Facebook   Instagram   YouTube   Spotify   TikTok
 
Local Conversation Group
maps
Non-filled areas on this map shows an approximation of where we can build housing, businesses and other developments in Langley and other cities in the region.
It does not (yet) account for current zoning codes, lot size restrictions, and other factors under local government control, or include park land, crown land, conservation land or other restricted areas.

Area outside Metro Vancouver Urban Containment Boundary

This area is within the Metro Vancouver administratrive region, but outside the permitted urban containment boundary which is administered by Metro Vancouver board.
While housing can technically be built here it cannot receive Metro Vancouver sewer services, which generally limits density to single family houses on a septic system.
Expanding the Metro Vancouver Urban Containment Boundary?
The urban containment boundary can only be increased through the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) board adopting an amendment or regionally consistent amendments within an adopted and accepted Regional Context Statement. There is no way for the average person to apply to have the boundary altered, as this is typically only done by request from local governments, and even then is a difficult and involved process. The boundary has remained unchanged since 2017.
Data source: https://open-data-portal-metrovancouver.hub.arcgis.com/.

Agricultural Land Reserve

This area is designated Agricultural Land Reserve which is administered by the provincial Agricultural Land Commission.
The Fraser Valley and other areas in BC have incredibly fertile farm land combined with a temperate climate, and as such the ALR was introduced in the 1970s to prevent this farmland being lost to urban sprawl.
While up to two units of housing may be built per ALR parcel, ALR parcel sizes are often many acres, essentially preventing any substancial amount of housing on ALR land.
Removing land from the ALR?
Removing land from the ALR is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. It can either happen by obtaining a court order from the BC Supreme Court or through application to the ALC. However, as per new rules introduced in 2019, only if you are the government of B.C, a local government or first nation, or a prescribed public body can you make an application to the ALC. Winning a civil court case to have a parcel excluded is also very difficult, with cases dragging for years with no guarantee of success for the applicant. A notable example of a court order being granted was the case of Gloucester Estates in 1981. Only 7 exclusions have been made between 2014 - 2023, as shown on the decision list. Even subdividing an ALR parcel is heavily regulated with strict requirements.
Data source: https://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/alr-maps/.

Related Videos

Urban Growth Boundaries: Effective or Worthless? — City Beautiful
Cities can use urban growth boundaries to keep urban development compact, while protecting farm and forest land outside. But do they raise housing prices? And do they stop sprawl at all?

Watch on Youtube

Hard Green Belts Have Failed — Paige Saunders
Paige Saunders believes that greenbelts have caused more problems than they have solved, and advocates for unlocking the perimeter for transit first development.

Watch on Youtube

This map is a heatmap produced by Walkscore to show what areas are most and least walkable in Langley.

As of writing, the map isn't perfect, it is heavily biased towards commercial density and doesn't factor in road width or sidewalk coverage, but can help give some insight.

This map is a heatmap showing property tax revenue grouped into 100m x 100m square blocks, giving a finer grain "value-per-acre" style analysis. Red indicates high property tax revenue, green is middle, while blue indicates low. Empty spaces indicate areas outside the Township of Langley or areas with no revenue.

This map allows us to see what areas are the most and least productive and contribute the most and least revenue to city finances. Value per Acre analysis is advocated by Strong Towns to evaluate the efficiency of land use by focusing on both its productivity and desirability relative to infrastructure investment.

While higher density development typically corresponds with a higher taxable value, more desirable areas can also attract higher home prices and as such, higher taxable value. This effect can compensate for areas of low taxable value like parks that increase desirability.

The data in this map is based on 2021 Property Assessments and Tax Rates. The property assessment data includes the latitude and longitude which was used to group properties into blocks.

This map was created using our custom Value-per-Acre mapping tool, the source code is available at https://github.com/StrongTownsLangley/ValuePerAcre/.

Data sources: https://data-tol.opendata.arcgis.com/search?tags=Land%20and%20Parcel%20Information.
https://www.tol.ca/en/services/resources/property-taxes/document-feed/2021-Tax-Rates.pdf.

Related Videos

It's Time To Rethink How We Measure Cities. We Can't Afford Not To. — Strong Towns
A great introduction to Value-per-Acre, featuring Joe Minicozzi from Urban3.

Watch on Youtube

Suburbia is Subsidized: Here's the Math — Not Just Bikes
Car-dependent suburbia is subsidized by productive urban places. That's why cities are broke. But how bad is it, and who is subsidizing who?

Watch on Youtube
Public Parking Lot
Private Parking Lot

This map shows the location of every Parking lot in the Township and City of Langley. This map allows us to see where areas of valuable land are being essentially "wasted" on space for cars.

Parking lots generate little economic activity and as such are discouraged by Strong Towns in favour of more productive land use.

The data in this map is based on OpenStreetMap data.

This map was created using our custom Parking Lots Mapping tool, the source code is available at https://github.com/StrongTownsLangley/ParkingLots/.

Data sources: OpenStreetMap.

Related Videos

Are Parking Lots Ruining Your City? — Strong Towns
Parking minimums stymie growth in towns. Citizens of Fayetteville, Arkansas realized this, and inadvertently began a movement by removing parking minimums, seeking to make it easier for entrepreneurs to rejuvenate empty buildings downtown.

Watch on Youtube