Interactive charts show how Metro Vancouver is protecting green space and employment lands.

One of the major goals of our region is to protect our green space and employment lands. The Metro Vancouver Regional District recently released information on regional land-use based on data up to August 2019.

I wanted to visualize this information with some interactive charts.

The first chat is for the year 2011, and is the baseline. There are six regional land-use designations in Metro Vancouver. To make is easier to understand, I consolidated them into three major categories. If you want to drill into the specific zone, simply select one of the major categories on the chart.

Go Up

The second chart shows the change in regional land-use designations. The green highlights an increase in a category of land-use, while red highlights a decrease. You can drill down in the chart for more specific details.

Go Up

The good news story is that in Metro Vancouver we have protected green space and employment lands over the last decade.

You can hover over areas of the charts with a mouse to get more detailed information.

A photo tour of the new Langley Secondary School

Langley City council was invited by the Langley School District trustees and staff to tour the new Langley Secondary School (LSS). LSS is the primary high school for Langley City students.

My first observation of the new school was that it felt like many modern spaces for knowledge-based work such as at software companies or workshops. This design was deliberate, as it is meant to foster a collaborative learning environment which is how work is done today.

The following pictures are from the tour. You can select any picture to enlarge it.

Langley City council and school district trustees and staff. On the second floor of LSS.

Glass and flexible spaces are key design elements of the new LSS. 

Inside a classroom at LSS.

The library area at LSS, looking from the 2nd floor.

Langley City council, Langley school district trustees and staff. Looking at common area.

November 4 Council Meeting: Remembrance Day, Extending Task Groups, and Presenting Long Service Awards

Last night’s Langley City council meeting started with a presentation of long service awards for people that work at the City. People were recognizing for working at the City for five years, ten years, and 30 years. Each person had a bio read about them, and was then thanked for their service by council and senior City staff. One five-year award recipient used to work for the City, retired, then came back. This brought his total service to the City to around 45 years!

Langley City staff, family, and friends at the long service award presentation. Select image to enlarge.

The Remembrance Day Ceremony will be occurring at Douglas Park on Monday. The parade will arrive at the Cenotaph at 10:45am, with the ceremony starting at 10:55am. More information is available on the City’s website.

If you’ve walked around Downtown Langley recently, you may have noticed new banners that honour our war veterans. Councillor James noted that the Downtown Langley Business Association would like to give the previous banners to the families of people pictured. For more information, email the association at info@downtownlangley.com.

The City has several term-limited task groups which were created by council to work on specific tasks. Three of these task groups requested that council extend their term-limit to the end of 2020 to allow them to complete their mandate. The task groups are as follows:

Arts and Culture Task Group
To prioritize, evaluate, and develop a business case for the implementation of various arts and culture initiatives in Langley City.

Performing Arts and Cultural Centre Task Group
To continue the planning process, including developing a business plan, governance model, and funding model for a Performing Arts and Cultural Centre in Langley City.

Economic Development Task Group
To work at identifying ways to promote economic development in the City, and take action on targeted focus areas.

Council approved extending the terms of all three task groups.

Every Grade 5 student in Langley City public schools receives a workbook called “Getting to Know Langley City.” The workbook is used by approximately 500 students each year to help them learn about the history of Langley City, and how local government works. This workbook was recently updated. The most recent update can be viewed on Langley City’s website. This education program started in 2001.

As a housekeeping matter, council approved a new corporate identity and brand policy to replace a policy from the 1990s.

Council also approved its meeting schedule for 2020. The meeting dates will be posted on the City’s website.

Survey shows where people want new or improved crosswalks in Langley City

One of the common requests that I hear from residents in Langley City is for improved crosswalks. As there are many requests, and with both time and funding limitations, I wanted to see if there were any crosswalk request hot spots.

To help facilitate this, I created a simple survey website to allow people to select one location where they wanted to see a new or enhanced crosswalk built. Based on the results received, a heat map was created to help find locations where many people wanted to see a new or enhanced crosswalk.

There were over 180 results received from Langley City residents during the first week of September, and during this last weekend, from the survey. Survey participants were from all neighbourhoods in Langley City.

Based on the results that were received, several locations for building a new or enhanced crosswalk surfaced to the top based on the following heat map:

Heat map of locations where survey participants wanted to see new or enhanced crosswalks built. Select map to enlarge.

First Tier Locations Include:

45A Avenue @ 208 Street
51 Avenue @ 208 Street
Michaud Crescent @ 201A Street
Brydon Lagoon Trail @ 53 Avenue
48 Avenue @ 200 Street
Al Anderson Pool Entrance off 205A Street

Second Tier Locations Include:

47 Avenue @ 208 Street
48 Avenue @ 205 Street
Blacklock School @ 206 Street
Douglas Crescent @ 206 Street
Grade Crescent @ 201A Street

While not on the previous map, it was interesting to see that people also selected areas in the Langley Bypass area for crosswalks such as 62 Avenue @ 201A Street.

I want to thank everyone who took part in this survey. The results help to inform me where people want to see improvements made to crosswalks.