There are 2 North Vancouvers, but politicians are considering merging them

At the momentthere are two North Vancouvers but some councillorsthink the North Shore isn't big enough for both of them.

In aunanimous vote on Monday night, District of North Vancouver councillorsvoted to look at amalgamatingwith the City of North Vancouver and make the two municipalities one.

North Vancouver has been split into a district and a city for decades. The district is a far bigger area, surrounding the city on three sides; the bridges to Vancouver connectto the districtto the east and west of the city.

The city has a denser, moreurban population, while the district doesn't have much of a downtown core at all. Instead, it's characterized by suburbs withsingle family homes. Each municipality has its own government, fire department and other city services.

In their motion, districtcouncillorssaid NorthVancouver residents would be better served if the district and the city pooled their resources.

"Our borders are artificial," the motion read. "Aunified North Vancouver will have a stronger, more cohesive voice at the regional table."

Councillors also said traffic and community planning would be better handled if the municipalities combined. Congestion on the North Shore has long been a massive problemespecially with a recent boom in construction to the point where it became an issue for aprovincial MLA.

With the vote, the district will move forward with an open letter and survey to residents of both municipalities to gauge response to the idea of amalgamation.

It's not the first time the district has proposed to the city.In 1968, the bigger municipality held a referendum on the issue for both district and city residents to vote on.

District residents were overwhelmingly in favour of unification, but city residents were split 50/50 so the proposal didn't go through.

Neither the district nor the city mayor is seeking re-election in the fall, each after serving four terms in office.

District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton announced he wouldn't be running again last month. City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussattosaid he's leaving politics to take on "new challenges."