Im looking for help on places to settle, I know this is a tough question but I would be interested to see what you come up with it.
I would like nice views / close to water / close to golf / fairly close to a town but not to big. Nice summers Most importantly a nice community feel.
I was thinking of Nelson BC or Kelowna BC
Now am i asking for to much ?

Although I was born in Calgary I have lived in the UK for many years, but hopefully returning to Calgary later this year. After a couple of holidays my husband decided that he really liked it around the Okanagan area and that perhaps that was where we would settle. However, after speaking to my cousins husband he put him right off by telling him how the cloud sort of hangs over the area for a lot of the winter (beautiful in summer though). Athough it will be colder in Calgary the blue skies are fantastic and having looked out at the grey horrible skies here of late we dont want to go all that way to look at the same during the winter. Ideally a place in the Calgary area during the winter and a summer place in the Okanagan would be just ideal!!

If you are set on BC, and not bothered about access to Vancouver, I'd strongly recommend Kelowna. I've had to go a few times on business and at first I just drove to through the main drag to my Hotel and had a poor impression. But most towns in BC have similar poor first impressions. However upon further visits I had time to look around and it is a very pleasant place, I also had to visit mall which I did not know existed, I hate malls but for the size of the place its as good as I've seen outside Vancouver.
It also has a nice downtown with some really nice brick buildings, also another area I think they call "Heritage" has a nice environment.
I dont know anything about housing, but there seem to bee a lot of sub-divisions popping up.
I'd say it would tick all your boxes and I'd definatly put it above most of the towns east of Van in the Valley.(Apart from being a bit remote in terms of road access to Van 3-4 hours drive )

Hi,

If you search back through my previous posts (using search facility) you will see info about Kelowna. One post lists all local online information links, that would be very useful for you to make use of.

It can get cloudy in winter as we are located in a valley and when air pressure changes, the cloud can drag in a little, for a few days at a time. Some of December was like that and a week or two before the snow fell end of 2005. Similarly, we live on a mountain so can get cloud up here when it is cloud free in town. Winters can get down to -20 for short spells usually -5 days and in summers, well, 35-40 degrees the norm for a couple months. We just had a spell of over a week of bright blue skies, sun and very cold dry weather. Even in winter it is dry, due to being in a semi-arid desert. And when those skies brighten, man what a place to live !!!

Kelowna is growing like crazy and a lot is happening, demand for all sorts of skilled workers and very strong real estate prices/growth, it has everything you may want re leisure, residential locations/choices, amenities etc. But also, you'll need to understand that much of The Okanagan is lifestyle choice - retirees, peeps with mucho bucko and rich loafers doing their thing. Despite the many good things, there are issues with low paid work, rising crime due to the growth of the city, poor planning for new developments, etc. Due to real estate and high cost of gas and groceries, it is not cheap to live here by any means. But for the lifestyle opportunities, fantastic environment etc the price is likely worth paying if you can make it all work out.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

Rich.

ps - heard very good things about Nelson but it has a certain vibe, pace, and lifestyle that is not always conducive to hard work and getting ahead in life !!!

Hi Kevin

Okanagan White Skies as we refer to them are common place in the winter, but luckily not an every day event.

I was born in Kelowna, so if there is anything that I can assist you with, feel free to drop me a PM. My sister lives in the Crescent Valley, just outside Nelson, so may be able to provide some info on that area as well.

Cheers

Oggy

Ok if your looking for nice views / close to water / close to golf / fairly close to a town but not to big. Nice summers Most importantly a nice community feel. then check out Vancouver Island...Victoria and surrounding areas

beautiful mountain views, spectacular water views, beaches both swimming and a little farther up island surfing, golf year round (no snow) nice size city with a small city feel laid back nice place to live.

only a ferry ride away from Vancouver or Seattle in the US we really do have it all.

Have you thought of Ilaquit?

Sorry never heard of Ilaquit

I have been to Vancouver Island and did like it I wasnt sure if it was to expensive comapred to elsewhere, but looking it seems fairly reasonable.

Iqualuit was the first place I thought of when I started to read the thread, but your "where to go" thread was a little better framed and more specific then most posted here


Technically almost anywhere I can think of meets your requirements. The golf around where I live for example is excellent value, although available only 7 month a year, the views are even nice if you arent looking for big f'ing mountains like on all the postcards. Its a tough one to answer, so many nice small town around Canada, and plenty cheaper than Kelowna or Nelson I suspect.

From your suggestions though it seems mountains are high on the agenda, which rules out vast swathes of Canada at a stroke.

Hi Kevinm

cost of living is no different than living in say Vancouver except for having to use the ferry system to get on and off the island and the cost is relevant depending where on the island Victoria is higher than if you move up island depending on what your looking for.

island girl

But then to keep things in perspective Vancouver and Toronto are probably neck and neck as most expensive places to live in Canada.

Bird eye view of Iqaluit:
http://britishexpats.com/blogs/album...wasabi%20peas/