Well, there goes the shelters for the homeless.

Personally I like the coverage from the elements. If I have to shop downtown would prefer that, kind of like being in a mall.

Spruceland Mall is a great place, with people taking advantage of the food places and sitting outside and enjoying the day.

Riverpoint is a wasteland, just run from your car into the store and back to the car.

Downtown will continue to be a wasteland, as who is going to drive all the way from the major population centres, to downtown, to try and park, and now deal even more with the elements, to shop ?

so is the city going to clean the sidewalks in the winter?

Is it that people forget this isn't California?
Having a trendy shopping district without canopies is never going to happen here.
We get snow/wet snow/rain/sleet/hail.

I wonder if anyone did a study of the shopping habits of people on third avenue before and after the removal of the canopies.

The city councils of the day's prior to this one and including this one have studied everything else to death.

Posted by: Boudicca on May 19 2010 8:51 AMso is the city going to clean the sidewalks in the winter?


ROTFLMFAO!!! ya they will clean them about as good as they keep up on them now in the winter!!

I think it is silly to get rid of them but..................hey what do I know, I just work and pay taxes!!

I work downtown and I really do appreciate the canopies; without them I am not so sure I will whip out to buy lunch or go take a look in some of the shops. I visited the city of Anchorage and they have a beautiful downtown area with clear canopies that let the light shine through, and baskets brimming with flowers under them. They have park benches for people to stop and linger. One of the very first things that annoyed me when I started to work downtown was the lack of garbage disposal containers downtown. You can walk for blocks without seeing a garbage can. we've had people come into our office and ask to use our garbage can. How costly can garbage cans be? Especially, when I have also seen a little mobile vacuum cleaner type machine, that a city employee sits on and drives around and picks up the garbage that is everywhere. It really doesn't make much sense to me.

Canopies ... no canopies ... canopies .. no canopies .....

What shall it be?

City canopies means the City has to maintain them. We do not have the money. If that is the reason the canpies are being removed, then so be it.

BUT to think that this will be part of the actions which will assist in bringing more people downtown ..... well, it did not do that when the canopies were removed on 3rd, at least not visibly so.

Canopies were added to Prince George in the early 1970's at a time when several other cities in North America were doing the same thing.

Here is a picture from Allantown, PA in 1973. The canpies in Portland OR were of a similar design.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Hamilton-mall-allentown-pa-june-1973.jpg

If the canopies in PG had ever been this nice I would object strongly to removing them, not that it would stop them from being removed. LOL.

However, the ones we were able to afford or decided would be appropriate for us leave somethign to be desired in their design. Time to remove them and hope building owners will eventually provide a mish mash of canopies so that pedestrians can dodge from one to the other.

Want a canopy? Go to Spruceland. They did not spend the money to tear them down. They spent money to give them a bit of a new look. Those mall owners and merchants must know something that downtown business owners and the City Mommies and Daddies do not know. :-)

I too think that this is a bad idea. I love having the canopies there for protection from the elements. And as someone else stated above who is going to take care of the sidewalks? The store owners? Or the city. I lived in Fernie a couple of years ago and the store owners were in charge of clearing the sidewalks.

The city will not take care of sidewalks downtown...they cant even look after the ones in the subdivisions...you cannot go for a nice walk in the neighbourhood and hold your head up or you will do a nose dive/tripping...that is if the sidewalk is even visible in some areas.....pathetic...

Glad to see those crappy canopies going - they are an eye sore and as for cleaning the sidewalks of snow, a little bit of exercise never hurt anyone - store owners should take pride in what their store looks like on the inside as well as the out!

Agrees with greta.

Now if a store owner wants to have their own awning installed, is that allowed or is this "no canopy" issue a new bylaw?

store owners should take pride in what their store looks like on the inside as well as the out!

Have you seen any of those stores? The inside is barely better than the outside. Plus, it would have to be a paid employee or the store proprietor doing the work.
Are you volunteering for the little bit of added exercise?

I have heard it said that to be a business owner, one only needs to work half a day. 6 to 6, 8 to 8, 12 to 12, any half you like.

I have always maintained that it is a huge dumb bonehead move to remove awnings downtown in what is known as a winter city.

I didn't know there were any stores left on George Street to actually shop in,so I can't see a need for the canopies.I may goto The Keg once in awhile,but that pretty much sums up,the amount of time I spend on that street, as not much else is there to attract me.I would say the only time I spend any amount of time downtown, is Christmas season,and for that fourth ave. usually receives my business.

Up, down, up, down. They look fine and they keep the snow and rain off, don't fix what ain't broken. What a waste of time and money. Just leave them the way they are and get on with other things already!

A make work project to get the taxpayers of PG into thinking progress is being made downtown.

Noooo! The canopies provide some of the only shade/rain cover/snow cover downtown! I don't drive, and these parts are always a nice respite for me whatever the season.

Sure seems like the powers did not ask any citizens if the canopies should stay or go.
It sure ais nice to have a roof over the sidewalk when it is pouring cold rain. If the business owners plump for an awning or canopy to protect their customers, the overall appearance won't improve.
I agree, removing the canopies is a bad idea.
metalman.

Its a dark street that attracts the bad element... but I don't think removing the canopies will help much.

IMO remove all the old 90 year old buildings on the west side of the street and add two more lanes with a grass median leading up to city hall and that would be an improvement.

Removing the canopies is cosmetics that is a step backwards come winter time.