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Matty81 · 07-15-2014, 01:55 AM

I am late to the topic but I moved to Kelowna from Alberta a few years back. Here's my longwinded and subjective 2 cents. I would leave if I had to, would never sacrifice opportunity for my family (and would never do the fly in fly out thing), but that's about it. We love it here and my wife would be heartbroken to leave. Have lived in a few spots around Canada and the world and it just fits for me. My two cents;

Pros:
- traffic is nonexistent compared to bigger cities, it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere. Have never lived in West Kelowna though, a lot of people over there complain about the commute and almost all the best jobs are in Kelowna proper.
- quality of life if you are active is great. I can count the number of times it hit -20 (at night) on both hands in half a decade. Outdoor activities everywhere, way more active people in the office here than anywhere else i've lived. Skiing, cycling, hiking, fishing, golfing, all great.
- because of the tourists some pretty world class amenities, restaurants, wineries, golf, spas, etc., etc., way better than what you'd expect in a city of 200k
- quiet town in any of the actual city (eg not the highway area). Relaxing and feels safe, thats relative but thats how i feel
- the rockets are almost always good

- UBC campus has been a spark for culture and education, its not a mature university yet but its 5x as big as when we moved and just seems to keep growing, added a med school last year.
- solid healthcare. Doctors want to be here and you can actually get a family doc. KGH is becoming a teaching hospital. It's the hq of the interior's health region and it is a big and relatively well resourced hospital with large cancer, surgical, cardiology programs etc.
- good location/transportation. Airport has a surprising amount of direct flights and there are too many great roadtrips to list. Interior bc has so many cool little places, Seattle, Vancouver are really easy trips and Oregon is a little further but still way more accesible than from AB. You can roadtrip an NFL or MLB game for the weekend really easy or be at the coast 3.5 hrs after work (ha I speed a little)

Cons:
- lots of tourists from extreme poles. We get quiet rich wine and cycle tourists and we get a ton of rednecks who drive out with oversized trucks/rvs/boats pre stocked with food who add little except crowding. We also get a lot of the "bro" type guys who get ####faced drunk or smoke weed in a lot of inappropriate places and loud shirtless dudes who think they are hilarious seem to clone and invade on summer long weekends. (me to niece - its just a funny smelling cigarette). Nothing major, more of a thing that irritates you when the tourists invade, but the amenities are better because of them so double edged sword.
- the long time valley residents - they have been here long before the university, population boom and rise of more of a city culture and there is some resentment from some folks about change (not all by any means but some feel like small town people trapped in a city and grumbling a lot about change/how the old days were better). It can be a bit cliquey for new people because of some of that Albertan/outsider resentment.
- wages and employment - not as much to choose from, if you are not well educated you will struggle and if you find something good you will still make 75-80% of alberta wages. There really aren't many opportunities for people with mostly oil and gas experience, good for the OP for finding something. Tech sector is ok, service is good, finance/accounting ok, healthcare good.
- no pro sports
- forest fires

Re the Canucks thing, at my office anyway its like 60% Canucks fans, Lots of Flames fans (and Oilers fans lol) in my office too though, it doesn't feel like hostile turf like when I lived in mulletville.

07-15-2014, 01:55 AM	#145
Matty81 Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Exp:	I am late to the topic but I moved to Kelowna from Alberta a few years back. Here's my longwinded and subjective 2 cents. I would leave if I had to, would never sacrifice opportunity for my family (and would never do the fly in fly out thing), but that's about it. We love it here and my wife would be heartbroken to leave. Have lived in a few spots around Canada and the world and it just fits for me. My two cents; Pros: - traffic is nonexistent compared to bigger cities, it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere. Have never lived in West Kelowna though, a lot of people over there complain about the commute and almost all the best jobs are in Kelowna proper. - quality of life if you are active is great. I can count the number of times it hit -20 (at night) on both hands in half a decade. Outdoor activities everywhere, way more active people in the office here than anywhere else i've lived. Skiing, cycling, hiking, fishing, golfing, all great. - because of the tourists some pretty world class amenities, restaurants, wineries, golf, spas, etc., etc., way better than what you'd expect in a city of 200k - quiet town in any of the actual city (eg not the highway area). Relaxing and feels safe, thats relative but thats how i feel - the rockets are almost always good - UBC campus has been a spark for culture and education, its not a mature university yet but its 5x as big as when we moved and just seems to keep growing, added a med school last year. - solid healthcare. Doctors want to be here and you can actually get a family doc. KGH is becoming a teaching hospital. It's the hq of the interior's health region and it is a big and relatively well resourced hospital with large cancer, surgical, cardiology programs etc. - good location/transportation. Airport has a surprising amount of direct flights and there are too many great roadtrips to list. Interior bc has so many cool little places, Seattle, Vancouver are really easy trips and Oregon is a little further but still way more accesible than from AB. You can roadtrip an NFL or MLB game for the weekend really easy or be at the coast 3.5 hrs after work (ha I speed a little) Cons: - lots of tourists from extreme poles. We get quiet rich wine and cycle tourists and we get a ton of rednecks who drive out with oversized trucks/rvs/boats pre stocked with food who add little except crowding. We also get a lot of the "bro" type guys who get ####faced drunk or smoke weed in a lot of inappropriate places and loud shirtless dudes who think they are hilarious seem to clone and invade on summer long weekends. (me to niece - its just a funny smelling cigarette). Nothing major, more of a thing that irritates you when the tourists invade, but the amenities are better because of them so double edged sword. - the long time valley residents - they have been here long before the university, population boom and rise of more of a city culture and there is some resentment from some folks about change (not all by any means but some feel like small town people trapped in a city and grumbling a lot about change/how the old days were better). It can be a bit cliquey for new people because of some of that Albertan/outsider resentment. - wages and employment - not as much to choose from, if you are not well educated you will struggle and if you find something good you will still make 75-80% of alberta wages. There really aren't many opportunities for people with mostly oil and gas experience, good for the OP for finding something. Tech sector is ok, service is good, finance/accounting ok, healthcare good. - no pro sports - forest fires Re the Canucks thing, at my office anyway its like 60% Canucks fans, Lots of Flames fans (and Oilers fans lol) in my office too though, it doesn't feel like hostile turf like when I lived in mulletville. Last edited by Matty81; 07-15-2014 at 02:39 AM.