Interesting information from the final meaningful census where participation was mandatory.

So, how do get people to start living here?? like Kelowna and Kamloops are exploding with people.... but then theres Prince George... dwindling... :(

Listen to all the PR coming out of Kamloops and Kelowna, like Sunny and Hot , I think no one talks about Winter there. What are we doing using Slogans Like "We are Winter".

I do not know about why other people left Prince George but I can tell you why we are leaving now that our house sold.

Air Quality
Constant raising of house taxes
High Crime
Gas prices always the highest in PG

Our house taxes have been raised every year for 4 years and now they have announced that it will raise for the next 3 years 6% due to the winter games. This is wrong on so many levels and our home should not be held hostage by the city for sports. We are moving to the Okanagan where house taxes are $1000.00 or more less per year. The city is on a spending spree with the 11klm paved trail, new police detachment and Art Centre. The city is in the realstate business.

4 woman were attacked this last summer and/or dead or still missing. None of the cases have been solved. We had two snowmobiles and their trailer stolen right out of our yard in broad daylight and never found. Prince George has been named as the city with the highest crime.

We have decided to move along but wish everyone in Prince George nothing but happiness and prosperity. The people we have met here are some of the best!

I sincerely wish you good luck and happiness in your new location, Caringsoul.
Just a comment on the two snowmobiles and trailer stolen out of your yard. Unfortunately having snowmobiles, quads, rhinos etc sitting unsecured in a yard is just an invitation to thieves. I doubt it is different in any city in Canada. If they are not secured as in nailed down they will be stolen. They are an easy target no matter which city you live in.

The Citys focus over the years was to spend tax payers money on any and all projects they could think of. They spend a lot of their time finding projects with the Provincial or Federal Government and then with matching funds they build the project. Rarely has the project have anything to do with good management or any sort of spin off for the residents of Prince George.

The Community Energy System is a case in point. $8/9 Million available from the Feds for a **Green Project** the City comes up with the Energy System plan and with approx $6 Million in tax payers dollars commences to implement the project.

This project has very little if any benefit for the citizens of Prince George. It has a huge cost, financed over 20 years and very little if any payback. At best you will recoup your expenditures after 20 years. It means heating buildings with water, even though they are already wired and piped for electricity and gas. If it wasnt for the Federal Government money being available it would never be built. A total waste of time and money, but gauranteed to raise your taxes.

Same thing with the new Police Station. This project started in 1997 with the revelation from the City that we needed a new station. 13 years later they still have not built it. How did we manage for the past 13 years??? The original building was designed to go to three stories if needed as the City grew. Why is it now being stated that it is cheaper to build a new building and less disruptive to the RCMP. Are we going to piss away $5/10 Million extra dollars plus financing so that we dont have to disrupt the RCMP. Put them in the bloody Civic Centre for the short term. That building is hardly ever used.

We are now having to put out $38 Million for a new station, plus interest. This amounts to approx $68/70 Million over 20 years, and **boom** your taxes go up again.

The Police station is the wrong building, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, however you can rest assured that the City will go ahead with the ill fated plan, because they seem unable to change course once they get started.

The bottom line is as outlined by Ben. That at the end of the day we have less people to pay these taxes. Young people to-day for the most part earn between $8-12 dollars per hour, with restrictions on the number of hours worked. People who have retired have seen their incomes drop by over 50% while their taxes continue to go up. Between the young and the old, this is a recipe for disaster down the road.

We need to cut back of all the **big time** spending and come to grips with reality. If not, more people will continue to leave.

There is some relief in the employment picture West of Prince George. The big expansion at Endako Mines, and the huge project at Alcan Kitimat if it goes forward. This will certainly help in the short term, however at the end of the day there will be fewer jobs. When the new project is complete Alcan will have 400 less jobs.

So we need to re-invent ourselves. However ths first thing we need to do is get the taxes down. Low taxes, and good services, plus good facilities for seniors etc; will be a drawing card for Prince George.

A fancy Police Station, Boundry Road, River Road upgrade, Energy System, and Winter Games, while good for Contractors in the short term. does nothing for the City over the long term.

If we cant look after our basic needs without continously raising our taxes, then we may as well throw in the towel.

We now have what they call the **Boomerang** generation where kids leave home, and then return because they cant afford to live elsewhere. So they end up in the basement etc;

The economy is not going to turn around in the short term, and in fact could get a lot worse. City Hall has to come to terms with how it spends our money.

No more frivoulous BS programs. Get back to the basics. Cut some costs.

CaringSoul and Palopu I couldn't agree more, the City Mayor and councilors are out of touch with all this spending on major projects. I to am leaving Prince George next spring, mainly for the reasons given by caringsoul and palopu. Okanagan here I come. I am already looking for a place.

I forgot we came to Prince George in 1968.

We came to Prince George in 1968 as well. My parents and brother moved to Kamploops in 1975. My wife and I took the plunge and moved to Kamloops in 2003 and came back to PG in 2008. If it wasn't for our family here we would have stayed in Kamloops. You have to remember though people in Pr Geo are much more approachable than Kamloops, It's easy to say hi to someone and start conversation or have someone hold a door for you. Don't see too much of that in Kamloops.

When politics becomes a lucrative career choice, thats when you have issues like PG has presently. But this is nothing new everywhere else.

People with short sighted, misguided opinions for what the city absolutely needs without really involving the community inthe decisions. What was this other police station on 5th built for?

Gee this place hasn't grown in population in decades and it is easy to see why.

Well my Family and I are thinking to move to Red deer Alberta :) B.C. Is going down the drain... sorry to say, i liked it here...

There is too much waste and mismanagement in Prince George. All these money wasted on construction of new half empty buildings and roads could have been spent on cleaning the enviornment and cleaning the city of crime and improving the quality of life.

The enrolnment in UNBC is also down more than 3% this year and the numbers have gone down below 3000 red line.

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents, since I'll soon be leaving PG as well. In my case, I'm heading way East and will be relocating to Ottawa.

This was a tough choice for a number of reasons. I was born and raised in PG, my family roots in PG go back many generations and I think it has allot of upsides. That said, I also think there are some serious issues:

- Air quality is atrocious and despite all the talk of governments being committed to fixing the problem, nothing meanningful has occured. I'm tired of going through weeks of time every year where I feel sick just from breathing the air here.
- The increasing crime here and the TYPE of crime we are experiencing is not something I'm comfortable with, especially given that I have a new son. This is not the same PG I grew up in it has turned into a much darker city when it comes to the types of criminals that lurk in our streets.
- The economic future for the region is questionable IMHO. I don't forsee any significant change to our economic base in the decade or two ahead (in fact I see it getting worse given the ongoing issues in forestry despite what Pat Bell says) and as a result, I continue to see our population slipping and as a direct result, I also see our ability to fund desired services slipping as well.
- I have little to no faith that the City of PG can manage itself as a progressive organization and make the city better for its' citizens. I don't beleive there is a great deal of leadership on our city council and I don't even think there is a great deal of leadership within our business community. We're a big city with a small town mentality and I don't see that changing a great deal until we start attracting NEW people and NEW demographics into the city (which will be very challenging given my earlier points).

As for the positives for a move:

- Career wise, a larger centre will offer me and my wife SIGNIFICANTLY more options for career development and job opportunities.
- The larger centre will offer my son SIGNIFICANTLY more exposure to things like different cultures, recreational opportunities, learning opportunities (musuems, access to PSI's in the future, etc.)
- Health care in a larger centre is far and away better than what we experience here in PG
- Recreational opportunities and cultural events are more readily available and supported in a larger centre

Interestingly enough, my taxes will go up moving to Ontario, as will my property taxes moving to Ottawa. I'm willing to live with that given the things I'll be gaining. The cost of housing will also increase slightly, although it's nowhere near as bad as what one would initially think . . .

At the end of the day, my decision comes down to quality of life for me and my family. It's not all about tax rates and paved roads. I'm looking forward to moving to a city where I can go for a run on a proper trail and not have to worry about getting hit by a car. It will be nice to live in a city where it's okay to say you enjoy going to a show at a performing arts centre. I'm sure it won't be perfect, the traffic will take some getting used to and the winters won't be any easier than what we have here, but I'm looking forward to the change and opportunity.

I'll miss BC and PG, but I also accept the fact that unless PG can undertake some growth, it's ability to develop into a city that future generations will enjoy, will be hampered. Like I said, there is still major "old school" thinking here and I don't think the average person in town recognizes how much of a deterrent that type of thinking is to our growth. Once you get out and experience some other places in our great country, it becomes glaringly obvious what we're missing here.

NMG, I grew up in Ottawa. My mother and children live in Ottawa, though one has now moved to Montreal and the other lives in a much smaller community to the west of Ottawa, but can still drive to Ottawa in 30 minutes to participate in whatever she feels like.

You wrote: "the winters won't be any easier than what we have here". That is the understatement of the year. Cold, damp, windy and you ain't seen a snowfall till you have been to places in the east.

Fear not though, they actually do come out and plow the residential streets after 5 or so cm of snow and if it continues to snow will do another pass of the street within 24 hours or less.

Of course, Carling Avenue is one of the ten worst streets for quality of repair in Canada.

Yes, houses are barely more expensive than here, but I think they are finally starting to rise in price since it has started a new growth spurt.

Enjoy.

But I thought you would be a bit fairer in your comparison. One cannot compare a relatively remote place like Prince George to a metropolitan area of more than a million people, especially one with public buildings and places like the museums, art gallery, Performing Arts Centre, some parks, the parkways, etc. paid for by Canada rather than the City.

If one does a more realistic comparison one would have to look at Thunder Bay, Sudbury, and maybe some cities closer to the larger metro areas - North Bay, Peterborough.

All of those cities are either losing population (3 of them) the same as Prince George or are growing very little.

For the same sized house as here, as you say, your tax rates will be considerably higher. But, you have the services. And that is why say ever so often, "if you give me better service, I am prepared to pay for it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15740359@N06/2321176621

The best part of Ottawa? In my opinion the Byward Market products, restaurants and nightclubs complete with beaver tails.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelalarose/5103666634/sizes/l/in/photostream

Very true gus and I should add that I did not mean to compare PG to Ottawa, as I agree it would be a crazy comparison. What I was trying to do, however, was to provide some commentary on why I decided to leave PG and why I chose a location like Ottawa.

It seems like many of the same reasons for people leaving tend to come up quite often. Interestingly enough, 20 years ago PG probably could have been compared to a city like Kelowna. Now, with its recent growth, it has likely moved into a different band of cities for which again, we can't compare ourselves. Kamloops will probably be the same in 10-15 years, as will Chilliwack, etc. This begs the question, what are those cities doing that enables them to grow and what are we doing that results in stagnant growth or decline? I personally think that many of the things people here complain bitterly about (desire for nice trail networks, wanting to have a nice downtown, talk about expanding civic facilities, having a more culturally diverse city, etc.) are things that drive growth over the long-term. You also need a strong economy and jobs, but you also have to develop into a place that people want to live. Increasingly, newer generations are more concerned about work life balance, their health, etc. and less concerned about whether their income level is the highest average in the Province.

I also wanted to provide a different viewpoint to the notion that low taxes and low cost of living are the number one priority for everyone. They aren't. Like you, if I see a benefit to the higher costs of living somewhere else, I think it's more than an acceptable tradeoff. In fact, I'd gladly pay more to enjoy a higher quality of life.

It is an interesting discussion for sure.

Oh and yes, I've been to Ottawa in the winter. It is indeed a formidable climate, LOL :)