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Prince George ranked fifth-most active community in Canada

Prince George is among the leaders when it comes to active communities. According to a ranking carried out on behalf of the Expedia online travel booking service, the city fifth-most active community in Canada.
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A mountain biker crosses a wooden bridge on the trail Loosey Goosey at Tabor Mountain. It's one of the reasons Prince George is ranked the fifth most active community in Canada, according to Expedia.

Prince George is among the leaders when it comes to active communities.

According to a ranking carried out on behalf of the Expedia online travel booking service, the city fifth-most active community in Canada.

"When you go down the wild paths of Prince George, British Columbia, you'll leave as someone who wears athleisure as you test your body's limits instead of those posers at the grocery store, trying to look cute," writer Jennifer Cuellar says in a blog posted this week.

"This town doesn't know what a boring Saturday looks like, not when there are a half dozen parks to hike through and 15 km of trails in Forests for the World.

"Or, you can snap on your helmet and take a class with Fem Bike BC, which offers women-only and co-ed mountain biking courses.

"Rainy days don't deter this town. There are ice skating classes, junior hockey leagues, indoor rock climbing, and even yoga retreats with studios like Chinook Yoga.

"Luckily, downtown Prince George has plenty of boutiques, if you find yourself needing a few leggings."

The outcome puts Prince George up among some major destinations. Tops is Vancouver, followed by Golden, Whistler and Calgary. In all 21, communities were accounted for.

Prince George's high placement will help draw both visitors, new residents and investors, according to Tourism Prince George CEO Erica Hummell and city economic development officer Melissa Barcellos.

"For us to be put in the top five in Canada is pretty amazing," Hummell said. "Our demographics are probably a little bit younger than some communities and we certainly have people who love the outdoors.

"It's a good statement for us as a community, saying we have a balance, we have a good lifestyle, a quality of life and that involves health and wellness."

Barcellos said the news will be shared "far and wide," and particularly through the city's Move Up Prince George website and social media platforms. She said it will not only help attract people to live in Prince George but help draw investors as well.

"If a firm is looking to open up an office, they want to choose a location that has a good quality of life for their employees," Barcellos said. "This type of information and ranking looks good for us on multiple levels."

An emoji ranking system that took into account a variety of factors was used to develop the rankings. Those factors included average number of marathons and hiking trails, access to bike paths, trails, and races, per capita gyms, including but not limited to CrossFit, yoga studios and rock climbing sites and the abundance of outdoor activities such as kayaking and canoeing.