I watched the Prince George Christmas movie

5 top takeaways to make PG's downtown a better place for busy big-city CEOs fall in love.

Darrin, last week: I’m going to be switching from weekly to bi-weekly newsletters because writing every week is too much.

Darrin, a week later: here’s your weekly newsletter

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Today is my birthday! How better to ring in my 33rd year of life than to write a stupid newsletter on the intersection of PG’s urban design and a Christmas movie.

Did you know a Christmas Hallmark-esque movie was shot in Prince George a couple of years ago?

Well, it’s out on TubiTV (the most reputable streaming platform) to watch for free and so, last night, we poured some big cups of hot chocolate, and tucked in for…

I’ll begin with saying - and I do say this with the love and care of a fellow creative who can appreciate the immense work and endless complexities of filmmaking - it’s a tough watch.

I also want to acknowledge my wonderful fiancé and future mother-in-law who had to endure watching this movie with me - you can probably imagine, based on the length of this newsletter, I did not go down quietly into this movie, silently sipping my warm chocolatey drink. Oh no.

There were pauses. There was ranting. And now there’s a newsletter.

The best comparison I can think of is watching their portrayal of our downtown felt like looking at a picture of yourself with one of those AI glamour filters over it. It’s your face, but it’s also not your face at all - the blemishes, the round chin, the bags under your eyes - all smoothed over, leaving this strange, unsettling feeling of what could be…

Big, walkable, busy, wide sidewalks. Quiet streets.

You want to know the two streets featured in the uncanny valley version of downtown PG? 5th Ave (in front of the Black Clover/Twisted Cork) and 3rd Ave (in front of Homework/the old Generator and down by NancyOs).

The backdrop behind our burgeoning romance ALWAYS filled with busy locals, giving the downtown a sense of life and vibrance - pushing past each other in their little local shopping quests.

Visual tweaks aside (a Christmas tree shop beside The Generator??? and parallel parking instead of angle), I think the biggest thing to note is that there isn’t a single lifted F350 Super Diesel driving past our protagonists on their cute little walk.

In fact, not a single car drives by. Ever.

I know - it’s a movie, Darrin. Cars need to drive on our REAL downtown streets.

THEY DO - buuuut you can get pretty darn close to this Hallmark ideal - just slow them down by narrowing the roads. I hate myself for getting into this because a stupid movie did a good job pointing it out but you really can discourage large, loud vehicles from going down pedestrian heavy, walkable streets, and just leave other main arteries open for heavy vehicle traffic.

Do trucks REALLY need to go flying down 5th Ave at 60km/hr? Or could they be going 25km/hr because the street is so narrow. Maybe plant some trees along the sidewalk to obscure vision a bit - suddenly, even if I’m in a tiny Toyota Yaris, I’m thinking I might just take Dominion or Victoria and only go down the streets I need to go down - and our streets are looking a lot more enjoyable to walk around on. Put a bench or two down? Maybe close a corner down for a rotating outdoor vendor?

SUDDENLY, with just a little street redesign, we have our quiet little street with our nice walkable sidewalk where our big city lawyers can fall in love with our handsome local flannel wearing hunks.

Why aren't any of our parks Christmas-y?

The big Christmas Grotto at Lheidli Tenneh Memorial Park (which is actually named Lheidli Tenneh Memorial Park in the movie, which I thought was really nice) is one of the central plot locations.

I don’t really have any big, grandiose revelations about urban design here but I was left thinking to myself - why don’t we decorate any of our outdoor spaces for the holidays? Aside from Candy Cane Lane, which I believe is entirely funded by the great residents of that neighbourhood, and the Winery’s Light Up the Orchard (which has an admission ticket price), I can’t think of any other outdoor Christmas-y experience in PG?

Seeing the set for the Christmas Grotto, I couldn’t help but wonder why we there isn’t more of an effort to plow the main walkway around the perimeter of LTMP and throw some string lights around the park - I feel like that would be a welcomed outdoor activity for folks of all ages, particularly parents with young kids who struggle to find outdoor walking spaces during the winter.

The ingredients.

If you’ve reached this point in the newsletter - congratulations, you’re unfortunately still along for this neurotic ride with me. I don’t know why, but you are.

In conclusion, my grand unifying framework on how Prince George can become a city where a busy, big-city folk can come court our soft spoken, kind northern locals is:

1. Hang more string lights. String lights everywhere.

2. Less car noise on streets = more opportunity to fall in love.

3. Create accessible outdoor spaces for people to celebrate the holidays.

4. Wide, walkable sidewalks for busy visiting lawyers and CEOs who go for morning jogs.

5. Celebrate your old buildings.

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Okay! That’s it for me in 2023. Again, I’m sorry this newsletter happened at all.

I’ll see you folks in 2024.