Posted on 2 April 2011

In an effort to be better and blogging, I’m now cutting stuff from my posts that don’t fit the central point and turning them into their own posts. I’d drafted a post as a follow-up to my thoughts about rivers, but fortunately I received a comment from my friend Roxanne that did the job for me. She writes:

I always have thought that the rivers were grossly under utilized. In any great city on a river- Paris, New York, Chicago, Ottawa, London- the river is a central part of the urban landscape. There are promenades and footbridges, restaurants and cafes that romantically look out over the water. Why doesn’t Prince George have any of these things?
Instead, there’s industry. It would have made much more sense to locate industrial facilities in other areas near the river that weren’t right in town. So, when driving towards the hatchery, you’d pass restaurants and lit boardwalks for nighttime walks instead of piles of wood chips and 2X4s. It would have given the city a certain soul, and made it more aestheticallly appealing.

I can’t speak to the historical reasons why the city was made the way it was, but it does seem to me there was a real absence of design going on. We don’t have a single indoor or semi-urban space to showcase the rivers. There are some parks, which is great, but sometimes you would like to appreciate the river in a context other than a hike or a picnic (particularly in the winter months). I don’t know what can be done at this point, but it should definitely go on the city’s wishlist.
Update: In the comments on this post, Jason leaves a great comment:

“Prince George residents should not have to seek out the rivers; they should just be there.”

Exactly.

Filed under: Best Of, Prince George