Ask any longtime Prince George resident, and they'll be happy to tell you about how proud they are of their city.
That pride is not without justification. Prince George's volunteerism and can-do spirit are noteworthy.
Unfortunately, that pride does not always translate into action when it comes to keeping up the city's appearance.
If you dig into your recycling pile and pull out any copy of the Citizen from the last few months, you'll likely find a letter to the editor complaining about some aspect of the city's appearance.
On Saturday it was illegal dumping, and the dilapidated condition of the roads and city in general. On Monday it was broken glass and trash in the city's parks.
One writer waxed poetic about dog owners not picking up after their pets. Another was upset by someone driving their dirt bike through city parks and green spaces.
Graffiti and poorly-maintained parks and boulevards have also moved Prince George residents to write.
Anyone who participated in the Citywide Spring Clean Up on April 29, or the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup last fall, can attest to the appalling amount of garbage that finds its way onto city streets, boulevards, parks and riverbanks.
While downtown has improved by leaps and bounds - it no longer looks like inner-city Detroit - it still needs substantial improvement.
First impressions -both of people and of places -are largely based on appearance.
In less than three years Prince George is inviting thousands of athletes, coaches and sports enthusiasts from every corner of the country to make a first impression of the city at the 2015 Canada Winter Games. When those thousands return home, their friends and family will ask them, "So how was it? How was Prince George?"
If the first impression they take home is that Prince George is dirty, run down, full of potholes, ugly, strewn with trash and smelly, then Tourism PG may as well close up shop and go home. It would take hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising to offset a negative word-of-mouth campaign that large and widespread.
It's not just tourism that is affected by a bad first impression - it affects people considering living here, working here or investing here as well.
But it's not too late to give Prince George a makeover. In 2015 we can send those athletes, coaches, etc. away thinking, "Wow, Northern BC is beautiful. I need to come back."
The usual tact for letters to the editor is to blame City Hall: "somebody down there needs to DO something," "where are our tax dollars going?" and "think of the children," are common themes.
Perhaps they are right, City Hall could do more. Repairing and sweeping roads, maintaining parks and mowing boulevards are city responsibilities.
Little things like providing more public garbage cans at bus stops and in parks could have a positive impact.
But all those things cost money. That money must either be obtained by cutting other services - like snow plowing, operating public facilities, planning services, environmental services, etc. - or by increasing taxes and service charges.
Unfortunately, a hardcore group of voters in Prince George has made it clear to city council that they're prepared to watch the city decay into a Third World ghetto or wash away in the Fraser rather than pay an extra cent in taxes. So long as this shortsighted view dominates the voting -or more accurately, the election campaign financing -public, nothing will change at City Hall.
And ultimately, it's not city council which has created the problem. City councillors aren't driving around town at night, shoveling empty take-out containers and dog doo off the back of a pickup truck.
Many of those people who claim so vehemently to be P.G. proud are the same people who use the streets and parks like a trash can; don't pick up after their dogs; allow their homes and businesses to become rundown eyesores; and trash city trails and irritate their neighbours with their ATVs, dirt bikes and snowmobiles.
Anyone can say they're proud of Prince George, but we've got less than three years to prove it.
-- Associate news editor, Arthur Williams
