The city has taken another step towards making Prince George more accommodating for people of all ages.
Council has received staff’s new Age-Friendly Action Plan, which addresses 17 actions to make upcoming and existing city properties more accessible for toddlers, seniors, and everyone in between. This plan focuses on eight key areas, including outdoor spaces, upcoming buildings, transportation, new housing, and recreation.
In accepting this plan during the meeting of Monday, May 15th, Mayor & Council took the first steps on Action #1. Next, City Planner Hillary Morgan says Prince George administration will make a design policy and checklist to assess new and existing city-owner facilities (Action #2).
“Earlier at Council, we heard a conversation about Masich Place (Stadium) and some questions around accessibility of the grandstand and that design policy would be really useful for those types of elements, just making sure that the city can know how all of their facilities measure up. Once we know where we need to improve facilities and we can allocate funding to do that.”
This plan has been nearly a year in the making. Meetings with staff began last June, and staff conducted public consultations, surveys, and workshops from mid-summer until late winter.
Recent numbers show that Prince George is younger than the average British Columbian community, however, 1-in-5 city residents are between 50 and 64 years old. The city’s senior population is expected to grow a lot over the next decade, another reason why Morgan feels it’s important to address accessibility now.
“When you make an improvement that might be for somebody in a mobility device or a senior, you’re making the city more inclusive for so many people. It’s not just about a specific group of people,” she says, “you may not have a disability but a friend or family member may have a disability and all of these improvements come together to make a community that’s easier for everyone to live in and better for everyone to live in.”
City staff will begin implementing some of these actions immediately.
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