Why growing up in Prince George was a gift
Though most of my classmates, and most other Lower Mainlander’s believe Prince George is a small village that is always cold, most of them don’t realize what they’re missing.
I’ve just started to realize lately what an advantage it was to grow up in such a community, compared to growing up in a place like Vancouver. Sure there’s some things I wish Prince George had, but all in all, I got a pretty good head start in life thanks to the place I’ll always call home.
My parents had me in 1999, back when Prince George was known mostly as a rough logging town, but times have changed. Prince George isn’t just any old logging town, it’s a city that can offer you whatever you want it to. Compared to other places, there’s nowhere that can truly replicate the small town feel that a city of over 75, 000 people can create.
Vancouver has been a whole new beast, the cost of everything is so inflated here, whether it’s gas, housing, or insurance everything seems to cost more. I am proud to say I bought my own car, pay for my own insurance, pay rent, and pay for my own food, and I have zero debt. I like to think, it’s because things up north are actually affordable! Who would’ve thought. The same financial situation can’t be had for most kids my age down here. The percentage of people in Van that are in debt must be higher than the people in PG that wear camo, and I’ll say firsthand, that’s a very high number.
The northern winters are cold sure, but the sun shines more than not, and I would gladly take snow over rain any day of the week. So what we get -20 degrees Celsius throughout the winter, it just adds character in my opinion. If you can’t handle a little cold, you should really rethink if you’re truly Canadian or not.
Some might see it as a disadvantage, however I see it as a big advantage that it’s a bigger city with a small town feel. Everyone seems to know everyone in some way, shape, or form. Walk around the streets of downtown Vancouver, or heck even the Burnaby campus of BCIT and you’ll never see the same person twice. For networking, getting your name out there, it’s actually possible. If you really are good at something, people hear about it, and people like that seem to get rewarded with all the opportunities that await someone to take them on.
I think that plays into my favorite thing about BC’s Northern Capital, everyone is generally nice and polite to each other, it isn’t a complete rarity to hold the door for someone, or say thank you. It’s almost an expectation. People don’t seem to be quite as egotistical, and seem to be more genuine and relaxed. It’s easy to see now why people are so rude in Vancouver, and it’s because they see it ALL THE TIME. People are robots here, and when people see, people do.
To be able to drive across town in 20 minutes with little to no traffic seems critically undervalued in PG, sure we have potholes but we don’t have roads that act like parking lots. It’s still frustrating to me, to sit in traffic and barely crawl down the freeway, or even worse is when you’re cruising at 90 on HWY-1 and all of a sudden the car in front of you comes to a complete stop. These things just don’t happen up north. Sure there’s bad drivers everywhere but come on, my turning signals worked fine in PG and work fine here, I’d love to ask others what their issue is.
Drive 15 minutes and what do you find?
Well you find that, believe it or not, there’s is not pay parking at this park, and yes you might even be able to go swimming in there without feeling like you’re swimming in someones sewage water. It’s all natural, it’s mostly untouched, and everywhere you look you can find a quiet piece of nature you can enjoy for yourself. There isn’t garbage, people, and garbage people everywhere. Every breath is a breath of fresh air. Even if the ‘Smell of Money’ might take over the smell from time to time.
In another sense, sure there’s some disadvantages to growing up in the Central Interior but they’re easy to overlook when it comes to the advantages.
Most importantly, it’s where I got my start. I will be forever grateful for all the incredible opportunities I have already got to be a part of, and look forward to being a part of even more.
