By Cheryl Jahn

Downtown is suffering

Oct 18, 2023 | 3:36 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Several Western Canadian realtors are reporting increased vacancy rates in urban downtowns as businesses pull up stakes and move to the suburbs. Locally, EDI Environmental Dynamics left the downtown last year and there is no shortage of boarded-up buildings.

“Prince George is no different than any other town in Canada here, just on a little different scale,” says Bob Quinlan, long-time local realtor. “And so when you look at it in different little areas, we have the same problems where it’s hard for a business to consider going into an older building downtown, fixing it all up, and then having to put gates or bars on the door just because of the environment around here.”

Councillor Garth Frizzell has been in civic politics for years and has noticed changes.

“When I started 15 years ago, we were looking at entirely different issues. Our municipal priority list is now topped with homelessness, mental health, and addictions. And those are those are areas where we struggle to get the support now. One of the positive factors is that we see some support from the provincial government now.”

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The challenge is that all communities in B.C. and Canada are facing the same situations and are vying for provincial and federal attention. Prince George is a small cog in that wheel.

We’re making this louder and louder every year,” says Frizzell. “The thing that’s really positive here now is that regardless of parties, the provincial and now the federal orders of government, you see that regardless of parties, all of those politicians who have the purse strings are falling over each other to promise more housing.”

Many municipalities are citing street disorder as problematic, saying cities are unable to maintain public safety. And Bob Quinlan attributes that to a sign of the times.

“It’s certainly evident here on Third Avenue and on Second Avenue and Dominion. And you see other little pockets of areas, too. But that’s just a symptom of the big problem right now. And now we’ve got a large residential population which is coming down to the downtown area. And a lot of that’s going to affect, as we talked about, Parkwood, which is getting more places which are going vacant as well.”

But regardless, downtowns are suffering.

“It does affect your business. You know, the security business is going bigger because more people are being hired. I’m not trying to be facetious. But right now, it is difficult for to bring a family down downtown and look and shop and such like that, where you go into the just the strip malls, it doesn’t have to be the big strip malls, but the neighborhood strip malls, too. And it’s it’s a more friendly environment and a safer environment.”

He says there is definitely no silver bullet and housing may not be the end solution.