There’s a lot of commentary around (Price Tags has printed lots of it) about the appeal of the urban centres and a decline in the size of houses in this post-2008 Millennial world. But if you like big lots, big houses, lots of space, a sense of the rural lifestyle, long commutes and horse trails, you still have a choice.
To be specific: High Point.
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As a friend described it: the Shaughnessy of Langley.
Or as the Langley Times described it:
The 287-acre development, a former gravel pit in south Langley, has 164 home lots ranging from half an acre to eight acres. Lot prices start at $529,000 and houses range in size from a massive 26,000-square-foot house now under construction
to more modest 2,500-square-foot homes. …
(Development manager Jason) Turcotte said his company was surprised at the number of buyers who are not involved with horses.
“We expected to get the horse people, but we’re actually getting a number of people who want the country feel, who like the idea of horse activity but don’t ride themselves.”
As part of its development agreement with the Township, High Point has dedicated 90 acres to public use as riding trails, protected wetlands and a spring-fed lake. The nine kilometres of trails connect to the 30 kilometres of existing trails in nearby Campbell Valley Regional Park.
It’s about as far south as you can go in Metro without running into America – at the southern foot of 200th Street.
And in a way it is rather like Shaughnessy – a large-lot estate-planned community meant for an elite lifestyle on what was, in this case, a brownfield site already logged. But unlike Shaughnessy – an estate-planned development by the CPR, opened in 1907 as an alternative to the densifying West End for the city’s elite, with its own protective legislation – there is no streetcar connection to High Point, and no intent to ever have transit service here. Unless you commute by horseback.
High Point is also evidence of the far-sightedness and value of park planning made by regional government from the 1960s on. Thanks to the vision and persistence of public servants like Rick Hankin, who pushed his political masters to make massive purchases of green space when the land was cheap, Metro’s 20-plus regional parks are becoming the Stanley Parks of the 21st century – serving new populations (and real-estate developers) who surround what were once pieces of bush and are now the defining public spaces of emerging urban settlement. The difference, of course, is that there is very little affordable housing choice within walking distance of these parks.
But though it may be marketed as ‘rural,’ ‘equestrian,’ or ‘acreage,’ High Point is part of the urban system of Metro Vancouver – absolutely dependent on its support and services. Or as the video says: “Here where the City can be seen in the distance – accessible, but just far enough …”
That seems to assume there will be more car-dependent infrastructure sufficient to keep it “accessible, but just far enough” – a cost that will be borne by us all .
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And far better there than the enormous homes on even bigger lots in the ALR in Richmond
We lived on a 10-acre working farm about 2 miles northeast of High Point until 2006 and saw it as the most egregious example of spot zoning in that part of the valley; it was an example of the “there goes the neighbourhood” feeling we were having about that area, which is deep in the ALR. The developer cleverly gained allies by running a water line all the way down 200th from Fernridge (at 24th), helping the people on rural residential and agricultural parcels who had lousy wells because the aquifer was effectively a gravel field (bad for pollution and prone to dry out in the summer); he also donated a chunk of his land for park and trails, as mentioned above. As for the horse component, I remember quoting at a public hearing the old “all hat and no cattle” definition of a drugstore cowboy to describe the potential new residents. All to no avail. It’s still a beautiful area but places like High Point are car captive and generate a lot more car trips than a rural area ought to. However, the east-west traffic on 16th and 32nd is mind-boggling by comparison
Shaughnessy has real architecture. That development in Langley is just McMansion garbage.
I just took a look at High Point the other day, and “McMansion garbage” is spot on. The construction quality looks average, at best, and the houses look tacky and creepy. Tons of lots remain unsold or undeveloped. The landscaping around the finished homes is awful, and there is little privacy. Also, not a single horse anywhere in sight. Who buys this crap? Money launderers?