When I tell people I moved here from British Columbia three years ago, the instant guttural reaction always centres on a sense of bewilderment as to why I ever left Vancouver.
If you measure the distance of long car trip in hours like I do, Vancouver is roughly the same eight to 10 hour trek from Prince George as Calgary is.
For those who know of it, my hometown has been called many different things, garnering it a slightly notorious reputation along the way.
Maclean’s magazine named Prince George Canada’s most dangerous city in 2011, and, though we lost the reputation for a time, due to the recent conviction of Canada’s youngest serial killer, Cody Legebokoff, and gang wars, it has recently reclaimed the title.
In 2010, a radio station, bitter about Elton John’s decision to bypass Vancouver but play Prince George, called Prince George the armpit of B.C.
An obvious reference to the central location of the city, but also a hit at the pulp mills that greet people with their presence and smell that says welcome to Prince George as you drive into town.
Soon after the armpit fiasco, the self-esteem of the city was struck again as Monty Python member Michael Palin made comments during an interview with Metro newspapers in the U.K. resulting in the headline, “Prince George is the worst place Michael Palin has ever visited” in the Prince George Citizen.
“There’s a place in Canada called Prince George, which smells of drains,” he said. “Everyone said they’d got used to it but I’m not sure how the tourist board deals with it – drain lovers come to Prince George.” Sounds pretty awful, right? Then you aren’t going to like what I have to say next.
The reason why I am so attracted to Airdrie was because it reminds me of Prince George.
Just stay with me for a moment before resorting to the pitchforks.
I felt like I needed more out of life than Prince George could offer, so I packed up and moved to the big city of Calgary with my girlfriend, who is now my lovely wife.
Within a month of leaving though, I felt a loss of identity and community, which was something I never felt while living in Prince George. I didn’t feel that sense of community again until I began integrating into Airdrie.
I’m starting to realize how odd life really is as it freefalls into place for me.
The city I ran away from has laid the foundational qualities for the city I strive to live in.
There is pride here amongst those who have chosen Airdrie as their home and I’m excited to also take pride in the work I do telling their stories.
