*Civic plaza lights up for the season. Photo: Ghislaine Courcelles*

We love the seasonal lights for their counterpoint to the darker days. We hope the coming year brings hope, opportunity, and meaningful progress for our community. May the season bring you warmth and peace, Martyn, Heather, Greg, and Duncan.

*Shipyards festive light decos. Photo: Ghislaine Courcelles*

*Shipyards gingerbread - do not eat. Photo: Ghislaine Courcelles*

*The only snowflake on the North Shore today. Photo: Heather Drugge*

*Tempus fugit: time flies into a new year. Photo: Heather Drugge*
**Municipal Elections are coming in October 2026**
If you want positive change in our community, the councils we elect *really* matter. The best way you can help is to forward this newsletter to a few friends, and suggest they join our email list. We're building a group of like-minded people who want to see the North Shore positively embrace and manage the many changes we face. Thanks, we really appreciate it.

North Shore Housing Targets Comparison

Municipality	20-Year Target	Strategy Approach	Council Vote
✓ MET District of North Vancouver	22,369 units	Continue existing centre-focused strategy 75-90% in town/village centres. Up to 3 units per lot in single-family zones.	4-3 vote Narrow approval Passed Dec 8
✓ MET City of North Vancouver	6,556 units	Widespread multiplex zoning enabling 4-6 units on ~5,000 properties across low-density neighborhoods. Heritage areas temporarily exempted.	6-1 approval Passed late Nov 2025
✓ MET District of West Vancouver	10,742 units	Infill housing (2,150-2,400), local area plans for Ambleside & Taylor Way-Park Royal (2,600-3,600), plus future neighborhoods (5,400).	Unanimous approval Passed Dec 1

Zoning progress in 2025

The requirement for more housing: In 2025, the provincial government required each of our North Shore municipalities to amend their zoning bylaws to permit additional housing, up to or exceeding provincially set housing targets for 2040. The changes needed to be baked into each Official Community Plan by December 31st. Despite much grumbling from mayors and some councillors, all three municipalities met the deadline.

How municipalities responded: more homes and more housing types are now (variably) supported by zoning across the Shore, including

Secondary suites and coach houses (+stratification)
Triplexes and fourplexes (+stratification)
Missing middle housing (townhouses, low-rise apartments)
Mixed-use development
Rental and non-market housing

What that means: Property owners now have more choice regarding what they can build. Over time, this should lead to greater housing choice and lower costs compared with single-family homes. Ultimately, cost reductions should lead to more attainable housing for people.

Community events

Join us for a fun and festive community bike ride.

Light up your bikes and bring your holiday spirit! This family-friendly event supports the Wonder Wheels program (formerly Bikes for Tykes) from Family Services of the North Shore and HUB Cycling.

📅 Date: Saturday, January 3rd at 4:30 p.m.

📍 Grand Boulevard and 15th

We’ll depart from Grand Boulevard & 15th Street, head up to Lynn Valley Centre, then loop west toward Jones Ave before rolling down to the Shipyards.

🎟️ Free, but you can make a donation

Every participant must be registered.

Register to ride

A Little Free Libraries project

📚 Well-informed citizens vote for well-designed communities

Better North Shore will seed Little Free Libraries with books on optimistic city and transportation design. It’s a low-cost, high-impact way to plant powerful ideas about building better communities. If you have one of these books and would donate or buy one for this purpose, please get in touch at hello@betternorthshore.ca

Walkable City by Jeff Speck
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles L. Maron
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (A classic!)
Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery
Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar
How to Fall in Love with the Future: A time-traveller’s guide to changing the world by Rob Hopkins
From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins
City Farmer: Adventures in urban food growing by Lorraine Johnson
How to be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a better world by Chris Turner (addresses climate anxiety hopefully)
Life After Cars by Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon
Human Transit by Jarett Walker

Where on the Shore?

*The first person to send us an email with the location of this winter stag will receive a Better North Shore T-shirt. (Past winners are ineligible)* *hello@betternorthshore.ca* *Photo: Ghislaine Courcelles*

Want to get more involved with Better North Shore? We’ve created a private chat server—a safe space to organize, exchange ideas, and work on making the North Shore better. If you’d like to get more involved, please join our Discord server. Join using this invite link.

If this newsletter and our stories resonate with you and your values, please forward this to a few friends, and suggest they join our email list. We're building a group of like-minded people who want to see the North Shore positively embrace and manage the many changes we face. Thanks, we really appreciate it.

December 2025 on the Shore