Fort St. John – has been known as a small and quiet city; however, things may soon be changing. This is because the community of Fort St. John has been seeing the city grow with regards to economically and demographically within the past few years.
The city has predicted that by the year of 2065 that the population will grow to 85,000 people. There has even been growth in recent years; in 2011 that population of Fort St. John was estimated to be 18,600 and the current population is 22, 000. Even within 4 years there has already been a distinct growth in the population.
The main reason that many people assume the growth of Fort St. John is because of job opportunities; for example, the Site C project.
Having the city of Fort St. John realizing and predicting the future with regards to the population growth puts the city in a position where they will be prepared for the upcoming changes.
For instance, the city of Fort St. John is starting to build projects that will be needed to support their developing community. As they will need new roads, increased protective services, new city hall, public work facilities, more fire halls, new parks and recreation facilities.
To undergo all these projects, Fort St. John has estimated that they will need $846 million dollars within the next 50 years to undergo all these projects.
Some of the most important projects in order to adapt to the growing population include:
Better transportation, so roads do not get congested with people and vehicles. To solve this issue, the city has decided to have bypass road upgrades, new roads and intersection; which also means that they will need more land to accommodate the transportation upgrades and projects.
There will also be a growing demand for transportation in companies like Greyhound, Air Canada, Central Mountain Air, North Caribou Air, West Jet, and CN Rail and VIA Rail. The growth of these businesses is important because people need to have the resources to get to and from Fort St. John.
Additionally, there will be a need and a demand for new buildings to accommodate the growing population for Fort St. John. Therefore, the city is planning on building a new city hall, 2 new fire stations, and new RCMP building and other city facilities.
The first phase of the city hall is predicted to be complete by 2025 and the second phase by 2040.
Two new fire halls will be going up as the first will be up by 2025.
With all the new buildings and city facilities, there will also be a greater opportunity for jobs. There will be a need for more people to run these new facilities and more staff like RCMP officers and firefighters to protect and look after the city.
New land will be needed and purchased for new parks, trails and sports facilities.
With the $846 million project some of the money will go towards building 22 new parks and trails, 27 new sports fields, new indoor ice rinks, outdoor hockey rinks, a second curling facility, indoor soccer field, second pool and gym.
There is no surprise that real estate will also be high on demand. This is because of the growing population there will also be a need for more housing and living arrangements too.
Consequently, the city of Fort St. John is committed to working hard with regards to the rapid expansion in keeping infrastructure both commercially and residential on balance with supply and demand.
