So, you're leaving Kelowna for greener pastures

[whatwhat]

Careful... I have been here for 20 years....Its very expensive to live here.

It is successful for us because we bought before the big boom. our 145000 house 15 years ago is now worth half a million and it's it's crappy 1915 no character rancher BUT we have a large property, have a big veggie garden and chickens. We live on a wage way below what is survivable for the city and area.

I love that Victoria is welcoming to people from all walks of life, a modge podge of urban, farming, arts, sports, water and land. It's easy to find events almost every weekend. We live in area that it's easy to bus to town, have a few drink at anyone of the cool establishments. Hit the beach or go for a hike. We know all our neighbours, we feel safe for our kids to wander from home and hang out in the hood. You can ride your bike from Sooke to Sidney. Must be Ok with rain but we have the driest climate for July and August.

I do miss thunderstorms.

Thanks for the advice. We may look into another town on the island if we need too. Or even just plan to go "short term" for a couple years, and then move back or elsewhere etc.

[f/22]

Seems like some good advice there, WeatherWoman.

Mexi--Jolly, how bout you? Do you feel you'll you ever get burned out wth Kelowna?

Yes, want to go somewhere else if everything can be worked out. Contrary to popular belief, moving isn't as easy as packing a bag and taking off. I agree with others that Victoria is pretty great and there's lots of government work there. Heck, even Vernon is a better area.

Thanks for your post above and not just making generalized statements like 'life is what you make of it.' I like reading how people truly feel.

Thanks for reading.

Doesn't look like Mexi wants to play the I seriously want to leave.

So if you don’t mind, what would it take for everything to work out for you?

And I had a line on Vernon because I found a great place that might be worth buying, but some smart person saw the value too, and scooped it up right away.

[Queen K]

Mexi--Jolly, how bout you? Do you feel you'll you ever get burned out wth Kelowna?

Yes, want to go somewhere else if everything can be worked out. Contrary to popular belief, moving isn't as easy as packing a bag and taking off. I agree with others that Victoria is pretty great and there's lots of government work there. Heck, even Vernon is a better area.

Thanks for your post above and not just making generalized statements like 'life is what you make of it.' I like reading how people truly feel.

I just want to be clear that I never said that moving is as easy a packing bags. I've always advocated for people to move where it's affordable for them and for people who need services, well, there are lots of people needing services, and getting them in more affordable towns.

This is how I TRULY feel, I've always wanted to move to places where I have access to areas of BC easier than I have now. Golden, Fernie, Field, Valemount and other areas intrigue me as places I'd like to try. Right now I am in a house with 14 years accumulation and feel it weighing me down with each passing year, so in fact, I've been downsizing stuff in hopefully intelligent and thoughtful ways. Selling, donating and giving away for the past few years have been very important to me.

I truly feel that these forums have been a God send to people to connect for ideas and conversation with others as we would not meet in ordinary ways. And yes, even with those with whom we disagree. It's not how we type it out, it's what we type out, isn't that odd? It has to be opposite of face to face conversation doesn't it?

[JollyGreenBully]

I just want to be clear that I never said that moving is as easy a packing bags. I've always advocated for people to move where it's affordable for them and for people who need services, well, there are lots of people needing services, and getting them in more affordable towns.

No, you didn't intimate that moving is as easy as packing a couple bags. I guess I should be clearer and say that I've seen these words in other topics. Various people talking about how easy it is to move away when in fact it can be incredibly expensive and people with disabilities have even more variables to consider. I'm not saying it's impossible, just not as simple as others aside from you try to make it seem.

I truly feel that these forums have been a God send to people to connect for ideas and conversation with others as we would not meet in ordinary ways. And yes, even with those with whom we disagree. It's not how we type it out, it's what we type out, isn't that odd? It has to be opposite of face to face conversation doesn't it?

I feel the exact opposite way. The forums here exemplify the WASP-y old-world, holier than though, bigoted attitude for which Kelowna is infamous. I know, I know, drama queen alert, leave town, no one wants negative people here, Kelowna is apparently as great as Hawaii, everyone here is actually a saint, etc.

It's weird when traveling and going to old Catholic towns and finding things like gays bars and realizing that these old religious towns are actually more accepting than Kelowna.

[Jonrox]

Other people live here you know. Your one story about how you worked hard and everything magically worked out for you =/= the entire population of Kelowna or Earth for that matter.

It's much easier to blame others than looking in the mirror and take responsibility for one's own life.

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular statement, but here goes... not everybody is going to be successful in life. Some people are smarter, more skilled, have good genetics, or have a better education. Those people have advantages that set them up for success better than others. We're not all built the same and sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it.

For example, I'd love to be a pro athlete. But I just don't have the genetics for it - I'm not tall enough to truly excel. No amount of time in the gym is going to make me 6'5" and ripped. Also, some people want to be successful entrepreneurs, but they're just not smart enough or numbers aren't their thing.

But they'll blame the system for keeping them back, instead of recognizing what they're actually good at and pursuing that instead. The system isn't what's keeping me from being a pro athlete... I am, but through no fault of my own. Sometimes people just need to be a bit more realistic with themselves and what their abilities are.

However, Kelowna is a city full of money and successful people, and so many people expect that they should have the same. But it's just not realistic for most of us to expect we're even capable of achieving those things. Seeing pro athletes and singers say to follow your dreams and that anything is possible is terrible advice. Seeing Kevin Garnett scream "Anything's possible!!" after winning an NBA championship is just a lie.

Too often people simply pursue something they're not destined to succeed at and then blame everyone but themselves for not achieving their goals. I'm not saying not to push yourself to succeed, but be at least a little bit realistic.

Sometimes people just need to learn how be happy and push feelings like jealousy and envy out of their minds. They just measure success using the wrong metrics and it makes them unhappy, resentful, and negative.

[JollyGreenBully]

It's much easier to blame others than looking in the mirror and take responsibility for one's own life.

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular statement, but here goes... not everybody is going to be successful in life. Some people are smarter, more skilled, have good genetics, or have a better education. Those people have advantages that set them up for success better than others. We're not all built the same and sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it.

If you're including me here, I don't disagree at all. Although, I do think one's surroundings affect a person's life to some degree. Do you think Wordsworth would have been a famous poet if he weren't around in the Lake District and interacting with certain people? Our surroundings and companions most definitely affect who we are.

Taking responsibility for one's own life is fine. I just hate hate hate it when people make blanket statements about how working hard = success in life. No, it really doesn't for reasons you just illustrated.

[monroe]

Hermes has started so many of these little petri dishes, im not sure why eveything couldnt have been condensed into one thread.

At any rate, we're looking at relocating to saskatoon possibly in the coming months.

Ive been here since '92. Some changes good, orthers bad - but the town has definitely changed, as most places do.

We've always felt that becuase of the valley being the valley, the minds charged with shaping urban planning and development have to be top-shelf when compaired to a place like the prairies where growth and expansion arent as key a concern as they are out here.


Topography aside, it is getting a bit too overrun for us and when youre a growing family, there always has to be that question of where your priorities lay between where you want to live and how much you might have to sacrafice financially to be able to have that.

Kelowna was always a good trade. Ive been able to run a business remotely and not have to rely on the towns economy to live.

Working and managing a business remotly has its own challenges and as long as the trade-off was there, balancing the business and living here, it was worth it to us.

We're not so sure anymore.

Worst case scenario, as i see it, if my interests were to disappear tomorrow, i wont get anything with this much freedom here in the valley. Id have a much bettter chance at picking up again probably, virtually anywhere else.


Mexicali - that's great to hear you slogged through everything in order to make it work here. It also sounds as though you've had a lady there by your side that has supported you through everything. For us, unfortunately, we're not sure its a place that shines as bright as it did years ago.

[Triple 6]

I feel the exact opposite way. The forums here exemplify the WASP-y old-world, holier than though, bigoted attitude for which Kelowna is infamous. I know, I know, drama queen alert, leave town, no one wants negative people here, Kelowna is apparently as great as Hawaii, everyone here is actually a saint, etc.

chiming in here. I have to agree. I've seen a lot of it in the 10+ years I've been a member/mod. another example is when people start threads about moving here... tons of negative comments.

Do these people live their life with that much negativity?

With that said, life really is what you make it & or the choices you make. leave or stay. it's your life... do what makes you freaking happy.

[maryjane48]

i liked living in rutland when i did . i found it fairly quiet . west kelowna was way busier . when i contracted for the city i found most the rich folk nice . where the fire was the folks that rebuilt were happy to show me how they rebuilt and i could never tell which places burnt and which didnt .


i think that kelowna is well on its way to being more like vancouver and that in its self is challanging

[RustyCrayon]

I'm living in Okanagan Centre at the moment. It's absolutely beautiful here, but many of the things that made our neighbourhood special are disappearing quickly. The forested trails that I hike on everyday are now being bulldozed to make way for big subdivisions. Crime has gone up. House prices are out of control. There are a lot of AirBnBs here now, which makes for a revolving door of noisy strangers who aren't concerned about the community etc...

I was in Victoria and Comox for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with the whole area! I'm thinking that I might like to relocate to the island. You get both the mountains and the ocean. People seem more relaxed. Lots of outdoor stuff to do...mountain biking, dirt biking, fishing, skiing, hiking etc... Nice, mild winters and from what I understand, the summers don't get as hot as in the Okanagan. It all sounds pretty great.

Working there shouldn't be an issue. I'm self employed, and my clients are in other provinces. So all I need is to run my business is an internet connection and an airport.

I'm leaning towards Comox, but it will probably take another visit and more information to figure everything out.
Does anyone have anything else to share about living on the island?

Thanks :)

[f/22]

I have no experience for the places you are proposing.

But fingers crossed for a reply to you as a newbie member here.

[Queen K]

I feel the exact opposite way. The forums here exemplify the WASP-y old-world, holier than though, bigoted attitude for which Kelowna is infamous. I know, I know, drama queen alert, leave town, no one wants negative people here, Kelowna is apparently as great as Hawaii, everyone here is actually a saint, etc.

chiming in here. I have to agree. I've seen a lot of it in the 10+ years I've been a member/mod. another example is when people start threads about moving here... tons of negative comments. <snip>

I've found that it actually helps to get off the boards and meet up with the people you've met off the boards. Remember the good old days when there were Castanet get togethers? Barely? Right, me too. Because they don't happen the way they used to and that IMO makes for a very angry place.

[whatwhat]

I've found that it actually helps to get off the boards and meet up with the people you've met off the boards. Remember the good old days when there were Castanet get togethers? Barely? Right, me too. Because they don't happen the way they used to and that IMO makes for a very angry place.

To be honest, there are a very select few I would want to spend time with on these board, and then there are the select few I would even feel comfortable meeting on these boards. The treatment (and even threats) I have received from regular posters have turned me off enough that I would never go to a meet up where my personal identity would be known.

It is a bit of a catch-22, as you say meeting up tends to help the situation, but because of the situation I would never go to a meet up.

[f/22]

Where and why?

I am not sold out to Okanagan, I am at the pre-exploratory stage. Thus, I am always curious to hear why people leave. No place is perfect obviously. And most people (I am guessing here) leave for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the place per se.

Yeah, such a simple OP with two direct questions . . ..

So here's a little philosophy that I’m sure Hermes would understand.

Life is a combination of circumstances, conditions, and capabilities. Change just one, or if one changes for you, then your life itself changes.

[Triple 6]

I've found that it actually helps to get off the boards and meet up with the people you've met off the boards. Remember the good old days when there were Castanet get togethers? Barely? Right, me too. Because they don't happen the way they used to and that IMO makes for a very angry place.

I get off the boards. I have a "life" outside of here. It really is what you make it. :)