Mayor Chad Bachynski uses 1st state of the city address to pitch Regina to people in larger cities

Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski used his first state of the city speech to pitch Regina as the perfect place for people disillusioned with life in bigger cities.

"Residents here enjoy more free time compared to those in cities like Toronto, Vancouver or Halifax, spending less time commuting and more time doing what they love," he told a room full of people at the Conexus Arts Centre on Thursday.

"That's why we're encouraging residents in those larger cities to break up with their cities and move to Regina."

Bachynski said the city is launching a new advertising campaign to help push that message.

The City of Regina and Economic Development Regina have already created a new website — liveinregina.com — to draw potential residents to Saskatchewan's capital city. 

"We all know how great Regina is and the opportunities that are here, and now we have a great opportunity to showcase that to other cities and attract people to come see it for themselves," Bachynski said.

Economic Development Regina is also launching The Regina 25, a program meant to highlight 25 people who "dare to grow, inspire, and lay the foundation for our city's future"

"One of the greatest things about Regina is always its people," said Chris Lane, CEO of Economic Development Regina.

Nominations are already open and winners will be recognized in April.

Thursday marked three months since Bachynski was elected in an election that also brought eight other new members to city council. 

Many of those new councillors were in attendance Thursday as Bachynski highlighted the problems he heard while on the campaign trail and what he hoped to do about them.

That includes getting "creative" to address inflation while grappling with a proposed mill rate increase of 8.5 per cent and utility rate increase of 5.8 per cent in this year's budget. For the average homeowner, that works out to an increase of $27 a month or $320 a year.

"There will no doubt be tough decisions to make and difficult conversations to have as we juggle a number of priorities and ensure that taxpayers feel they are getting value for their dollars," Bachynski said. 

The new mayor confirmed he is working with city administration to explore expediting construction projects and expanding the hours when construction is allowed to happen at night — a commitment he made while campaigning for mayor.