I drove to Langley City Hall a couple of weeks ago (two guys with a canoe, above) to watch our friend Nathan Pachal take his oath as the newest member of City Council. He collected just over 35 per cent of the vote in a local by-election; in a race with nine candidates this was good enough for a win.

Nathan is a student of urban issues, a dedicated transit user and the editor at the South Fraser Blog. Langley City is a densifying municipality of 25,000 people bordered on the south, north and east by the sprawling Langley Township and on the west by the massive City of Surrey. A 2014 community profile sets out the hope that Langley City will become the commercial and artistic hub for a suburban market area of 250,000 people. Continue reading →