A bad reputation can be hard to shake, especially in the digital age.
It's true of Prince George, which Google considers to be a "dangerous" city. After typing "Why is Prince George" into the world's most ubiquitous search engine, the only adjective to pop up in the auto-complete section is "dangerous."
It's not difficult to figure out just where Google is getting its bias.
Prince George was named Canada's most dangerous city by Macleans magazine last year based on data from 2010. Although the city's crime rate has dropped recently, the dangerous label seems to remain front and centre in online searches.
Other cities in the interior aren't faring much better with Google.
Using the same metric, the search engine spits out "Why is Kamloops so smoky?" and "Why is Kelowna so expensive?"
There are no surprises on the Lower Mainland as Google asks: "Why is Vancouver so expensive?" and "Why is Vancouver weather so bad?"
Over on the Island, it wants to know "Why is Victoria the capital of B.C.?"
The province as a whole has a better reputation . . . sort of.
It's tough to find fault with the first auto-complete option -- "why is B.C. the best place to live?"
But the second option targets a more specific demographic with "why is BC bud so good?"
That one might not make it on the official tourism brochure.
The province's neighbours to the east are likely pleased with their Google image as well -- "Why is Alberta" generates "rat free."
Nationally, Canada can be proud of two of its top three results: "Why is Canada so great?" and "Why is Canada better than America?" The country can't deliver on the third, as "Why is Canada Post so slow?" makes the cut.
South of the border, Google wants to know "why is the USA the best country?" and "why is the USA so good at sports?" but it's also curious about "why is the USA Patriot Act unconstitutional?"
Up north, the top results are "Why is Alaska not part of Canada?"; "Why is Yukon not a province?" and "Why is Northwest Territories join confederation?"
In other bordering states Google wonders "Why is Washington gas so high?" and "Why is Washington so liberal?" as well as "Why is Idaho the gem state?" and "Why is Montana big sky country?"
Science rules the day in general terms. After simply typing "Why is" into Google, the top two suggested options are "the sky blue" and "the ocean salty."
