Our Neighbourhood News:
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Hi there neighbours, and a very warm welcome to our blog, From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife.
Why do we call it ‘From the Front Porch’? Because that’s where the real news of a community is shared – on front porches and sidewalks, and in coffee shops and playgrounds. So sit down and stay awhile…. and check back regularly, so we can keep you in the Lynn Valley loop.
Visit here for musings on local life from our neighbourhood observer, Lynn O’Malley, and stories from our editor Peggy Trendell-Jensen. Publisher Jim Lanctot weighs in with news from the world of Lynn Valley real estate, and we look forward to bringing you a range of guest voices from your valley neighbours.
If you have any tidbits of interest, please send them along to our neighbourhood news-gatherer, Peggy Trendell-Jensen, at peggy@lynnvalleylife.com. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to post them all, but we’ll do our best to spread the word on this blog page or on our Facebook site!
Here’s the latest news…
Town centre feedback invited at June open houses
May 18, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
As promised, North Vancouver District has expanded the time frame for public consultation on the issue of how the municipality’s Official Community Plan will be implemented in Lynn Valley town centre.
We hope that people will share their views and bring their ideas to the table. You can visit the North Vancouver District booth at Lynn Valley Day, and attend one of the four open house events that are taking place in our neighbourhood from between June 1 and 12. Online feedback will also be collected. All details for engaging in the process are here.
Once options are explored over the spring and summer months, the vision will be narrowed down in the fall to preferred option(s) that will be put before NVD council for their consideration.
We’ve already reported on Mark Sager’s invitation to give your thoughts about the Bosa redevelopment of the mall area, and this will be ongoing up to and including Lynn Valley Day. Read this post for information about Mark’s storefront in the mall.
There have never been so many opportunities to share your thoughts, Lynn Valley, so we encourage you to get out there and have your opinions registered!
Here’s some information from the NVD Identity website:
Celebrate the Long Weekend with great dance band!
May 14, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Lynn Valleyites are invited to get their groove on - the Lynn Valley Legion is bringing back a great crowd-pleaser on Saturday, May 18! Says organizer Brenda Williams: “Once again we have convinced one of Vancouver’s best R ‘n B,…
#2: Oh, hail! Here comes the rain
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
From the garden of Lynn O’Malley… This was going to be a celebratory post about the fact that my sunflower seeds poked their heads above the soil last Saturday, a scant week after I detailed their planting in this post….
Project Sunflower Diary #1: Lynn O’Malley sows her seeds
May 5, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
From the garden of Lynn O’Malley, voice of the valley: For the past two months, the LynnValleyLife team has been planning and promoting its scheme to blanket Lynn Valley in summertime sunflowers. We’ve talked sunflowers, mailed sunflowers, photo’d sunflowers and…
LVL Network members get first peek and VIP pricing at Seylynn Village
April 30, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
We like to offer special treats to our LynnValleyLife Network members whenever we can. So we’re delighted to announce a special, LynnValleyLife-only reception at which our members will be amongst the very first to experience a brand-new neighbourhood just down…
Lynn Valley Day 2013 will hit new heights (literally!)
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
There’s always something new to look forward to at Lynn Valley Days, and 2013 will be no exception! For starters, we want to give a big community thank-you to William F. White International, which is sponsoring all of Lynn Valley…
Seylynn Village investment has potential for great return
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
This perspective on real estate investment is provided to readers by Mortgage Dave, a longtime Lynn Valley mortgage expert. Given the North Shore’s high prices, current investors sometimes wonder if buying in North or West Vancouver can possibly provide a…
Local landscaper gives top tips for lush lawns and great gardens
April 29, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
These spring landscape tips are provided by Lynn Valley local, Matt Boyd of Endless Summer Landscaping. Are you looking forward to a beautiful, lush, green lawn this year, surrounded by attractive gardens and dotted with healthy trees? These top…
Fixed vs. variable rates: how to choose
April 28, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
This advice is provided to LynnValleyLife readers courtesy of Mortgage Dave, a local mortgage expert and busy volunteer in our community. One of the most important decisions when choosing a mortgage is whether to lock in a fixed interest rate…
Mark Sager given mandate to gather public planning views
April 26, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Last fall, Canada Safeway and Bosa Development sent North Vancouver District some preliminary applications for a newly imagined Lynn Valley Mall area. Their plans called for high-rise towers that got the ‘thumbs-up’ from some residents, but also resulted in an…
Project Sunflower set to launch!
April 13, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
This is the week that many of our LynnValleyLife Network members are receiving their Project Sunflower seed packets in the mail or on their doorstep (let’s hope those late-season snow flurries won’t be visiting the Upper Lynn area any more!)…
Cousteau name graces LV French school
April 7, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Last month, the The French International School of Vancouver (located in Lynn Valley’s former Fromme Elementary building) honoured the legacy of visionary Jacques-Yves Cousteau — the most celebrated French defender of marine ecology— by renaming itself The French International School…
Writing fest comes to Lynn Valley Library
April 1, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Readers of all stripes will find something to look forward to at the 2013 North Shore Writers Festival, which is being hosted this year at Lynn Valley Library on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20. Included in the line-up…
Coach Janet’s Top 5 Procrastination-Busters
March 29, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Procrastination eats away at our ability to achieve the success we want in our business and personal lives. It steals hours, days, months and years, and delays the benefits associated with completing our actions. Practice these five tips to start…
LV Optometry employee plans Mexican aid trip
March 24, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
April showers bring May flowers, and for Krista Phillips at Lynn Valley Optometry, May is the month her dreamed-about non-profit endeavour will finally blossom. Krista is part of a team of young people who are travelling to an impoverished area…
Advent of spring means LV Day coming soon!
March 20, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Happy Spring, everyone! Snowdrops and crocuses are currently doing their annual warm-up act for the daffs and tulips that will soon be putting on a show. But they aren’t the only ones busy doing their thing. The organizers of the…
Almost-spring days give cause for celebration
March 8, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
From Lynn O’Malley’s typewriter: These first sunny days of almost-spring make me realize how cabin-fevered I had become! There are still a few weeks ’til spring officially kicks in, and an even longer haul ’til we get some reliable, lasting…
Leave space in the garden for Project Sunflower
March 4, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Last fall, those of us at LynnValleyLife HQ had a great time reading the nominations for our first-annual Good Neighbour Award, which wrapped up at the end of December. In fact, we had such a good time, we realized we’d…
John Gilmour enjoys the present while planning for the future
March 1, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
John Gilmour’s name and face are familiar to anyone who has followed Lynn Valley issues and politics over the past few years – because if there’s one thing John likes, it’s meeting the people in the neighbourhood. His self-confessed passion…
Coach Janet’s Top Five Ways to Accomplish More
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
The most successful people place high value on their time and constantly strive to use it more efficiently and effectively. As Brian Tracy says, “The starting point of developing good time management skills is for you to realize that time management…
School registration deadline approaches
February 27, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
It’s time to think about September school entry, Moms and Dads! The North Vancouver School District Registration deadlines are here. You have until March 8 to ensure your child has priority for placement in their school of choice for September 2013. Look…
Wintry weather perfect for library book sale
February 21, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Don’t let the rain and cold get you down – that’s perfect weather for book-browsing! The Friends of the Library are having their semi-annual book sale this weekend, from Feb. 22 to 24 (see our Events Calendar for times). Each…
Lynn Valley tops Readers’ Choice Awards!
February 13, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Breaking news! Consider this: if Vancouver is ranked amongst the Top 3 livable cities in the world, and Lynn Valley has just been picked as the North Shore’s best neighbourhood, does that mean we just might live in what may…
LynnValleyLife welcomes 1,000th Facebook friend!
February 5, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
This past couple of weeks, our Facebook friends seemed to be multiplying by the minute – we were starting to wonder if there was something in the water! We’re now delighted to announce our 1000th Facebook friend: Mary-Ann Yazedji, who…
LV man promoting mountain film fest
February 1, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Lynn Valley resident Steven Threndyle is PR director for the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. He’d like to invite the community to come out to the festival, which runs from Feb. 8 to 17. Steven, tell us about your role…
Coach Janet’s Top Five Leadership Qualities
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
While there are several qualities inherent to good leadership, a handful stand out as being more impactful than others. The good news is that each of these qualities can be learned by practice and repetition. Be Future-Oriented “You become what…
What does future hold for the Black Bear Pub?
January 31, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Ever since the Lynn Valley town planning process first got under way, queries and rumours have been floating around regarding the neighbourhood’s favourite ‘local.’ What, people wonder anxiously, will become of the Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub if redevelopment proposals for Lynn…
Adopt a Lynn Valley street today!
January 30, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
There’s a great new North Vancouver District program that can improve your life – and your community – all at the same time. Whether you want to teach your kids responsibility, lose a few pounds, get your partner out walking…
New group supports those in pain
January 21, 2013From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Heather Divine, founder and CEO of the non-profit People in Pain Network (PIPN), invites local residents to attend a new group that will meet in Lynn Valley on the fourth Wednesday of each month. The goal of the organization is…
Public hearing held for 27th and Mountain Hwy
From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife
Polygon, the developer behind The Branches residence across from Safeway on 27th Street, has proposed another multi-family complex on the corner of Mountain Highway and 27th Street. An open house to discuss the four and five-storey buildings was held on…
