Prince George is looking at ways to make the city more accessible for it’s older residents.
Monday the city decided to apply for an Age-Friendly Grant from the Union of BC Municipalities. The 20,000 dollar bursary is designated for cities in BC to make improvements for seniors.
“One of the things that we’ve tried to do over the last year of this council is address some of those accessibility issues” said Mayor Lyn Hall. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars we’ve put into sidewalks, the curb cuts we put in to allow seniors in motorized wheelchairs…to more easily access sidewalks and crosswalks.”
If Prince George is selected for the grant, the money would go towards hiring a consultant to conduct an accessibility study in the city to better understand the barriers facing seniors.
“The timeline is really based on the folks that adjudicate the grants. So we would hope, given that this is the start of November, perhaps we would hear very early in the new year.”
He says the city is committed to keeping older residents in the city.