The Need for Langley Today
Facts matter. And need to, for residents, taxpayers, and for Langley's future.
Langley’s future deserves more than short-term decisions and one-time explanations. It deserves a clear vision, honest information, and a plan that actually works. This is about getting it right, for today and for the future.
a two-to-three minute read
200th Street at Langley Events Centre looking north. The LEC and 200th Street require a new, comprehensive strategy and vision for the future, especially given Provincial housing mandates and the need for finished infrastructure.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Over the past 20 years, the Township of Langley has grown too quickly, now with huge gaps in key infrastructure.
- We have a new plan to address it, a plan to pay for it, and it's getting done.
- The goal with Langley Today: to better outline what we are doing and why we are doing it, for Langley's future.
The Township of Langley is now the sixth-largest municipality in Metro Vancouver. It's the eighth largest in British Columbia. In 2005, the annual budget was $155M. In 2025, it's more than $500M.
Over that time, the Township has welcomed more than 75,000 new residents. Twenty years ago, our population was 92,000. Today, it's more than 165,000. Our community has grown by more than 20,000 in just the last 5 years.
For that growth to even be possible in the first place, by 2018, previous Councils had opened up thousands of acres for urban development. Opening up all of Willoughby, in each and every area, resulted in patchwork growth everywhere and anywhere, quickly became unsustainable.
And because of it, our community ended up with a large deficit in basic road infrastructure, schools, recreation facilities and natural green spaces. There were no plans to do much, if anything, about it.
As of 2022, for example, there was no intention to finish major roads like 208th Street on any known timeline. We didn't build a new fire hall for over 20 years. Yorkson Community Park sat unfinished for 10 years. With registrations for almost all youth sports going up every year, there were no plans to meet the ever growing demand for swim lessons and youth sports. There were no steps to deliver an additional community centre in Willoughby for 100,000 new residents by 2040, with no consideration of even where it might be located.
In 2022, I ran for Mayor with a new team to fix it. We were elected on a clear mandate of change. From 208th Street to Aldergrove, youth sports to updated community plans, we're now getting it done. We are putting in place that new plan for our growth, just as we were elected to do.
And we can't afford not to.
Metro Vancouver projects our population will increase by another 50% within the next 15-20 years. Within five years, SkyTrain will connect Langley to the rapid transit network. Willoughby is only about 50% developed. Fernridge is on the horizon. Provincial housing mandates demand higher densities for Willowbrook and 200th Street.
The Provincial government continues to mandate higher housing densities regardless of local nuances, aged infrastructure or inadequate Provincial services. The Township of Langley is already overdue to pre-approve another for 10,000 or so additional housing units, regardless of the 6,500 units approved in principle, ready to go.
Growth will continue. It's critical that we get it right: quality infrastructure, right-sized facilities and additional parks. It took years for these issues to accumulate, and they won't be solved overnight. But we are getting there.
We must ensure we have a plan for these things today, so it will still be possible tomorrow.
The opportunities for the Township of Langley to get it right, to have incredible facilities, infrastructure, parks and amenities, to get big things done, are enormous. But they are fragile. We could easily squander them once again, as so many previous opportunities have been.
We have a vision for Langley’s future, and we are committed to getting it done. That requires clear plans, clear costs, and clear reasons. Let's understand not just what is happening, but why, and to know what we are doing and why we are doing it, beyond the one-time Facebook and Instagram posts.
The Township of Langley is one of the best municipalities in British Columbia: the 2nd lowest (or lowest) property taxes in Metro Vancouver, incredible facilities and improving urban economies of scale for infrastructure, all while remaining mostly rural with so many preserved areas we cherish. It's a truly unique, inspiring combination. If we get it right. And that's right within our grasp, for us, and for the next generations of those that do and will call Langley home.
Therefore, Langley Today. For you, for me, for Council, and other contributors, to outline more detail. What we inherited. What we have done and why we have done it. And more importantly, what more we need to do, to meet the challenges still emerging today and coming in the future. For the future of all of Langley, to move forward, not backwards. All here at Langley Today.
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