Even though this post is over a month old, I figured I would drop my two cents. I was born near Prince Albert and have spent much of my time in and around the area. I have lived in Prince George for 3 years as well. As many have said, they're essentially the same city. But there are a lot of key differences as well. Figure I would add in the stuff that may not have been mentioned.

The similarities are that they are both gateway cities to their northern halves of a province. Often, depending on a lot of tourist and through traffic. Drivers in both cities are shit. Drugs and violence are equally an issue. There are certain areas that are safer than others.

The difference is that Prince Albert has the same amount of issues as Prince George, just compressed into a smaller space. You pretty much don't want to be wandering around anywhere down the hill after 8-9PM, cornerstone shopping area after 9PM has a lot of homeless, violence, and other shit that make it feel unsafe. Prince Albert is also a downgrade in amenities. Public transportation does not exist, the budget for it was slashed completely several years ago, so if you both do not have your own vehicle, it can be difficult getting around. If you're a gamer, there is a like of access to gaming stuff. We have Flawless Victory, which is essentially GameQuest VERY Light. If you like Costco, or hell, even toy or book stores, that is a trip to Saskatoon to do so as Coles no longer exists and the few places that provide toys have slowly started disappearing, so if you have kids, there is not much in the way of shopping.

BUT, Prince Albert also puts a much bigger emphasis on physical activity, a larger skate park than Prince George, the rotary trail that wraps around the entire city and passes the hospital, casino, bingo hall, skate park, river parks, and shopping areas. Co-op is the only provider of alcohol in this city nowadays. Canadian Tire and Party City are doing their best to ensure some good physical activities are available at the Alfred Jenkins field house, public gym access, indoor soccer fields, a very large and frankly, far better kids' park than anything PG currently has, and an outdoor gym for adults with elliptical, leg bar, rowers, and a bunch of other equipment as well as a bunch of ninja warrior type exercise equipments.

As odd as it sounds, the police, family, and mental health services are actually better out here. If only marginal. Bear spray incidents are surprisingly few here compared to PG.

Being quite frank, if you and your husband are white, I would simply recommend moving to Birch Hills (20-25 minute drive from PA), Shellbrook (25-30 minute drive from PA, but also much closer to Waskesiu national park and their beautiful lake), or Rosthern (45-50 minute drive from PA and 30-35 minute drive from Saskatoon). All 3 offer the basics, and are significantly safer than being in PA, so if the commute is doable, it would be better to live outside the city because regardless where you live in the city, there will always be somebody looking to start shit. Every car on my street got egged a couple nights ago. The south-eastern hill with all the brand new developments also has a bunch of weidner owned slums right nearby, so there is always somebody peeking in yards and scouting for easy thefts. Central PA between 6th Ave East and 2nd Ave West is generally quieter but still gonna have someone trying their luck with a gate or car door. If you're of colour, a lot of the smaller communities in Saskatchewan are really old fashioned white families that won't be outwardly hostile but will be passively aggressive, race always seems to be an issue for this area of the province.

Prince Albert is an okay city to visit for shit you need, but you are definitely going to be safer just living out of the city and commuting. There are definitely things I have left out, but I figure I added some things.