Advanced Voting and Vote by Mail Information for Langley City Election

I may be biased, but I believe local government is extremely important. Whether collecting garbage, providing water and sewer, ensuring traffic and street lights are working, and maintaining streets and sidewalks, local government impacts your daily quality of life.

Unfortunately, local government elections have low voter turnouts. For example, only 25% of eligible voters participated in the 2018 Langley City election.

To make voting more accessible, you can vote in person before or on general election day on October 15th.

The advanced voting dates are:

October 4th from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Timms Community Centre
October 5th from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm at Timms Community Centre
October 6th from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at Langley Senior Resources Society Recreation and Resource Centre
October 12th from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm at Timms Community Centre

For more information, please visit the City’s website.

New this year, you can also request to vote by mail. For more information, please download the Application to Vote by Mail form. It is easy to complete on paper or on your computer/tablet/phone. You can email or drop off the form.

For more details, please check out the City’s FAQs on voting.

To help you find out information about candidates running for mayor or council, the City is posting candidates’ profiles, so you can learn more about people running. The City will publish this information starting after 4 pm on Friday. Be sure to check out the City’s website.

I’m hoping that we will have more than 25% voter turnout this year. I know some people may think that voting doesn’t matter, but the people you elect do have a significant impact on the direction of your community.

Let’s drop the spaghetti-mess transit network and invest in fast, direct service

Around 15 years ago, TransLink introduced the South of Fraser Area Transit Plan. The big idea in that plan was to shift the transit network focused on getting people from “the suburbs” to Downtown Vancouver, to a network that gets people easily around Surrey, Delta, White Rock, and Langley with fast and direct bus service.

The bus network at the time was more a spaghetti mess of infrequent transit routes that were not intuitive to use. The following map shows the 2008 transit network in Langley.

Example of spaghetti-mess routes in Langley back in 2008. Select map to enlarge.

Back then, the 502 and 501 even had different routings based on the time of day. You almost needed to be a transit expert!

While some of the spaghetti-mess network still exists today, and there are still very infrequent or peak-period only routes such as 388 or 509, TransLink has invested in creating direct, easy-to-understand routes over the past decade or so.

The big idea of the South of Fraser Area Transit Plan was that you could use a grid of frequent bus routes to get from any point to any point in the South of Fraser with only one transfer. Because the routes were frequent, you’d never have to wait more than 15 minutes for a bus. You usually wait less.

2031 proposed fast and frequent transit network from the 2007 South of Fraser Area Transit Plan, Phase 1. Select map to enlarge.

One of the biggest success stories of investing in direct, frequent, and easy-to-understand transit routes is the 531, which connects White Rock/South Surrey to Langley. This route has been leading in ridership growth.

I’ve now been on several 531 that have been jam-packed this year.

About five years ago, the 501 would almost act like an express bus along 200th Street, when I took the 501 this weekend, it was busy, and people were getting on and off at many stops along the route.

I’ve seen firsthand how valuable this direct network can be as the population and jobs in the South of Fraser grows.

With overall transit ridership still below pre-pandemic levels, TransLink has the opportunity to evaluate the transit network. It might be a good time to assess if peak-period, Vancouver-bound commuter transit routes are meeting the needs of people, especially in the South of Fraser. Does it make sense to reallocate funds from peak-period-only Vancouver commuter specials and other infrequent, spaghetti-mess routes to strengthen the frequent, direct transit network?

From what I’ve seen, the answer is yes.

Election 2022 - Working Together

After two terms on Langley City Council, I've learned that you can get the most done for our community when you work with others. That is why I decided to run for Mayor of Langley City.

If elected, I will be a facilitator on Council, working with all Councillors to find common ground and move forward in the best interest of our community.

I will work with others on Council to build a strong relationship with First Nations, the province and the federal government.

With strong partnerships, we can move forward on increasing community safety, addressing affordable housing, reducing homelessness, and tackling climate change.

On Council, I worked with others to put forward a motion on moving towards reconciliation with the four First Nations whose traditional territories Langley City is situated on.

I have built a solid relationship with other local government representatives in the region. I will work with them to ensure we move forward, giving people more transportation options in Langley City and region-wide.

I will work with others on Council to rebuild our relationship with the Township of Langley and Surrey.

If you would like to help out or want a "Vote for Nathan" yard sign, please visit: https://help.nathanpachal.com/

If you would like to donate to my campaign, please visit: https://donate.nathanpachal.com/

Together, we can bring forward solutions for a better Langley!

What makes a neighbourhood, a neighbourhood?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to read the book “The City Assembled: Elements of Urban Form through History” by Spiro Kostof. It is an older book, but it looks at how we built our cities, towns, and villages going back hundreds of years.

One of the things that stood out to me is the importance of gathering places (where we are almost forced to interact with people) in creating neighbourhoods.

Why are neighbourhoods important in the first place? They are essential to creating a sense of ownership in an area beyond our home. When you have a sense of ownership in a neighbourhood, many people are willing to go above and beyond to ensure their neighbours and neighbourhood are healthy, happy, safe, and have a good quality of life.

Neighbourhoods need gathering places where people have the opportunity to interact with others beyond a 30-second hello.

These places would have traditionally been a place of worship or public market. Every resident in a neighbourhood would be within walking distance of a place of worship or market. In some places, cafés were the traditional gathering place.

A small coffee shop in Port Alice on Vancouver Island. Select the image to enlarge.

In the modern context, I would add community/rec centres, libraries, community gardens, locally owned & operated shops/cafes/coffee shops, dog off-leash areas, and playgrounds to the list of gathering places.

In all cases, these places need to be easily accessible and walkable.

When I lived in my old apartment on 53rd Avenue and 204th Street, many gathering places were within easy walking distance, and I felt part of the Douglas Neighbourhood.

I now live in the Brydon area at the end of 55A Avenue by the Surrey border. While we have Brydon Park and Lagoon, I don’t feel like this part of Langley City has a focal point where people can informally gather and build that sense of neighbourhood and community.

In Langley City’s new Official Community Plan, we added areas where small-scale commercial would be allowed and be within a short walk of most residents to help create these gathering places over time.

Example of small-scale commercial areas in Langley City’s new Official Community Plan. Select the map to enlarge.

In the Brydon area and other parts of Langley City, we still have gaps, even in the new Official Community Plan. Beyond small-scale commercial, we need to consider other gathering places such as community centres or neighbourhood houses that are within walking distance.

When you think of your neighbourhood, where do people gather? Where do you run into your neighbours? What makes you feel like you are part of your neighbourhood?