Clear Full Forecast

myPG Draft Plan Ready

By 250 News

Thursday, June 17, 2010 03:59 AM

Prince George B.C.- With 19 goals spread over three categories, the draft community sustainability plan is ready.
It will be presented to Prince George City Council on Monday evening and if given final approval, the plan to roll it out will begin.
This plan paints a picture of what Prince George should look like in the next 40 years in the areas of social, environmental and economic development.
Having such a plan is critical for the City to access funding in the future. It will ensure the City continues to receive the gas tax funds ($2.9 million a year) and that the City qualifies for other funding pools which require such a plan be in place.
Here are some highlights: 
The items are listed within each category in alphabetical order. Those marked with an asterisk* were on the top ten goals identified by the community.
 

Social:

Goal Description
Affordable Accessible Housing Offer acessible, affordable  and safe housing for all, and eliminate homelessness
Clear Identity and Pride*

Have a clear identity that the community can be proud of, with a strong downtown and connection to its rivers and natural surroundings
Culturally Rich* Have a rich cultural life with more events, facilities, education and community involvement in the arts to support economic and social growth
Equitable Community* People of all backgrounds ad ethnicities and income levels can access services
Healthy and Active* Be a community that encourages and supports health and wellness
Safe Community* Create an environment where all citizens feel safe
Supportive and engaged* Be a friendly and engaged community with strong social connections

 

Environment:

Goal Description
Clean Air* Enjoy clean air
Clean Water Protect the water supply and waterways and reduce consumption
Green City, Green Practices* Be a green city with healthy  habitat and forests and a strong environmental consciousness led by government and local organizations that demonstrate sustainable practices
Green Energy Be a leader in green energy
Reduce Carbon Emissions and Adapt to Climate Change Reduce carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels and be prepared for climate change
Reduced Waste Reduce sold waste production and landfilling

Economy

 Goal  Description
 

Diverse Economy*

  Have a diverse economy to augment our forestry base, responding well to changing global trends and offering a good local return on investment through a focus on local food, service, green energy and a knowledge-based resource economy connected to the  world
 Fiscal Responsibility  Carefully budget to ensure effective and responsible use of financial resources
 International Connections  Have well established international connections and international partners
 Job Diversity and  Accessibility  Have many good jobs to suit the diversity and aspirations of people in Prince George with programs that support developing the skills and knowledge needed to fill them
Sustainable Business   Be a model for northern cities in green and local business  and bioenergy
 Vibrant Economy*  Be a centre for  vibrant economic growth in Northern B.C. atracting  newcomers and business and service choice.

The draft plan includes a number of suggestions on  how those goals can be achieved and what  role  ( city, stakeholders,  residents)  should  play in achieving those goals.  For instance,  when it comes to affordable asccessible housing,  it  calls for the City to  prefer those developments which call for  multi -family dwellings,  while on the resident's side, it suggests people reduce the level of rent for  in home suites to those who  are  facing  financial  challenges.

 


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Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Comment Posted by: Retired on June 17 2010 10:34 AM
Have a clear identity that the community can be proud of, with a strong downtown and connection to its rivers and natural surroundings

What does that mean. Seems we have all of that now. The clear identity that we have now are boulevards and parks that are overgrown with weeds, streets lined with ugly asphalt sidewalks and crumbling concrete curbs and there is no sign that this crumbling infrastructure will ever be improved.

They screwed up on the planning and now all we hear is fix the downtown. Sure we can fix it if we had another 25000 or so increase in our population. There is basically a sad lack of community pride.
Cheers
Comment Posted by: gus on June 17 2010 10:38 AM
And this took how long and how many dollars to state the obvious? I want to hear and see the people who will speak out publicly against the statements with asterisks!!!!

Then take them and lead them from the community to Hixon. A 40 passenger bus might be adequate.
Comment Posted by: gus on June 17 2010 10:45 AM
Well, you got it right Retired!!!

Want to solve the problem. As in many cases, we first have to recognize that we have that "problem". Many people do not recognize it or refuse to recognize it.

Once we recognize it, then it should be easier to deal with it as long as people want to deal with it. Maybe some recognize it and they really do not care.

Which brings me to the question of how many actually support these ideals. 500? 1,000?

What about the rest of the population? Have they turned a blind eye to that part of the community, have withdrawn in their shell of personal surroundings that works just fine for them and they have become used to the response when people ask:

"Where are you from?"

"Prince George" you answer.

"Oh" they respond.
Comment Posted by: gus on June 17 2010 10:56 AM
Of course here is the real reason why this exercise took place:

"Having such a plan is critical for the City to access funding in the future. It will ensure the City continues to receive the gas tax funds ($2.9 million a year) and that the City qualifies for other funding pools which require such a plan be in place."

We did it for the money, not because we believed in it! There is problem number one right from the start!

I wonder how much teeth that has? Will we have to develop 5 year implementtion plans with measurable objectives and identify dollars to implementing the activities associated with each obejctive?

Why can't we just take the money and run and BS our way through the other stuff? We have been going at it for decades, we should be able to do so for many more.

Sort of like that piece on the Daily Show show last night of how many US presidents talked about getting off the oil kick before Obama did - they showed clips from the previous 7. Funny as hell if it was not so sad and outright dangerous.
Comment Posted by: gus on June 17 2010 10:58 AM
One other note. This is the way the new $100,000+ communications guru is releasing this story?

Sad!
Comment Posted by: NMG on June 17 2010 11:40 AM
My favourite is "enjoy clean air". As opposed to what, "accept bad air", "pretend we enjoy clean air" or "clean air, what is that"?
Comment Posted by: Harbinger on June 17 2010 12:28 PM
After reading the English language and learning a whole bunch about grammar for nye onto 57 years the moment I saw those asterisks I kinda was sure there would be footnotes below this article. Has the concept of using asterisks changed while I wasn't reading? Them folks at myPG better engage the use of a Canadian speaking proofreader before they publish anything else. Seems to me they need some more book learnin'.
Comment Posted by: Retired on June 17 2010 12:29 PM
Gus, Its called politics. We tried to set up a Tax Payers Association without any luck.

What really baffles me is how did the people in the Miller Addtion become so well organized and got the results they wanted. Maybe money is not important and health is.

"Where are you from?"
And I guess thats not important to many in our comunity.
heers

Comment Posted by: gus on June 17 2010 1:04 PM
"This plan paints a picture of what Prince George should look like in the next 40 years in the areas of social, environmental and economic development."

If we take the Prince George of 40 years ago, 1970, and ask ourselves what did the Prince George of 2010 look like to the people that were looking into the future then. It certainly was not like what we got.

Then we ask ourselves why did we not get what we thought we were heading to. I think we would get a really good concept of what to change to make the next 40 years more successful. Take the postives from those years, and we have seen some of those mentioned just in the last couple of days on here, and work on applying similar approaches on other areas that need special attention.

Yes, a ratepayers group, Retired. A PACHA tht looks at the wholistic side of PG. In fact, when PACHA was first formed, one individual I know was wondering why the group was so focused. There are other aspects of this city that need similar attention.