For the last year I have had the pleasure of leading the public consultation process to inform a new vision of downtown Prince George. It is a vision created by the community and based on sustainability principles.
Sustainability may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Prince George. More likely PG conjures thoughts of ice jams, fires, poor air quality, street drugs, gang violence and a community challenged by the pine beetle kill and a declining forestry industry. Or maybe you think of Mr. PG.
Like other cities, downtown Prince George has seen a decline as development moved to the fringes. It is a downtown with a disjointed urban fabric (21% of downtown land use is surface parking lots), few residential units (only 200 people call downtown home), and few stores open past 5 pm.
Yes, Prince George has his share of challenges, but there is much to applaud. Prince George sits on the confluence of two rivers, it has a rich history, and is the centre for northern commerce, health care, government and academia. Downtown has great potential. Designed originally according to the City Beautiful Plan, downtown is based on a grid pattern with several grand avenues and civic plazas.
There is a substantial public square that serves as a gathering spot for community celebrations such as the Christmas tree lighting festival. There is an incredible Farmer’s Market that draws crowds into downtown on Saturday Mornings. Along 3rd Avenue, streetscape improvements including paving stones, curb bulges, planter boxes and street furniture have established the street as a destination shopping area. And downtown is home to unique stores and restaurants including the Two Rivers Art Gallery, Meow Records (named in 2008 as the best record store in Canada by CBC Radio 3), Northern Hardware, Books & Co, Cimo’s, the Twisted Cork, and Zoe’s Café among others.
In 2008, Prince George had reached a tipping point with downtown. Safety concerns prompted action. The Mayor established a Task Force for a Better Downtown and the City became the fourth community partner for the Smart Growth on the Ground program.
Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) is an innovative program that works with BC communities to integrate sustainably into their long-term planning decisions. The visions created through this process are based on Smart Growth Principles, guided by extensive community consultation, integrate expert research, and are created through a multi-stakeholder design charrette. At the end of the year-long process the community has a vision for a new future and an implementation strategy to get there.
The SGOG vision for downtown Prince George is bold. It re-establishes a connection to the rivers through a canal and park spaces. It is a vision with a permanent Farmer’s Market, extensive cycling infrastructure and walking trails. It celebrates the heritage of the Lheidli T’enneh who have called Prince George home for centuries. It sees downtown as a leader in the application of renewable energy and imagines a future where marginalized individuals are not pushed out but looked after. It is a vision of a vibrant, mixed-use area where people can live, work, play, and shop. It is a vision that re-establishes downtown as the cultural and civic hub of the community.
On September 14th, 2009, Prince George City Council unanimously approved the SGOG vision. This motion directed staff to integrate the vision within their Official Community Plan and to create an Implementation Strategy to see it succeed.
Before the Smart Growth on the Ground vision there had been several downtown revitalization plans. Without word of a lie, placed in a pile these plans stack a foot high. Aside from a few plaques in the downtown, there is little evidence of the impact from these visions.
This will not be the fate of the SGOG vision.
What differentiates the SGOG vision from all of the others is the process in which it was created. The Smart Growth on the Ground vision was not created in a vacuum by an urban design firm in Vancouver. Instead, it was created in situ by over 400 members of the community. Through public workshops, citizens prioritized issues, set targets, established the research agenda, and brainstormed solutions. This input, along with place-specific research, formed the requirements for the vision. The community literally created the vision through a four-day design charrette by a 40+ member design team – most of them community members.
The success of this vision is not dependent on a multi-million dollar signature project like an enclosed shopping mall, convention centre or theme park. Instead, the SGOG vision is based on an ‘urban husbandry’ approach that nurtures the incremental changes already underway in the downtown. It builds upon the lessons learned from 3rd Ave, the Farmer’s Market, and the Two Rivers Gallery on how to encourage people to come by leveraging a unique identity and creating things to do.
This vision recognizes that in order to succeed, downtown needs people. Creating housing in downtown is the single greatest move that PG needs to make in order to see a transformation on the streets. Adding housing will add that residential population to create retail demand to encourage stores and cafes open later. It will provide the much needed eyes (and feet) on the street to make it safer.
This vision will succeed where others have not because it will not gather dust, but become a launching pad for policy. The ideas contained within its pages are being entrenched into policy through the Official Community Plan revision. To see these ideas implemented, the Mayor’s Task Force for a Better Downtown has been entrusted as a Vision Keeper.
Lastly, the vision will succeed because it is already being implemented. Before the plan was even adopted, the community had enacted several of the quick start recommendations. A temporary garden was created on an empty downtown lot, a banner program was expanded to the whole downtown, and a planter box program was established.
Yes, this vision is ambitious, but it is not impossible. Especially given the tenancy of the residents, their commitment to place, and desire to see a better future.
Years from now, the name Prince George will bring to mind images of a progressive community, with parks and plazas, green streets, a vibrant centre, and a unique downtown that truly is the civic and cultural heart of the community.
For more information:
Smart Growth on the Ground; SGOG Prince George; SGOG Research Bulletins; SGOG Downtown Prince George Concept Plan
Christine McLaren article in the Tyee. Small Cities Working to Create Vibrant Downtowns. (23 June 2009).
My article in Input Magazine. Smart Growth on the Ground in Prince George. (Fall 2009).
