By Glenn Hicks

P.A. climbs rankings for livable cities as mayor calls for more positivity

Aug 3, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Prince Albert rose 34 places since last year in a survey of Best Places to live in Canada and the mayor says people need to focus more on the positives in the community.

The annual Money Sense survey placed Prince Albert at 294 out of the 415 towns and cities it surveyed. It was also ranked at 15 out of the 22 cities surveyed across the Prairie region of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The study features a scoring formula based on various key factors from wealth and economy, demographics and housing affordability, to the weather, low taxes and access to health care.

“At least we’re going up and not down,” Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW in reaction to the latest ranking.” It’s a positive movement and as long as it keeps moving up then we should be very pleased with ourselves.”

Prince Albert scores well in categories such as low taxes, access to health care and amenities, but the continuing high crime rate stops it from climbing higher in the rankings.

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Dionne said crime is something the city keeps working on but people need to focus on the positives about living in P.A.

“If we’re going to keep focusing on the negative that’s how people are going to think of our city; that’s why I get upset when people keep bringing it up” he said. “Today we’re talking about moving up in the rankings and we went up even with our crime rate.”

Dionne said the planned improvements at the Alfred Jenkins Field House, the recent and very successful world junior softball championships, and the bright future for the downtown are just a few of the many aspects that make the city a great place to live in.

Matthew Stenerson is the director of human resources for Lake Country Co-op which employs over 800 people, many of them in the eight locations in the city. He came to live in Prince Albert from elsewhere and suggests the way the city is perceived by some creates a false reputation.

“Once you get here and see how beautiful it is and see how much the people care about the city, our amenities and facilities and our proximity to amazing recreation, it’s just a stereotype,” he said.

Stenerson said the Co-op had always taken pride in having a great relationship with the community and being a community builder.

“We think it’s a great place to live and work and raise a family,” he said. “Whether we go up or down in the rankings it has always been a great place to live, do business and come together.”

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow