The only growth in PG has been in the over 50 age group... we might have double digit growth in that demographic... from 30-years ago the cities population between the age of 20-40 (the productive years) has nearly dropped in half. That is a bad situation for PG's future, and I don't see anything turning that around any time soon. The pool of people and industry able to support the growing tax burden is simply drying up and is already acting as a negative influence on PGs future unless the situation starts to turn around soon. PG has become Canada version of Detroit.

Other than to go to university and college why would anyone that is in their early adult years want to make PG their home when looking at the job market and potential for future growth? We are competing against places like Kamloops, Kelowna, Victoria, the Lower Mainland, and Alberta... all of which are places with growing youthful populations. Young people are not dumb and they realize PG is pegged as a place to be exploited, but not settled for the long term. That is PGs self fulfilling reputation and its a reflection of a bureaucratic culture in these parts IMO. We all pay for their false promises and silo’s of Empire building… they have a skewed internal view of their own self worth that is detrimental to everything they touch. The bureaucracy sets the tone in PG and not the free enterprise economy anymore.

I don’t think PG has a had a single politician truly looking out for the best interests of this city at all levels of government in more than 30-years… save one or two councilors pushing water upstream to no effect. They have all been opportunists that set the tone for our dysfunctional governing culture. How many of those same politicians and bureaucrats that represented this city chose to stay in this city after retirement… very few, which says a lot.

Something to think about next time you vote regardless of political persuasion.

Politicians are soooooo full of it!

Attracting athletes to train in PG has been about as successful as enticing cargo jets to land and re-fuel in PG. It would be interesting to know the real cost of getting the one and only jet to land here so far since it had re-fueled in Anchorage and really did not need to stop here other than to not leave egg all over the faces of the airport brass who with great fanfare had for days announced the cargo jet's landing.
Wonder when IPG is going to get the population number used in their Opinions 250 advertisement corrected? Seems Ben's take on the population of PG and IPG's have a significant difference.
It is no wonder the city has hired a new spin doctor. It is getting extremely hard to stomach what comes out of the mouths of our local politicians.

While I make no bones regarding my detest of the Olympics, more for their heavy handed corporate agenda than anything, I do find it interesting that Ben and many others are so quick to forget one bonus the City of PG did receive.

The Road To The Roar. That week long curling event would never have been here had there been no Olympic games. Sure, it might have been held here anyway if the games were elsewhere but the fact remains we got "something" from it.

Yes Pylot and my husband and I attended the Road to Roar. My mother in-law also came in from out of town. The attendance for it was very embarrassing. It was obvious to us that Prince George was not a curling town. Or maybe it was the price of the tickets which were in my opinion expensive. We enjoyed ourselves and got to watch some of Canada’s best curlers. It would have been nice if people would have made an attempt to support this event but it is what it is. I am sure the next time they are looking for a place to hold their event; Prince George will be at the bottom of the list. We all know that every thing is about money and I am sure they did not do close to as well as they wanted. We dropped the ball on this one and we will pay dearly in the future for it.

It was the same for the international baseball tournament last summer. Attendance was not all that great!

Yeah, and another thing worries me too about this whole "Olympic" thing.

When the party is over next month, where are all those thousands of mostly lower mainland contractors, unions, first nations, labourers, advertizers, etc., that have been "earning" their living for the last eight or nine years, getting this Province ready for the Olympics, gonna find jobs come March?

Yeah, there'll be some "mop-up" jobs after the fact, but I suspect the unemployment tally for this Province is gonna take another big jump this spring, unless a new mega project gets underway pretty quick, and this time folks - I think its the North that needs a turn at the trough, like maybe the four lane highway PG to Cache Creek, electrification of hwy 37, pipelines, mines, whatever.

We've been carrying too much of the weight of the entire Province up here for too little return, far too long.

"Other than to go to university and college why would anyone that is in their early adult years want to make PG their home when looking at the job market and potential for future growth? We are competing against places like Kamloops, Kelowna, Victoria, the Lower Mainland, and Alberta... all of which are places with growing youthful populations. Young people are not dumb and they realize PG is pegged as a place to be exploited, but not settled for the long term"

People used to move to Prince George for employment. Many of those moved again, through promotion, or better job opportunities elsewhere, usually south of here. Some people stayed, because they like it here (or they had a good job and liked it here) I have heard for years that PG is 'a nice place to be from'
Sad, but true. For me, the south holds no attraction, too many people, too much traffic, land prices too high. Unfortunately, Prince George will probably continue to be a stepping stone to other 'more desirable' locales.
metalman.

People used to move to Prince George for employment.

And now that is gone. I do agree with you metalman that Prince George is still pretty affordable compared to the south. If our city keeps raising the taxes, increasing their wages and borrowing money, that may not last long. Our mayor's salary is at least $5000.00 a year more than any other city of its size in BC.
We need to stop spending money on pet projects because things are going to be tight for another 5 years or more. No art centre, paved trail or police station until the population increases or jobs start being created. That is just my opinion.

Little building on the hill called the Northern Sports Centre that is a direct benefit of the Olympics. No way that project happens without the Games or the $20 million the government coughed up for it.
Agree or disagree with it being built, the price tag involved, or the on-going operational costs but there is little doubt that it wil help attract students to UNBC and the community.

Lots of great comments regarding Prince George and the Olympics.

There is a lack of political leadership in Prince George. These same political leaders have no sense of reality and are about to impose further tax increases.

The City is run by the bureaucrats, who are solidy anti-development, and with no development, we have an entire Development Services department sitting on their hands with nothing to do except to create more roadblocks for the local builders.

The Northern Sport Centre may very well have been built as a result of the Olympics, however as usual once its been built the cost of maintaining it downloads to the City and the University.

The University pours $300,000.00 per year into this Monolithic building, and a further $300,000.00 per year is supplied by the City. I suspect that if the truth were know the Universitys portion comes out of students tuition fees.

In any event it costs $600,000.00 per year to operate, and is not used anywhere near capacity. Im not aware of any Olympic athletes training anywhere near this building., What we do have is older soccer players, some weight lifters, a few raqauet ball players, some injured rehabing WCB claiments, and quite a few elderly people walking for excercise, plus a small number of University students using the facilities.

Its the cost of maintenance on all the buildings in Prince George that is killing us.

I will admit its great for the Womens and Mens UNBC basketball teams.

Resident wrote:
"Wonder when IPG is going to get the population number used in their Opinions 250 advertisement corrected? Seems Ben's take on the population of PG and IPG's have a significant difference.
It is no wonder the city has hired a new spin doctor. It is getting extremely hard to stomach what comes out of the mouths of our local politicians."

The City's web site recently changed.

http://www.city.pg.bc.ca

Top of the page: "Known as BC's northern capital, Prince George is a bustling city of over 83,225" The $100,000/yr spin doctor at work.

That IS the number for the Prince George CMA census tract in 2006. In other words, greater Prince George. It takes in an area of almost 18,000 square km.

It was 85,035 in 2001

So, they could use that number if they identified what it actually refers to. It is most certainly not the City.