating businesses. Strong Towns also have fewer government regulations that get in the way of small businesses and incremental development, such as minimum parking requirements, large minimum lot sizes and lot setbacks.
We encourage you to read Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity to learn more.
campaigns
letter to langley advance times - "Langley’s housing crisis started a long time ago"
A local resident wrote a letter with concerns about high-rise towers in Langley - we responded to explain how incremental development could help us meet our housing needs instead.
View Letter - "Langley’s housing crisis started a long time ago"
brookswood neighbourhood plan feedback
Alternative people-oriented land use plan for Brookswood.
View Document
88 avenue corridor slip lanes survey success!
Strong Towns Langley conducted a community survey on intersections with slip lanes along and near 88 Avenue from October 24th, 2023, to December 1st, 2023, to gather insights on safety and the impact of slip lanes on intersections.
After the results of the survey illustrated how detrimental the slip lanes were to the community, we advocated for their removal in the follow up video Eliminating Slip Lanes for Safer Streets.
The campaign made an impact when in July 2024 the council voted unanimously to get a report from staff for the removal of three slip lanes along the 88 avenue corridor. We are thrilled to see the support from mayor and council in making Langley a safer place!
July 2024 - Council Asks for Staff for slip lane removal report!January 2024 - Letter Sent to Mayor and Council
January 2024 - Published YouTube Video - Eliminating Slip Lanes for Safer Streets
November 2023 - Start of the Campaign
View 2023 Survey Results
View 2023 Survey Summary
View Original 2023 Survey Questions
200 street corridor feedback
Feedback and proposals for the Township of Langley’s 200 Street 2040 plan.
View Document
property tax revenue map
Interactive Value-per-Acre map: https://strongtownslangley.org/maps?revenue-map
Old non-interactive map from November 2022: View on Facebook Page
langley city or langley township?
Langley is divided into two municipalities each with their own municipal council, staff and services:
• The City of Langley, a 10.18 km2 area in the centre, and
• The Township of Langley, which is the area surrounding the City, with Surrey to the west, and Abbotsford to the east.
The City of Langley's small size limits it's ability to sprawl, and as such is already pushed towards financial sustainability and allowing natural densification to accommodate growth within city limits.
In contrast, the surrounding Township of Langley's higher abundance of land (although still limited) and other policies encourage less efficient land use such as oversized roads and parking lots, and the development of brand new neighbourhoods to bring in surges of revenue to prop up municipal finances and subsidize existing low-performing areas. While the good news is that new neighbourhoods are denser and have more variety of housing types, older neighbourhoods in the Township of Langley often fail to allow or encourage natural densification and investment in new housing and new businesses.
Due to this, our priority is encouraging Strong Towns practices and principles in the Township of Langley, rather than the City of Langley, although we will continue to support the City in it's efforts, including attending public hearings and giving feedback, and also welcome members who live in the City or have an interest in City matters.
We also wish to acknowledge that Langley is situated on the traditional lands of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Matsqui, and Semiahmoo First Nations peoples.
what do we do?
Meetings
We hold meetings to exchange ideas, strategize ways to promote financially resilient and sustainable development practices, advocate for supportive policies, and educate the community.
Online Content
We produce content to raise awareness about our group and Strong Towns, such as video essays and interviews with key members in our local community to discuss Strong Towns and urbanism topics such as co-housing and safer streets, all available on our YouTube Channel and Spotify Podcast.
Collaborate with Others
We collaborate with other community groups, such as our neighbours in Delta, BC at Del-POP and Strong Towns Vancouver, as well as housing advocates such as Abundant Housing Vancouver.
Policy Advocacy
We advocate for policies that promote financially resilient and sustainable development practices, attending open houses, public hearings and completing surveys to give our feedback.
Engage with Local Government
We aim to work with the mayor, councillors and municipal staff policymakers to influence planning and development decisions.