Considering relocating to Kelowna

[nik-]

We're probably all 1%'ers if we look at it on a global scale

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Work to live my friend, not live to work. The latter is very much an Albertan thing that's hard to realize and do something about it.

Pfff take a 50% pay cut and then wax poetically about working to live. It's much easier to do what you want when you have the means to do so.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Work to live my friend, not live to work. The latter is very much an Albertan thing that's hard to realize and do something about it.

Those sentimental quotes are nice and all, but mostly people still spend a solid third of the day at work. So you better like what you are doing, or you're not going to be living for long.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by fotze

I have a former co-worker at Shell getting transferred to the Netherlands after all these recent changes.

Time to get on House Hunters International.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by HockeyPuck

Can lifestyle change overcome potential misery at work?

Work is by and large miserable unless you are movie or sports stars. While it might be noble to say I give up money for happiness, a higher paying job usually is the better job.

Just make sure you don't do this because the grass is greener in Kelowna.

Persoanlly, I find it very hard to spend less than before, not that I'm spending lavishing right now.

I would only do this kind of transition if it was a bigger one, like moving to Londo or Moscow because those experiences are potentially life changing. Kelowna is just on the other side of the Rockies by my book.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Pfff take a 50% pay cut and then wax poetically about working to live. It's much easier to do what you want when you have the means to do so.

Hey if lots of money is considered living, then by all means go for it.

I figured 1%'ers are high enough on Maslow's Pyramid where they probably won't be struggling.

[Sliver]

Stay where the money is for now. Your 30s/early 40s are the best time to earn and save money. Make it a medium- or long-term goal to end up in BC if you want, but if you have a high-paying job in O&G right now and are reasonably happy there, I think your best bet to set your family up for better opportunities in the future is to maximize your earning potential right now.

Money is important as it equals opportunity, security and leisure. You can have plenty of basic leisure without much money, but you will limit the opportunities for your kids, and drastically reduce the security for your family.

I think you should do two things. The first is to look at houses in Lake Bonavista, or another lake community in Calgary. There is a lot of what you desire right here in Calgary, plus you get to keep your better job. The second is to book a holiday in Kelowna during the second week of January and then tell us how much better it is than Calgary. When it's -10 and overcast and there's nothing to do, I doubt you'll be thinking it's that great.

If you really want to move to where the weather is, get down to San Diego somehow. I don't know how difficult it would be as a Canadian to move to the USA, but if I was moving somewhere for the weather, I would go balls out and get to the perfect weather. Kelowna seems like a slight weather upgrade over Calgary, but not much of one and certainly not one I'd risk half my income to enjoy.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Pfff take a 50% pay cut and then wax poetically about working to live. It's much easier to do what you want when you have the means to do so.

What if you like hiking and outdoorsy stuff, which is basically free? You don't really need money to do that.

[Bill Bumface]

To me Kelowna has all the negatives of a big city, and still many of the negatives of a small town.

-Traffic is horrendous
-Massive gang presence
-Huge drug problems
-A surprising amount of homelessness
-High housing prices (Although my knowledge there might be outdated)
-No NHL team
-Limited Post Secondary options
-Potential to have to go to Vancouver for serious medical problems

You are making all these tradeoffs to live on an awesome lake.

Living on a lake would be really awesome, so I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth it, but for me it would have to be a great job and an awesome lake to make up for all the crap that comes there. Otherwise I'd rather live in many other places in interior BC instead.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by Muta

What if you like hiking and outdoorsy stuff, which is basically free? You don't really need money to do that.

You can't hike and do outdoorsy stuff in Calgary?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Muta

What if you like hiking and outdoorsy stuff, which is basically free? You don't really need money to do that.

But money lets you do hiking and outdoorsy stuff all over the world.

Peru, Argentina, the Alps, Utah Canyons, New Zealand, etc.

[nik-]

Like I said before if the pay was closer I would consider it ... or if you had no kids. But three kids, that's expensive. Like others said, make hay with a high income until they're older and then reconsider. In my mind, there's a reason you like a place so much when you're on vacation ... and it's because you're on vacation. Once you throw responsibilities on top, all that vacation goodwill loses its lustre.

I know a person that moved to Mexico after having so much fun there on vacation and was back in a year. Now, obviously, Mexico is not the same as just another part of Canada.

I'm guessing at Shell you probably get 4 weeks, so if you're in love with the place that's two nice long vacations to the place a year ... or four decent ones. That's not bad.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

-Traffic is horrendous
-Massive gang presence
-Huge drug problems
-A surprising amount of homelessness
-High housing prices (Although my knowledge there might be outdated)
-No NHL team
-Limited Post Secondary options
-Potential to have to go to Vancouver for serious medical problems

This reads like someone who saw a few headlines and formed their opinion of the city that way. I lived there for 15 years and you had to be going out of your way to notice gangs and drugs in a way that would negatively affect your life. I suppose if you actively searched out a grow-op in your neighborhood (if there was one at all) and wandered the wrong streets downtown at night, you could let it get to you. I felt safer there than I ever have in Calgary.

Traffic's always been an issue for sure, though the bridge has made things a bit better. UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College are not limited by most definitions, and the Health Centre in Kelowna is a hub for most of the Southern Interior. I've never heard of anyone I know that had to go to Vancouver for care.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by GGG

But money lets you do hiking and outdoorsy stuff all over the world.

Peru, Argentina, the Alps, Utah Canyons, New Zealand, etc.

That's cool, I've done that too. Didn't need a buttload of money to do it though.

[DuffMan]

Does 50% of a 1%er, make you a 2%er?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Muta

That's cool, I've done that too. Didn't need a buttload of money to do it though.

You do with children, especially if you have 3. Children just make everything a buttload more expensive.

[sun]

Negotiate higher pay.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Table 5

You do with children, especially if you have 3. Children just make everything a buttload more expensive.

Plus, if you are prudent before you can even think of jetting around the world with your multiple kids in tow, you have to take care of basic savings like RRSPs and RESPs. Just to receive the maximum government contribution to an RESP (aka free money) you need to be socking away $208 per kid per month. That's $7,500 of net income for the OP per year just in that one expense. And we haven't even touched on RRSPs and the myriad of other basic expenses when you have a family. Hats off if you can live off half what you currently make and still meet all your obligations, but holy crap what a risk.

Personally, I'd hate to live somewhere like Kelowna and watch all the guys with money play on their awesome boats while I was bobbing around in a dingy with my kids eating baloney sandwiches on soggy white bread. Any thoughts on putting in another decade here, then moving to Kelowna when you have a larger cushion saved up?

[Red John]

There are a few myths being propagated about Kelowna winters here.

First of all, don't let anyone downplay the difference in climate between the two cities and say that Kelowna is only a bit warmer. It's WAY warmer...like night and day.

-15 during the coldest part of winter compared to -40 in Calgary. It's a huge difference. And most of the time it's around the freezing mark which is pretty manageable.

Also, the words "spring" and "autumn" are only technical terms in Calgary - those seasons don't really exist. Kelowna actually has 4 seasons and they are all very beautiful. Usually snow doesn't hit until January.

Finally, those who talk about 6 months of clouds in the winter clearly have never spent a winter in Kelowna. Mornings tend to be pretty socked in but clouds usually disappear in the afternoon and yes, the sun does shine in the Okanagan during the winter, just not nearly as much as in summer. But it's hardly a Vancouver climate where you can go weeks without seeing the sun.

Last year some buddies set up their backyard ice rink. We got to use it for two weeks total - a span in late January and that was it. It was a pool of slush the rest of the winter.

If mild climate is important to you, its worth remembering that Calgary's weather is a hundred times worse than Kelowna's and it isn't close.

If you like to spend time indoors especially in winter with your family then it may not be as big a deal. It depends on lifestyle.

[Wormius]

I was born and grew up in Kelowna. If the job opportunities were there for my wife and I, we would go back.

You don't need a lot of money to survive there. Houses are a comparable price, if you're not demanding in your location, and even some of the fixer-uppers in the north end of can be had for under $400k, and you're within walking distance to the lake and Knox Mtn, in addition to having a pretty big lot that you can build a carriage house on if you desire.

The only thing I dislike is that is has lost its appeal in some ways, too many big chain stores and restaurants. The Asian cuisine scene is kind of non-existent for the most part, but those are minor quibbles.

Enjoy the change of scenery; you probably won't want to move back to Calgary.