Editor: While I’m skeptical that people in Langley are “fatter and sicker” due to higher BMIs, a recent survey has certainly validated an issue in my hometown: Langley is not a very pedestrian-friendly city.
Growing up in Langley, I’ve seen hayfields sprouting outlet stores atop vast parking lots, linked to arterial roads snarled with traffic queuing at intersections as drivers wait to make that scarce left turn.
I’ve seen bushy acreages bulldozed into townhouse complexes with few amenities for public transit or retail.
I’m not anti-car but I know well enough that strip malls and outlet stores are, perhaps, not the most efficient way to plan a retail district, especially with higher-density housing close by. I would have preferred mixed use, commercial-residential zoning: business on the ground, living space up top.
Perhaps our follies stem from the lack of co-ordination between Langley Township and Langley City in their schism of governance, perhaps the Langley Bypass should have been a limited access freeway or perhaps past planners were simply too nearsighted.
As for my skepticism about Langley being “fatter and sicker” — perhaps people in Langley have bigger muscles from lifting that BMI rating.
Peter Lenko,
Langley