Kelowna is #92

[hobbyguy]

There is a lot more than just weather that is not considered in these lists.

I lived in Prince George for a long time, and it was somewhere on the list when I retired. Here's what ruled out PG:

1. The length of the winters. Bright sunny winters in PG made things like snow shoeing pleasant, but winter started too early, and ended too late.
2. First and last frost made gardening a very limited excercise. Very disheartenting to see petunias wilt in the frost in August.
3. Soil type. Mostly heavy clay, or pure sand, or peat where it isn't. So generally, when spring finally arrived, it started with a long "mud" season. The "mud" season was bad enough to get a 4x4 stuck on the flat, with the tires transformed to imitations of the wheels on Fred Flinstone's car.
4. Mosquitoes, black flies, and horse flies. After the "mud" season, when it finally dried up to reasonable, the bugs came out. In droves. That wipes out much of late May/June/early July. Mid July you can get by with a little bug spray.
5. Not every year, but often enough, then you move into a couple of weeks of caterpillar invasion. Every deciduous tree and bush is stripped completely bare, and the outside deck has a moving carpet. Sometimes so bad that the roads become dangerously slippery. Disgusting. Then that is followed by moths that black out the street lights and spin egg sacs all over everything.
6. Then you get 2-4 weeks of nice conditions, and the first frost hits.

That said, PG has all the services, good shopping, and good educational opportunities. Wages are generally good, and the working environment is fairly laid back. So it is a very good place to work, and build up your financial position. Real estate is cheaper, but property taxes are quite a bit higher.

Kelowna has pretty much all the intangibles going for it, without all the downsides of a big city. The reason that wages are on the low side is the same reason that real estate prices are on the high side. Given their druthers, folks would rather live here if they can swing it. That creates a large labor pool, extended by being attractive to folks from many other parts of the country. The same is true of real estate. It is driven up by folks retiring here, wanting to retire here, or wanting to move here during their working careers.

General rule of thumb, the longer the winter, the higher the wages, and the fewer people willing to move their for work.

It would have taken a truly massive pay offer to get me to move to Winnipeg, or Regina, or Edmonton. Not only are they colder and with longer winters, but they don't have mountains. No amount of financial incentive can really account for things like that.

So yes, the rankings make some sense if all you care about is money. But it is written from the perspective of folks that only care about money - and that's not what life is all about for most people.

[Grandan]

I lived in Prince George for a long time, and it was somewhere on the list when I retired. Here's what ruled out PG

I agree, that is why I only lasted 3 years in PG and at that I had a year off in between to attend UBC.
I would like to add some items to the list which compares in some way to Kelowna.
7.If you live in the "Bowl" or old downtown area, be prepared for ice fog for long stretches of time. You can barely see across the street which is far worse than being in Kelowna where extended foggy days are few.
8. Bike riding, I see riders all winter long in Kelowna. The hardy pedal from downtown Kelowna to UBCO along Valley Road and it takes a fair amount of snow to stop this breed. In PG I rode my bike to work one mild but snowy day in February, stopped at a light and the driver in front of me began reversing into me until I yelled at him, he then drove down the road and complained to a cop about me being on the road and the cop stopped me! Told me I should not be on the road.
9. You are so far from any other major city that driving to Vancouver for example is an ordeal.
10 ? anyone

[Glacier]

Hobbyguy, my buddies in Williams Lake say the same thing about PG. Too cold, wet, and cloudy for their liking. Just in case you didn't notice, PG is much worse than 92 on the list. You talk about frost in June, but people living in Joe Rich Creek, which is almost a suburb of Kelowna, also get frost in June just as often as they do in PG.

Climate is only one factor taken into account with this "study". It's all a bunch of hocus pocus if you ask me, though most of the weather categories have some merit. Some of the others are just plain garbage. Who cares how many doctors per 100,000, which by the way, is completely useless without knowing how many people outside the city come into the city medical care.

[fromph]

http://www.moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-full-ranking

Moneysense came out with their 2014 ranking of best places to live in Canada. And yet again it's a complete joke.

Kelowna is ranked #92 behind amazing cities such as Moose Jaw, Regina, Winnipeg, Camrose, Lethbridge, Brandon, Whitehorse, Llyodminster, Medicine Hat, and North Battleford. While not terrible cities (outside of the 6 months of cold, bitter winter), they don't come anywhere near being the great city that Kelowna is.

High River which basically has nothing left after the flooding last summer was ranked just barely behind Kelowna at #100. Hey, at least we beat Estevan and Yorkton, SK by a couple of spots.

Saskatoon is ranked at #13 - and on another note, the city there just announced a city wide snow grading program is starting up again to start clearing roads so the ruts don't get too bad. The program had to be called off in January due to extreme cold. Imagine living somewhere where it's so cold that snow removal has to stop for a couple of months.

Have you been anywhere,if this was based on best place to live in the world,it probably will about # 2000

They also rank Victoria as #76! Hard to explain that one.

I'm proud of Kelowna and wouldn't live anywhere else.

[GordonH]

Bumped

http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/13 ... -Big-Thing

Hip hip hooray……… never mind. lol

[Grandan]

We are already overrun by goofs with big black trucks and their assorted toys, here come the rest of the crew.

[the truth]

good wine- yes
great lake-yes
great sking -yes
great hockey,biking and hiking-yes
we are recognized for are historic downtown ???????? lol lol lol and good food lol lol

lets not forget all the crack heads downtown also

[ValB58]

Drugs, hookers, and gambling made Las Vegas a destination that made Billions of $$$$.
Vegas is NOT known for wine, biking or hiking. I don't know of any destination that has become famous or has prospered based on those "cornerstones".
Sex, drugs, rock and roll, is what sells.

[eliecer]

I dunno why people complain so much about Kelowna, it's a beautiful place to live. Money? We have mountains, the lake, ski resorts, etc, etc. We don't need money.

I usually pay my rent with beautiful pictures of the sunset reflected in the Okanagan Lake, and my groceries with magnificent mountain views. Some pics with the ogopogo jumping out of the water to fill my car with gas, etc, etc, etc. Who needs money if we have all this beauty around us?