Friday's Prince George Citizen coffee time with the community was so well attended, there just wasn't enough time to get to everyone in an hour or seats around the table to accommodate all.
This is a wrap of stories, opinions and views voiced by residents, but not necessarily that of The Prince George Citizen. Some will be followed by stories in The Citizen.
Gary Jorgensen, long-time resident and mill worker, talked about how the downtown area has been missing the potential boat for years.
"We have such a nice potential downtown area -- with rivers, river banks and the cut banks, but nothing ever changes.
"A bad change is the vacant stores I see all over, especially on George Street. My opinion is that the city owns too much land and it's vacant.
"The good thing about the city is our quality of life - our health facilities, a great library, all the concerts that come here, our swimming pools and ice arenas, and being able to see moose right in your own back yard, to name a few."
Want to know how to cook a perfect steak? Al Thorp said he has it mastered, and will share his method with others.
"You need to start with a good-quality steak. Heat up the barbecue good and put the steak on for (precisely) four minutes. Turn it, but only once. Leave it on for as long as it takes to have a drink of Scotch. Take it off and you'll have a medium rare streak done to perfection," said Thorp, who said he learned the art from the late Trudy Bryant, wife of former mayor, the late Gordon Bryant.
Sam Batairseh, is a new resident from Jordan who met his Canadian wife in Dubai and moved here in 2009.
He said he's found Prince George "very welcoming to students and new Canadians."
"I also encourage business owners to welcome new Canadians because Canada is going to be our homeland and Prince George is our city of choice," said Batairseh.
Marcella Berra said her heart went out to Janet Husay who recently had a letter in The Citizen telling how her daughter took her own life after becoming "miserable" from hard drug use.
Berra says "we need an institution for youth to get the help they need."
"At age 15, kids know everything and parents know nothing as far as they are concerned. These kids are lost, and need to be guided and counselled back to good health. We need a better system," said Berra, who has many youth stories to tell from 30 years of employment in the local hospital.
Realtor David Pearson, whose business card identifies him as B.C. Resources, says residents may be interested in knowing the city of Prince George "was offered - almost free - a large piece of land for a performance centre and they turned it down.
"I know because I'm the agent for the Gateway Church and school, which is selling out, that sits on 6.65 acres of land at the corner of Massey Drive and 20th Avenue. It was offered to the city for approximately $1.3 million, but the land is much more valuable than that."
Pearson said city hall wasn't interested because the location was outside the downtown core.
Ian Wells, city hall employee, confirmed that, saying there had been an inquiry made regarding that land, but it wasn't suitable because the Performance Centre Task Force had identified the down town core as the location for the centre.
Our next coffee time is Friday at 10 a.m. at Star Bucks in the Ramada Hotel.
