Strong Towns Langley

06/02/2026

The streets feel calmer, the plaza is full of people, kids are out on their own, and you realize you've spent all day getting around without needing a car. When we travel abroad we tend to notice these differences without really understanding what's behind them, or whether any of it could work back home.

In this article, James shares what he learned on a recent family trip to southern Spain, and why the things that make those towns work aren't clever features to copy one at a time, but a different set of priorities underneath, one that puts people first.

Lessons from Spain

05/20/2026

Congratulations to the City of Coquitlam - Municipality for following international best practices and eliminating maze gates, as supported by every major active transportation design authority worldwide.

These gates exclude wheelchair users, people on adapted cycles, parents with strollers, and cargo bikes. Coquitlam is getting this right.

Guidance and organizations supporting removal:

NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (US): https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/designing-bikeways-for-all-ages-and-abilities/paths/

UK Department for Transport, LTN 1/20: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-120

CROW Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic (Netherlands): https://crowplatform.com/product/design-manual-for-bicycle-traffic/

Transport Scotland, Cycling by Design: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/cycling-by-design/

Sustrans / Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, Paths for Everyone: https://www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/about-us/paths-for-everyone/barriers-on-the-national-cycle-network/

Wheels for Wellbeing, Inclusive Cycle Infrastructure Guide: https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/inclusive-cycle-infrastructure-guide-inaccessible-barriers/
Transport for Greater Manchester, Bee Network Active Travel Design Guide: https://tfgm.com/streets-for-all/design-guide

Disabled Ramblers, Least Restrictive Access: https://disabledramblers.co.uk/man-made-barriers-least-restrictive-access/

04/30/2026

In June 2025, three South of the Fraser mayors sent a letter to Metro Vancouver asking to change how the Urban Containment Boundary works. What they asked for could have opened up hundreds of hectares of rural land to development. The region said no, but the story of how we got there, and what quietly got traded along the way, is worth understanding.

Inside the region's most important tool for shaping growth, and the effort to weaken it.

04/27/2026

Trails and parks! Old town centres and Brand new facilities! What a variety of things we saw on this year's Jane's Walks!

Thank you everyone who attended our Walnut Grove and Willoughby Walks this year. Some new faces and some familiar!

Special thank you to Jonny Ray for taking the great photographs of our Walnut Grove walk included here, and big thanks to Michael Pratt for leading the Willoughby walk and explaining the background behind recent changes and what the future holds for Willoughby.

Hope to see everyone again soon!

04/19/2026

Another successful clean up! 🗑️🚮

Thank you to all Strong Towns Langley volunteers who came out to join our clean up of McClughan Park today, as part of Clean up Langley Day! Special thanks to .stepney for organizing the event.

Next week we return to Walnut Grove for Jane’s Walk - hope to see you there!

04/15/2026

There is a quiet revolution happening in British Columbia. Families are finding ways to stay together in a crushing housing market by building multi-unit homes on single family lots. The province introduced legislation to make this easier, called Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH). But in suburban communities like the Township of Langley, local government is making it harder, not easier, to build.

There is a quiet revolution happening in British Columbia. Families are finding ways to stay together in a crushing housing market by building multi-unit hom...

04/02/2026

April 25-26 is set to be an exciting weekend of free citizen-led walks in Langley, for our second annual Jane’s Walk!

Join us at 9:30am on Saturday, April 25 in Walnut Grove at Alex Hope Elementary

Join us at 9:30am on Sunday, April 26 in Willoughby at 76B Ave and 206 Street near the Parry-Evans Trail

These walks are a great chance for you to connect to your community, learn something, and appreciate what makes Langley special.

Interested in hosting a walk in your Langley neighbourhood? Let us know!

Learn more and let us know you're coming at https://strongtownslangley.org/events/janeswalk !

03/19/2026

This Monday, March 23 at 7pm, the Township of Langley is holding a public hearing on a bylaw that could make your new property rights cost-prohibitive, stopping most projects before they start.

Bill 44 gave homeowners on eligible lots in the Township the right to build a triplex or fourplex on their own property, more housing options in existing neighbourhoods, more attainable homes for families, more choices beyond the single-family house or nothing in older, established neighbourhoods.

If the bylaw passes, redevelop your lot into a triplex or fourplex and you're looking at a $3,690 application fee, $125 per unit, a hired design consultant to certify your project meets the guidelines, and a full Development Permit process on top of your building permit. The bylaw does exempt interior renovations, but in practice, converting a home into three or four units almost always means adding exterior doors, landings, or staircases for separate entrances, and that exterior work can trigger the full Development Permit process. Keep your existing house and add detached units behind it and you may qualify for an exemption, but only if the new units are stylistically consistent with and visually subordinate to the retained house, and you still need to hire a design consultant to sign off.

Langley Township would be the only municipality in the region requiring homeowners to hire a consultant for this purpose.

The only projects fully clear of these requirements are a single-family home on its own, interior-only renovations, and small additions under 50 m² in a rear yard.

For a homeowner trying to add a couple of units, these processes are confusing, expensive, slow, and add uncertainty without justification. We need to make it easier to build affordable housing, not harder. Monday's public hearing is your chance to say something about it.

Register to speak at tol.ca/speakers, or email [email protected] with written comments before the hearing.

Township of Langley Civic Facility, 20338 – 65 Ave, Fraser River Presentation Theatre, 4th Floor.

To learn more about how Langley can instead embrace and succeed at infill development, check out our article: https://strongtownslangley.substack.com/p/how-langley-can-win-at-incremental

Change is an opportunity, not a threat

03/10/2026

Yesterday, Township of Langley council approved the first draft of the Transportation and Mobility Strategy, a document that is set to drastically change and reform how transportation networks in our community are planned and built out.

Thanks to input provided to council from HUB Langley and our organization, as well as unanimous support from council to accept the amendments before moving onto the fourth round of engagement, some significant improvements were made to the initial draft as part of this approval process, such as the potential for more roundabouts and improvements to the cycling network.

Click the link to read more!

Township of Langley

02/21/2026

Please share this post!

We are looking for households that have a clear view of the Parry-Evans Trail in Willoughby to help us complete a study into the changing usage of the trail following the maze/baffle gate removal scheduled later this year.

Participants will receive up to $10 a month for the duration of the study to cover electricity costs for hosting the Telraam traffic counter device in their window. The study will last for 1-2 years.

If you're interested, leave a comment, reach out to [email protected] or complete the sign-up form in the comments.