As part of the City of Prince Rupert's Planning for Major Projects initiative, the city has invited representatives of the housing continuum for a dialogue.
For the past 18 months, city staff have worked toward a structured way of assessing what is currently in the community and how it will be affected by the construction of a number of proposed projects.
Through a number of workshops and focus groups, nine community indicators were chosen including population, housing, land base, infrastructure, social capital, tax base, local commerce, education and health.
The city will be hosting an event as part of the Planning for Major Projects initiative to gather agencies, groups and people who represent the "housing continuum" and have a stake in housing in the community. Invited to the event are representatives from rental market operators, social housing operators, finance institutions, real-estate agencies, developers, commerce, proponents, responsible government agencies, Northwest Community College, the University of Northern British Columbia, as well as city council and staff.
A hybrid of the "world cafe" and "focus group" engagement methods, the event's intention is to give a comfortable and respectful environment for dialogue on information the recent housing study provided.
Participants will be split into groups to discuss what they think of the data collected, what they believe is important not to disturb in the community, and how the city can adjust to the anticipated effects of major projects.
"The results will be nearly immediate and the foundation for analysis which will underpin how the community responds to the anticipated changes," reads an email from Ryoko Parks from the City of Prince Rupert's development services department.