British Expats - Kelowna

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Canada (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/)

- - Kelowna (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/kelowna-497184/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkmurrays (Post 5638375)

Couldn't agree more, Rich007, Castanet is a great resource, good for buying and selling odds and ends too.
When I was going through the emigration process, http://www.accessokanagan.com was helpful too. People there who'd been through the process and who went out of their way to give me the benefit of their experience.

Agree totally too about the benefit of reccies. We came over a few times, rented a place so we shopped etc along with the locals, and got a feel for the place. Always tempting to turn a reccie into a vacation, but best to try and get under the skin of the place before you move.

Funny, I've only come across a couple of Brits who moaned about what they couldn't get/what was different here. Most, like me were, overall enjoying the experience, going through a few highs and lows. Quite normal really.

Speak as you find as they say.

i have to agree with you..that....this is a great site..for people moving to kelowna from anywhere..>> accessokanagan.com just about everyone there has moved to the Okanagan area..so have the down to earth experience as such......all those *little* things that the bigger sites don't tend to tell you...:)

also..you get quick replies...form people who have been there done that..or still doing it..~....good luck to the Original Poster...kelowna is a great city...has a lot to offer.....of course..no where is perfect!..there is always..social issues..etc....however.....i think most times....if you want rotten eggs you will find them!...if you understand my meaning.

I personaly never experienced anything bad in Kelowna...OH except the driving habits..>LOL.....i do have to admit..that is pretty wild!

As we aren't living in a police state and I am entitled to lodge my thoughts too...
- when you are first thinking about moving / going through the process it's useful to have help from others who have been/are going through the process sometimes, even if that means speaking to -dare I say it - other Brits.
- even better to add to that experience by speaking to/having exchanges with 'real' Canadians....although that may have to be online initially if you're still in England.

We've benefited from both, which is why I rate both sources of info, and indeed, British Expats too.

Can I remind certain of the posters on this thread to stick to the topic in question and not to turn it into a discussion about other forums. We do not allow derogatory comments about other discussion boards, and if it continues then this thread will be closed.

Also, please remember that one posters personal experience of a city may be completely different from the that of next person. There is no need to be offensive because they have posted their views. BE has room for everyone's opinions as long as they are posted in an acceptable way, as befits a civilised community.

Hi Polyanna
I was about to make a comment on the previous post, hope it's okay if I still do so?

Firstly, yes, there's a basic human right to freedom of speech - thank goodness. (Although my naive knowledge of Canadian law doesn't stretch as far as understanding if it's entrenched in the constitution, or if there's a Bill of Rights). It is definitely a right we should all hold dear, but it should not be allowed to infringe on the rights of others. It's a question of degree, and it's a shame if some pretty powerful points are clouded by resorting to insults and derogatory comments about others. It only serves to not only alienate the majority from the individual making the point, but it may even taint perfectly valid views on the matter under discussion.

Sadly, Kelowna like many places in Canada, and across the world, suffers from drug issues and homelessness. It should be acknowledged, but it isn't a reason not to come here. There are lots of positives even when these negatives are taken into account. NOWHERE is Utopia. Simple as that. Everyone makes their own choices, we're all adults.

Sources of information for people moving to the Okanagan? My own, personal experience is that different sources are good for different questions. BE is great for the big picture immigration stuff, and broader Canadian questions, and I wish I'd found it much earlier into our skilled worker application. Great people with lots of knowledge to share, and I've made a few good friends along the way, Gibbos, burtonbunch etc.

Access Okanagan is useful for info on more localised, Okanagan based questions, and particularly those focused on matters like, how do I get my kids registered at school? What do I need to do to prepare for my first Canadian winter? etc. Practical stuff. Plus, wimp that I am, sometimes it's just good to chat to other people who come from where you do, and have taken a similar journey. Castanet also has its place as it has more longer term Canadian residents on its forum. I used all three when I moved and found they all had their value.

Great too, to talk to Canadians - after all we came here to be Canadian, not to form a Brit ghetto. I find it interesting though, that most of the people I speak to are immigrants, from all over the world, and other parts of Canada. Few people I've encountered are Kelowna born and bred, and even fewer of 'first nation' origin. I keep thinking 'we're all immigrants here'!

On the matter of 'oddballs, stalkers etc'. Well, if all of the contributors to a particular forum are flip flop wearing, moaning Brits only interested in beer and Marmite, then I think that the poster, (and I) are surely the oddballs and the minority.....??

Personally - and all this is my opinion - the moaning Brits tend to be a small group still in the UK. The ones who said to us, 'oh we wish we could be lucky enough to move like you'. To which, we asked what's stopping you? One person even said to my OH, 'oh, we couldn't move, the kids have just started music lessons.' Oh how we laughed......

Sorry if this sounds like a sermon, and I think the points about Kelowna's problems are well made. They exist, but Kelowna isn't unique in suffering from them.
Back to forums, as someone who moved here knowing no one, I was grateful for all the help I could get, and I certainly felt that support from Access Okanagan.

Hope this doesn't spur yet more insults, my aim is to help the original poster, not to stir up trouble.:unsure:

'e'?

Meant to say. thanks for the apology about the 'stalker' comment.

Appreciated.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_007 (Post 5648013)

This is exactly the type of comment that makes me puke blood. It gives a totally off the mark impression to anyone looking at Kelowna from the outside. Obviously the poster is clearly disconnected from reality. Perhaps she would like to make comment about the poverty in Kelowna, the homelessness, the drug issues, the food bank uptake, etc. Or perhaps go and speak with a few connected people. Maybe the nurse who handles the screaming drug addled idiots with no backup or help, the doctor who works with little resources, the pharmacist who has to dodge the angry cranked up crack heads and methheads, or the storeowner who brushes the human detritus from her doorway every weekday morning ? Or the homeowner who has two crackheads living underneath her car ? The student who had her possessions stolen in the light of day ? All this is grim reality. But of course, so long as one can cuddle fluffy kittens and dream of faries, all is well with the world, right ?

Tch, people are just off the hook. :unsure:

umm excuse me..you do not know..anything about me....and you sit in high judgement. I am not even going to justify my previous posts. about my own personal experience...

...many people do a lot of charity type work for others..and walk there talk. you do not know what i do or how i choose to live my life. because i do not advertise it in such a way. i share here what i want to share.

i am not going to get into a bantering session with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 5648434)

thank you *pollyanna*..for bringing this back to what it is intended to be. i notice many times...threads get highjacked by people who take the topic off course. i thank you and the rest of the BE team for keeping the site..functional within it's intent!..:)

Absolutely, Maple Leaf, no one should feel put in a position where they have to justify themselves on a forum.

Glad this thread meant we bumped into each other and I'll be picking your brains about Vancouver Island, thanks!

PS Agree on the moderator thing, poor devil who started this post didn't know what they were letting themselves in for.:thumbsup:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkmurrays (Post 5648611)

'e'?

Meant to say. thanks for the apology about the 'stalker' comment.

Appreciated.:)

No worries. It was said tongue in cheek but that mode never comes over well ont'interweb.

Yeah - despite the rumours to contrary I'm humbly human; skin and bone, and all the gristly bits that go with it.

Peace, over and out.

R.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkmurrays (Post 5648624)

...no one should feel put in a position where they have to justify themselves on a forum.

Of course they should - justify a position or opinion. This is the world of debate and discussion. It's just like real life, one has to sell and pitch and conceptualise and rationalise and negotiate to get anywhere. One has to find the hard facts and evidence to back up their statement. Otherwise it's just unjustified mindless piffle without any credibility.

e.g.
a) "Kelowna's just wonderful" = mindless piffle
b) "Kelowna's great but it has issues which are [enter string of facts and info]" = integrity info

R.

It's one thing justifying a position or an opinion, which I totally agree with you on.

It's quite another feeling you are being personally attacked and judged, which, if I read the paragraph correctly, was how the poster felt. As you rightly say, things can be easily misinterpreted on the web, and as the poster said, none of us actually know each other, so we're not in a position to make such judgements.

That's why I always try and stick to the issues, rather than getting into personal slanging matches. Serves little purpose and gets away from the matter being discussed.

But, as you say, peace indeed.

As a general comment, I suspect most forum users are blessed with enough intelligence to read around a topic and not just believe the first post they stumble across.

AO, Expats, the myriad of Yahoo groups and others are all extremely useful resources; me and the missus have gained greatly from the collective knowledge contained within over the past few years. And, true enough, that has often been gleaned from contrasting opinions (but isn't that always the way?).

Anyways, not sure there was a specific point to this post, just to say keep posting folks, it's always (for the most part) appreciated by someone!

:huh:

PS. To wander vaguely back on topic, we're thinking about maybe moving to Kelowna (or somewhere else in the interior) after a year or two here in Vancouver, we've spent a fair bit of time there over the years, and like it a great deal (with certain, mainly employment related, concerns expressed here and elsewhere a given).

Hi Iain Mc
Sensible point well made.
Good luck with the move.:D:):thumbup:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canada2006 (Post 5619040)

Hi,

The other day I was speaking to a nice man who said that Kelowna was a fab place to live in. Would anyone have any thoughts on:

- overall job situation for white collar work
- is housing easy to get
- is the town growing quickly - does it feel like it's growing
- can you get organic food easily
- do you often find you need to go to Vancouver for clothes or other items
- how are the schools - how is it for kids
- as it's a small town - do you ever find it boring?

For us to move there it would be a move away from a medium size city so just trying to size it up.

Thanks for your help
C2006

Going back to the original questions, the Kelowna Economic Development Commission has a website http://www.edccord.com/ and that has a heap of info on it, including some 'dry' stats in reports on population, key industry sectors etc. When we were first looking what struck me was the size of the small businesses in the area, with the exception of Interior Health, SunRype etc, there are few large employers. It also has a section on Living in Kelowna, with a piece about cost of living, climate, shopping malls, things to do, a bit on neighbourhoods etc. Worth a scan.

The City of Kelowna site http://www.kelowna.ca/cm/PageFactory.aspx?SiteID=3 has some stuff on it too, but more detailed....eg recycling, parking, bylaws, developments etc.

I read the local newspapers too - online. By browsing them once a week or so I got a feel or the issues and what was going on in the area. http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_...wnacapitalnews
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/
http://www.castanet.net/

School info is on the School District 23 site. http://www.sd23.bc.ca/Home%20Page
On the site you can even check if your kids are eligible for school bus transportation from where you live, or plan to live by putting in a postcode. There's lists of schools by type - elementary etc.
School performance tables are available on http://www.fraserinstitute.org/ Just type in the name of the school(s) you are interested in. The big issue in education being discussed at the moment is whether the district should continue to invest in, and expand its laptop programme for kids.
There's also part of University of BC here in the town, and the Okanagan College too.
Plenty of desk research there for you! Will probably spur lots more questions. Hope that helps.:)

Sharon