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Prince George

Live Music, Year-Round

In music, Prince George on 3 February 2012 with no comments

The Coldsnap music festival just finished up in Prince George. I’m a big fan of the festival (and, disclosure, a board member). It’s brought in all-sorts of high-calibre acts that normally wouldn’t tour the city, including Joel Plaskett, Shad, the Great Lake Swimmers, and Dan Managan. This year was no different, with an awesome show [...]

Vancouver to create database of negligent landlords

In Prince George on 11 January 2012 tagged Victoria Towers with no comments

Online database for Vancouver renters in the works → From CKNW: Vancouver is one step closer to having an online database for renters. A motion is going before council next week calling for the creation of a searchable rental database. Mayor Gregor Robertson calls it a necessary tool for Vancouver renters, adding it will them [...]

Meet the Mehtas

In CBC, Prince George on 15 December 2011 tagged cbc, housing, landlords, Natalie Clancy, Prince George, tenant rights, tenants, Vancouver, Victoria Towers with 2 comments

This one feels good. As I write this, the most prominent story on CBC’s B.C. website is about some Vancouver landlords who are being taken to court by the city for years of causing problems for their tenants and refusing to pay fines when ordered. A pretty big story from those Vancouver residents who’ve been [...]

City Council 101

In politics, Prince George on 5 December 2011 tagged audio, cbc, city council, Daybreak North, municipal politics, Prince George with no comments

With the recent municipal election (and the not-unexpected low voter turnout), I realized something. Even though I now have a pretty good grasp on city politics, it’s in large part due to the fact that I had to teach myself in order to cover city council meetings as part of my job at CBC. If [...]

No Magic Bullet: Tenant Rights in B.C.

In British Columbia, CBC, Prince George on 1 December 2011 tagged cbc, Daybreak North, fire, homelessness, housing, landlord, low-income, Murry Krause, Standards of Maintenance Bylaw, Tony Wedzinga, Vancouver, Victoria Towers with 4 comments

the Victoria Towers apartment, still damaged Summary: Even though the province of B.C. has a branch that can order landlords to repair or upgrade their rental units, it’s up to municipalities to make sure the work gets done. And many cities, including Prince George, have no mechanism to do this. So what are renters supposed [...]

Bus Service: Keep It Simple, Increase Ridership

In Prince George, transit on 30 November 2011 tagged BC Transit, bus, buses, Fort St John, Prince George, urban, urban design, urban planning, Victor Shopland with 2 comments

rush{hour} by DJHuber   I’m going to take this one as vindication. The city of Fort St. John has reported a 29.9% increase in ridership over the past year (the highest for BC Transit which serves Prince George, Victoria, and most other major B.C. cities outside Vancouver). The main reason, according to Victor Shopland, Director [...]

Squeezing Into A Billion Solar Systems: Population Growth In Prince George

In Prince George, thoughts on 29 November 2011 tagged growth, population, Whitcombe with no comments

Yesterday’s Citizen featured an opinion piece by Todd Whitcombe, UNBC science professor and past provincial NDP candidate. It’s behind a paywall, so here’s the portion that I’ll be commenting on: “None of these economic opportunities are going to generate the thousands of jobs that we need in this town in order to prosper and grow. [...]

Will Prince George's new city hall connect with citizens online?

In politics, Prince George, social media, Uncategorized on 21 November 2011 tagged accessible, Albert Koehler, Brian Skakun, Cameron Stolz, Dave Wilbur, Facebook, Frank Everitt, Garth Frizzell, government, Lyn Hall, Murry Krause, Prince George, shari green, social media, Twitter with 3 comments

Prince George has a new mayor, and a mix of old and new on city council. As has become customary for election campaigns over the past few years, there were a number of candidates running on the idea of re-connecting with voters, being more accessible and transparent, and having a two-way conversation with citizens. I’m [...]

Prince George Election 2011 Informal Recap: Slates, Incumbents, Turn-out, and Diversity

In Prince George on 20 November 2011 tagged city, dan rogers, diversity, election 2011, endorsement, Prince George, shari green with no comments

Note: This is an informal reflection on the results of last night’s election. Opinions are completely my own, and subject to change. The votes are in, and Prince George has a new mayor and a few new faces on council. From the start, pundits were saying the race between Green and Rogers would be a [...]

Your Guide To Last-Minute Municipal Election Decision Making

In Prince George on 19 November 2011 with 1 comment

It’s local government/school board voting day in B.C., and if history tells us anything, it’s that turnout is going to be fairly low– 50% is, perhaps, optimistic. I think this is too bad since in a lot of ways, civic government is the best example of “direct democracy” we have. Unlike federal or provincial elections [...]