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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Safe. Clean. Green. Affordable. Familiar.

These were just some of the words shouted out by more than 20 Yellowknifers who attended a workshop Wednesday night at the Yk Inn to help imagine what the city would like in 50 years.

The event, which was moderated by Metroquest developer Dave Biggs, was held by the city as part of its Smart Growth Development Plan.

Metroquest is a software tool designed to aid planning decisions and "show you some of the consequences of your decisions," said Biggs to attendees.

Attendees were given a handset and clicked their way through multiple choice questions ranging from public transportation to housing density to road networks, aimed at producing a vision of Yellowknife after 50 years of these choices.

The idea behind the interactive presentation was "to get the conversation started," said Jeff Humble, the city's director of planning and lands.

The theme, as described by Biggs, was: "If you had a chance to sit down with the mayor, what would you say?"

While Biggs said he has seen groups take up to eight tries to create a city that wouldn't collapse on itself, Yellowknifers got it in one try, favouring higher density housing and environmentally-friendly energy policies.

The first-try success didn't mean there weren't concerns, however.

Terry Pamplin, co-president of the Aurora Arts Society, came "hoping there would be discussion around the general development commitment working towards public art space."

"Anything dedicated to that would be a start," he added.

The topic wasn't raised in Biggs' presentation.

And while Niels Konge, owner of Konge Construction, was glad he came, he added the software was like a "glorified video game" where participants got to design their own city.

Konge said he feels the city is lacking a vision, especially when it comes to "the development side of things," such as housing.

But he acknowledged there's still hope.

"I think the city is definitely trying to become a better place," he said, adding it will come down to whether or not the city acts on any of its plans.

"(Metroquest) could be a valuable tool if it achieves in practice what it does in theory," said Malcolm McLean, co-owner of Discovery Mining Services.

He said events like these are better than mail-out surveys.

"You're not putting as much valuable information on those as what went into this," he said, joking that on a survey, a participant's eyes are more likely to glaze over near the end.

And as far as the future is concerned: "I would envision Yellowknife as a user-friendly community."

McLean said he doesn't want the city to change too much, though. Right now, he can jump into his snowmobile and drive out his backyard.

"I don't want to lose that part of it."