When brothers Thomas and William Ladner settled in the area in the 1860s it was a small fishing and farming village.

While the population has grown, mostly due to the opening of the George Massey Tunnel in 1959, that small town feeling still remains.

And that's the way many residents like it.

"It's a real community," says Ellie Newman, who has lived in the area for 10 years, as she walks home through the heart of Ladner Village with a bag full of groceries.

"Well, you can pretty much walk anywhere," she says, adding that McKee Seniors' Recreation Centre is a great resource for local seniors.

It's one of the first sunny days in a while and Ladnerites are out enjoying all the community has to offer. People are jogging on the dike, cycling around town, walking their dogs and taking advantage of the many parks.

"Everything's close - schools, restaurants, stores, the library," says Kath Laidlaw as she keeps one eye on grandson Braeden Cole, 5, who is clearly loving the water park at Memorial Park.

"There are lots of things to do for families," says the grandmother of eight.

A woman sunbathes on the grass while another reads under a tree.

"I love that it still seems like a village and it's close to the city," says one woman who did not want to her name used. She says she loves that the community is surrounded by the water and agriculture.

"It just really has a lot of everything here."

Many note with eagerness the impending changes on the waterfront, the annual Ladner Village Market and the strong feeling of community as local highlights.

Ernesto Serrano moved to Ladner from the Philippines seven years ago.

"The people and the place, and the weather," he says when asked what his favourite things are about Ladner as he walks his dog through a local park.

"Everything, it's a nice town," sums up Roger Bain, who is in Ladner daily to walk his daughter's dog.