Good areas to live in Kelowna and surrounding areas

[thatdarnbird]

and the wilderness is at your back door.

And so are the forest fires. I'll bet those in the Upper Mission weren't too pleased with the "forest at their back door" in '03, as they stood by watching their homes burn to the ground.

And the bears. Ever had one terrorize your neighborhood, trying to get into trash cans that other, more irresponsible residents have left outside? Especially when it is a sow with cubs -- and the accompanying hair-trigger rage? Betchya don't like it when you realize your kids are outside playing, only you don't know exactly where!!

And the coyotes carrying off your cat, toy poodle or other "puntable-class" animal. Bye-bye fluffy!

And the deer eating all of the new growth off of your fruit trees, so that you get no fruit at all within 12 feet of the ground. Or them eating the fruit off of it before it's even ripe.

Ya, there is a lot to be said about having a "forest at your back door".

For those of us that love (with the exception of forest fires for all the obvious reasons) our place in this gorgeous part of the world, if you so hate it so much and fear the great outdoors, which for many of us is our passion, might I suggest moving to downtown Vancouver or Montreal. You're far less likely to encounter any of the (natural) denizens of our forests, you might then exchange them for the (un-natural) denizens of the inner cities, the like of which bear (no pun intended) no explanation. That'll free up one more home for those that might appreciate it.

[rekabis]

and the wilderness is at your back door.

And so are the forest fires. I'll bet those in the Upper Mission weren't too pleased with the "forest at their back door" in '03, as they stood by watching their homes burn to the ground.

And the bears. Ever had one terrorize your neighborhood, trying to get into trash cans that other, more irresponsible residents have left outside? Especially when it is a sow with cubs -- and the accompanying hair-trigger rage? Betchya don't like it when you realize your kids are outside playing, only you don't know exactly where!!

And the coyotes carrying off your cat, toy poodle or other "puntable-class" animal. Bye-bye fluffy!

And the deer eating all of the new growth off of your fruit trees, so that you get no fruit at all within 12 feet of the ground. Or them eating the fruit off of it before it's even ripe.

Ya, there is a lot to be said about having a "forest at your back door".

For those of us that love (with the exception of forest fires for all the obvious reasons) our place in this gorgeous part of the world, if you so hate it so much and fear the great outdoors, which for many of us is our passion, might I suggest moving to downtown Vancouver or Montreal. You're far less likely to encounter any of the (natural) denizens of our forests, you might then exchange them for the (un-natural) denizens of the inner cities, the like of which bear (no pun intended) no explanation. That'll free up one more home for those that might appreciate it.

I was just pointing out the downside of having "the forest at your back door". Too many people from the big city come here, are enthralled by our forests, move into a "boundary zone" house, and then wonder why little fufu or mitzy ran off leaving only some fur and bloodstains, Or why their fruit trees are always trashed over the winter. Or why it is not right to leave your garbage cans out 24/7 like you can in the big cities.

Yes, I love it here. But city dwellers rarely have "forest sense", and are often very shocked at what can happen and what they do wrong.

I remember one guy, who had recently moved into the Upper Mission, was always calling Animal Control to report livestock that had broken out and were tearing up his garden. Blew quite the gasket when he was told that the "livestock" were wild deer, and were quite out of Animal Control's jurisdiction, and that he simply couldn't shoot them himself. Then the groundhogs did a number on him and his garden (particularly the vegetables). Finally, the racoons cleared out and destroyed nearly all the fruit off of his property (they really love prunes and plums!), of which he had quite a bit of. The deer finished off the apples and pears, and the final straw was the sudden appearance of a black bear two houses down, rooting through garbage. When his grandkids were playing outside. And then it decided to dine at the buffet just outside of his own garage.

He freaked, and sold the place. Moved back to Vancouver after only a year and a bit here. Swore never to move outside a large municipality again.

[Scadam]

Lets keep the chicken little routine in the housing price threads.

The easy answer to the poster's question is probably upper mission (plus kettle valley etc..) and north glenmore (plus dilworth). Anything closer to downtown, the lake, the north end (between downtown and knox mountain), and some parts of Rutland are not so nice.

Myself I chose Rutland over a similarly priced unit in North Glenmore simply because I know the area and knew where to avoid. Rutland elementary is the finsest school I've encountered and the parents are very down-to-earth. But if you're from out of town I'd stick to mission/glenmore. I haven't known anyone in those areas who had issues (aside from disliking the yuppies in the mission).

The west side of the lake has some nice areas too but they recently incorporated and are lacking a lot of infrastructure (ie. sidewalks, streetlights), so budgeting might be a bit more volatile depending which decisions are made. Winfield is nice enough if you don't mind a bit more commuting (20 minutes?).

[LoneWolf_53]

Klowntown: 10 kph (komplaints per hour)

Have to agree with that one.

[LoneWolf_53]

Winfield is nice enough if you don't mind a bit more commuting (20 minutes?).

Hardly. I live in Winfield at the far end by Wood Lake and I get to work at Hwy 97 and Sexsmith in 12 minutes every day going with the traffic flow.

By contrast I was previously in the Mission area by the Sportsfields and it was taking me 30-40 minutes many mornings to get to the same place.

In the end it naturally comes down to where exactly you work and need to get to.

In my case I save both time and money as it's more fuel efficient to travel on the Hwy.

[thatdarnbird]

Sorry Scadam, I didn't mean to get into a "chicken little" sounding routine. Not my intent at all, will you forgive me? It came off sounding like that in that I compared the big cities problems almost in the same breathe, not fair at all.

This valley has so much to offer, and whether you live near downtown Kelowna, on the hills over the lake or on it's shore, each area has a lot to offer, depending on your likes and dislikes. A newcomer would do well to spend some time here in advance if at all possible and get a taste for each areas flavor, diversity is not something we have lack of.

[Scadam]

No not you thatdarnbird, i meant rekabis banging the doomsday drum in every thread that remotely touches on real estate

Lonewolf is right about commutes, this town is pretty spread out now - you can easily be 30 minutes away from another location in the same town. The west side and Winfield are both feasible, especially with the new bridge easing congestion soon.

[CoffeeCanuck]

A newcomer would do well to spend some time here in advance if at all possible and get a taste for each areas flavor, diversity is not something we have lack of.

Best piece of advice thus far.

~D

[kingsandman]

and the wilderness is at your back door.

And so are the forest fires. I'll bet those in the Upper Mission weren't too pleased with the "forest at their back door" in '03, as they stood by watching their homes burn to the ground.

And the bears. Ever had one terrorize your neighborhood, trying to get into trash cans that other, more irresponsible residents have left outside? Especially when it is a sow with cubs -- and the accompanying hair-trigger rage? Betchya don't like it when you realize your kids are outside playing, only you don't know exactly where!!

And the coyotes carrying off your cat, toy poodle or other "puntable-class" animal. Bye-bye fluffy!

And the deer eating all of the new growth off of your fruit trees, so that you get no fruit at all within 12 feet of the ground. Or them eating the fruit off of it before it's even ripe.

Ya, there is a lot to be said about having a "forest at your back door".

For those of us that love (with the exception of forest fires for all the obvious reasons) our place in this gorgeous part of the world, if you so hate it so much and fear the great outdoors, which for many of us is our passion, might I suggest moving to downtown Vancouver or Montreal. You're far less likely to encounter any of the (natural) denizens of our forests, you might then exchange them for the (un-natural) denizens of the inner cities, the like of which bear (no pun intended) no explanation. That'll free up one more home for those that might appreciate it.

I was just pointing out the downside of having "the forest at your back door". Too many people from the big city come here, are enthralled by our forests, move into a "boundary zone" house, and then wonder why little fufu or mitzy ran off leaving only some fur and bloodstains, Or why their fruit trees are always trashed over the winter. Or why it is not right to leave your garbage cans out 24/7 like you can in the big cities.

Yes, I love it here. But city dwellers rarely have "forest sense", and are often very shocked at what can happen and what they do wrong.

I remember one guy, who had recently moved into the Upper Mission, was always calling Animal Control to report livestock that had broken out and were tearing up his garden. Blew quite the gasket when he was told that the "livestock" were wild deer, and were quite out of Animal Control's jurisdiction, and that he simply couldn't shoot them himself. Then the groundhogs did a number on him and his garden (particularly the vegetables). Finally, the racoons cleared out and destroyed nearly all the fruit off of his property (they really love prunes and plums!), of which he had quite a bit of. The deer finished off the apples and pears, and the final straw was the sudden appearance of a black bear two houses down, rooting through garbage. When his grandkids were playing outside. And then it decided to dine at the buffet just outside of his own garage.

He freaked, and sold the place. Moved back to Vancouver after only a year and a bit here. Swore never to move outside a large municipality again.

Old MacDonald's farm was across the lake, besides, it's closed!

[drex1999]

I agree with some posts here.

Come here and rent for a few months. You will get a feeling of the city and find where would best suit you. I also see the housing market here as a risk. Sales are already down 5% this year and I personally have come to the conclusion through various means that we might see a drop between 5 - 10% this year alone, imo. Want to save 40 grand on a house? Don't buy it, lol!