Hopefully this plan will be put on hold due to the expected downturn of the PG economy. No point in spending all that money to develop if people will not buy ( see next story). PG needs a whole new mayor and council to see this?

The_grandinquisitor does understand that the developer pays the cost of this development, so I wonder why advise the developer to keep his money or go elsewhere?

Let's be positive. The economy will remain robust over the next 12-24 months. The downturn in the forest sector due to the American housing market downturn (not the dollar as Ewart suggests) will hurt jobs. However look at the big picture people. An economy is made up of many forces not just lumber.
We're in the process of diversifying our economy and if you believe in China/India you must believe in BC and the future role our City can play.
No one wants to be around the "dark cloud" economists. Most if not all do not have a concentration in economics at either the undergrad or graduate level.
If you do not believe please try to at least be positive. People are looking to invest here.

I see your point econ101,but IMO,I really think you are missing something here over the long term.The economy will NOT stay strong over the next 12-24 months.
The signs of what could very well be coming are all there, if we wish to see them.
10-12 months at best before a serious decline is seen is my guess, and trying to keep the hype going won't change a thing.
It will however, cause people to make financial mistakes from a lack of due diligence.
Time to be very careful and pay attention.
I moved myself into a safer financial position 3 months ago and now I am very glad I did.
Now we wait and see.
And hey,I would love nothing better than to be dead wrong...I just can't convince myself that I am!

The developer pays the cost for the develpment only. The taxpayer pays for the infrostructure to the develpment. The City is already crying about the lack of density, and here they are changing zoning to encourage another development away from the core of the City. I wonder if they have ever herd the word "infill".

Seems to me I herd that the population of Prince George had dropped according to the last Census. "Oh well the cup is half full"

Cheers

Remeber the wave effect.. Buy low and sell high. A developer somewhere has been watching pg and sees something we are totally blind too or else they wouldnt be spending money and time on projects with little or no returns. I think one of the main reasons is the average person in the south of the province cant afford housing compared to pg so you will see more of these people flocking to the interior for housing. Kelowna and Kamloops are good examples of this. PG is also a central distribution center, basically the heart that connects the arteries of the north which puts it in a good position for a good economy even in bad times. Economists will always forecast doom and gloom. Its a way to get investors to pull their stocks out of certain industries then once the stock goes down investors will flock back to that industry. Watch the flow charts on comoditys and you will get a better idea. Cheers

The city, I believe got into the development business with the area next to the ottway road in the heritage subdivision. They made quite a lot of money with those lots which were bought up by a local homebuilders mostly fortwood I think. (correct me if I'm wrong). But now with a poor economy looming for PG will the city get involved with the development process and spend all that money, or leave it to private business?

And, just how many lots have been purchased up at Tyner Ridge? Should be an indication....

"A developer somewhere has been watching pg and sees something we are totally blind too or else they wouldnt be spending money and time on projects with little or no returns"

Agree 100%. Most if not all of these developers are not looking at 12-24 month trends, they are looking at medium to long range outlooks, just like we should be. Yes we will take a short term hit, but we still have to be proactive in moving forth and planning for the future.

Our problem is that we have too many people in this City who think that we can do nothing but log trees and make paper. Maybe it's because that's all they know, I don't know. In any event, when anything comes up that may threaten that belief, people freak out like it's some sort of challenge to their manhood. When someone wants to invest money in our City, the automatic response of many people is to all but call them an idiot and chase them out of town before they even have a chance to look around. Then when a forestry slump hits, we'll collectively whine and complain that governments haven't done enough to help us, blah, blah, blah.

It has nothing to do with being a "cup half full" or "cup half empty" person. Common sense tells me that if someone wants to invest in your community (meaning that they are confident that they can make money in your community), you should do whatever it takes to bring that money in. You'll never get the critical mass needed to see things take off if the defeatist attitude is the prevailing one.

I would think it more prudent to complete the existing neighbourhood developments that have been approved first. Get them sold and people moved into them, then consider expanding new areas. Got to have stability in the tax base first before we commit to allowing too many homes to be built. We can only pave so many streets per year. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Great to be positive and optimistic, but we also need to be realistic and understand what the real picture looks like. Chester

The problem with many of the existing developments (and perhaps part of the reason they are not being completed), is that they just look terrible!

Take a look at Malaspina Ridge. Nice layout, trees are left standing, semi-private lots, nice road design and houses are going up.

Then look at Tyner Ridge. It looks like a bomb went off, no trees in sight, no sound buffer, no privacy whatsoever and virtually no development.

Is it a coincidence? I think not . . .

I see a lone house built in that Tyner subdivision. Looks like a nuclear bomb cleared that subdivision. I hope they didn't name the streets after trees. lol

Malaspina Ridge has to be one of the best developments to hit this city for decades.

When one looks at that development and then the Tyner tree-mined "development" one realizes how little this city controls the quality of the developments.

Free enterpise at its worst.

On the other hand, let the market take it's course. The city can't/shouldn't control everything.

Malaspina looks good, Tyner bad. Which developer is going to be getting a better buck? Poor/greedy developers get weeded out. Tyner will look better over time, maybe better than Malaspina in twenty years as the area matures. City should stay out of it.

I can agree with Yama that in 20 years time the Tyner development may well look like one of the nicest neighbourhoods in town, but I noticed no park so they are loser developers IMO.

I think in 20 years time, no wait, in 5 years time everyone will come to think the Sardine Subdivision across from DP Todd on Hill Cresent will be seen as one of the less desirable developments (so called in-fill to the extreme) in this city. The new town houses there are a eyesour and whos to say how long it will take the buyers of those things to bring the whole neighbourhood down with them. A lot of people (and consequences) in such a small area I'm not so sure fits with the strengths that the rest of the neighbourhood always had.