 |
| Langley City, Google Maps |
There's a great event coming up in the 'burbs about, well, the future of the 'burbs. In my opinion, conversations like these don't happen very often and they're extremely important in guiding the future of our neighbourhood, city, and our region.
Here's the press release:
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 1st, 2011
Debate on Smart Growth comes to Langley
LANGLEY, With the Metro Vancouver region set to grow by another 1 million people over the next 20 years and with most of that growth set to occur in the South of Fraser, there has been a call by many academics and urban planners to change the way we build our communities. South Fraser OnTrax advocates for smart growth design principles such as making transit a priority and building neighbourhoods that provide a variety of housing options, from single-family homes to apartments. OnTrax believes these principles will protect the environment, human health, and our agricultural land, but not everyone shares this belief.
Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, whose research has been used by governments worldwide, will be debating Randal O'Toole who is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and who has also taught environmental economics at Yale, UC Berkeley, and Utah State University on the future of land-use and transportation planning in the South of Fraser. Litman is a strong proponent of smart growth principals and high-quality public transit while O’Toole has been an outspoken critic.
“For many years we have talked about building more sustainable community and better transit,” says Nathan Pachal of OnTrax, “but many in our communities are not sold on the ideas that this is the way to go. This debate will allow both perspectives to be expressed and let people decide what future they want for our region.”
OnTrax with the support of a City of Langley grant will be hosting this debate on Thursday, February 23rd from 7:00pm to 8:30pm at the Township of Langley Municipal Hall (20338 65 Avenue.) This free event is open to all members of the public, who will have the chance to hear both sides of the debate and have the opportunity to question Litman and O’Toole.
Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. Please visit southfraser.net or on Facebook for more information and email southfraserblog@yahoo.com to reserve your seat.
-30-
Media Contact:
Joe Zaccaria
South Fraser OnTrax
Phone: 1-866-459-0665
Email: joezac@sfot.info
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will make the 'trek' to Langley via transit - if anyone would like to join me, leave a comment or message me elsewhere and we can be bus buddies.
I'm considering taking transit, but looking at Google Maps it estimated that the trip would take more than 3 hours (return) from Vancouver. Is that what you expect?
ReplyDeleteIt usually doesn't take that long...2 maybe. Train is 40min? Bus is 40min? Lots of time to read or talk :)
Delete