As the city embarks on another initiative to improve the downtown -- a mayor's task force struck three months ago, and just the latest in a long string of such endeavors stretching back 40 years -- there's a question that some are asking.
Does the downtown matter?
The answer, "yes," comes easily to a smattering of city councillors, economic development officers and officials involved in downtown planning exercises.
That is, they say, because the downtown is the heart and soul of a community, and a less-than-robust downtown will turn people off the community, and ultimately hurt the economy.
When investors come to the community, the downtown is usually the first or second stop on a tour, says Initiatives Prince George president Tim McEwan, who heads up the city's economic development agency.
"Downtown is considered a showcase for the community," he says.
City councillor Murray Krause admits he can see why some people may think the downtown is a lost cause.
"I think it does matter. I think we should create a heart of the community. "The downtown could be that, obviously it's not now," observes Krause.
Former city councillor Sherry Sethen, who sat on the board of City Centre Ventures, a now-defunct downtown development corporation that had a six-year life ending in 2008, says the downtown, like all parts of the community, matters.
"Whether we like it or not, downtown is always what tourists will see first, and that's what they will judge a community on," says Sethen. "If we are going to discard it, then what are we going to do with it? And are we content to have that as a representation, or a physical ambassador, of our community?"
Mayor Dan Rogers has also said the downtown matters, stressing recently to a downtown business group that improving the downtown is a top priority for city council.
But there are challenges.
Prince George's population is stagnant, and the economy has taken some pretty significant hits recently courtesy of the collapse of the U.S. housing sector and a slow down in the mining and oil and gas sectors.
The history of downtown revitalization efforts is also not particularly exemplary.
A Third Avenue revitalization project has produced mixed results.
At the top end of the street, near Victoria, the sidewalks stay largely clean and there are shops that appear to entice people.
However, at the bottom end of Third Avenue, near George Street, there is a collection of pawn shops, cheque-cashing stores and drop-in centres that attract street people who loiter in the area. There are also empty storefronts along the bottom end of the street.
Some downtown business owners complain of open drug dealing and liquor consumption, aggressive behaviour of some street people, crime and vandalism, fighting when the bars empty at night, and a perception that downtown is unsafe.
Former city councillor Steve Sintich has a different take on the problem, saying the downtown business owners are getting special treatment -- through public spending on improvements and lower development charges -- and they don't deserve. If downtown business owners want the area to improve, they should invest in their businesses, says Sintich, echoing a theme he first raised in 1988.
However, there is an increasing number of empty store fronts downtown, particularly along and near George Street, the historic main street of the community.
Some remaining shop owners are considering moving.
And while the city and province have invested money in infrastructure downtown, the civic plaza, which includes an art gallery and civic centre, has failed to materialize as a public gathering spot.
Many downtown observers have also noted that the courthouse is not a draw to the downtown, other than for those dealing with the judicial system.
And now, with a stagnant economy, there's a significant question of where the money will come from for publicly-funded projects downtown such as the tentatively proposed performing arts centre, which could cost as much as $51 million.
While some argue there's an entertainment district evolving in the southwest end of the downtown -- home to a number of restaurants -- the chief entertainment venues are all located outside the downtown.
The Playhouse theatre is at the intersection of highway 16 and 97, the symphony's home is Vanier Hall at Prince George Secondary School and the community's successful professional theatre, Theatre North West, is located on the south side of the Nechako River in a strip mall.
The city's casino and the Multiplex, home to live venues, are also not located downtown.
There are no movie theatres downtown either.
Relocating the museum downtown has been discussed -- spelled out in the minutes of City Centre Venture, obtained by The Citizen -- but it never happened.
Decisions were also made to locate the Aquatic Centre outside of the city core, and virtually nothing of the University of Northern B.C. is located downtown.
Few of those who could have had a hand in downtown revitalization want to dwell on missed opportunities, instead saying the community should look to the future.
Shana Johnstone, the manager of Smart Growth on the Ground, which is helping Prince George undertake a current downtown planning exercise notes that downtowns are very important, the only truly mixed-use, shared area in a community.
"So basically a city that doesn't have a downtown, doesn't have a living room so to speak," she says.
Observes Johnstone: "It's absolutely required that a town have that, because the downtown is also really the place that brings identity to a town or city. And without an identity, any town or city is going to flounder. Why would people go, why would people stay. It's that sense of identity that draws people, keeps people."
John Curry, an environmental planning expert at UNBC, says a review of human history shows how important central gathering places have been to people. However, in the past 50 years, the automobile and cheap fuel has eroded downtowns
That's particularly true in Prince George, where some very solid, visionary planning attempts have not been successful because it's been simply to easy to allow sprawl, he says.
But the end of cheap fuel, and concerns over carbon emissions, means that more compact communities will be a necessity in the future, says Curry, who was on a Prince George downtown revitalization committee in 1996.
It's not too late for Prince George, believes Curry.
Curry recently returned from Dundee, Scotland, a community born of the industrial revolution, which is in the midst of a major downtown revitalization program.
Prince George could be a world-class city, stresses Curry, but it has to resolve a pair of key issues: Revitalizing downtown and cleaning up the air.
"If it wants to become a wonderful urban place surrounded by nature, it's got to improve quality of life."
2009 Prince George Citizen
