We will be arriving in BC early May and after a couple of weeks in Coquitlam staying with friends we intend to go on a road trip to explore other places. Top of my list of places of interest to settle is Kamloops due to location, weather, geography etc. Having never been, I am interested in what it is really like as a place to live?

Have you done a search of the forum? There are plenty of previous threads about it, and there is also a Wiki article so that would be well worth you reading too.

Never been to Kamloops, but you will love Vancouver. Have you been before? Kitsilano would be my ideal place in Van, but very pricey. My friend lives in Maple Ridge well outside of Maple ridge and it is lovely. Dont forget the Island though, if you have the time you should go even if it is for a day trip on a floatplane to Victoria.

The weather should be good by then.

Sarah x

Apparently there's a pulp mill in Kamloops and it makes the place very smelly. That, and many kids become crystal-meth addicts.

Hmmmm.... they are indeed the 2 main reasons im upping my family from its UK roots and shipping em all the way to Canada to live in Kamloops!!

Dont believe the hype....

PS theres no pollution or Crytal-meth or any other addicts in Vancouver
Gaz

Now I haven't been to Kamloops since 1980 but I do remember the pulp mill and the smell. Not so much on the crystal meth though.

Yeppers the smelly pulp mill is still there and was pointed out to us, on not one occassion id i smell it though... mind you i didnt go out my way to try and smell it

I currently live nearby 2 types of factory in the Uk and have a faint whiff or so off them when driving past but im in an industrial town so expect it.

Kamloops i agree is different, its small town compared to Vancouver but thats what we want.. smelly pulp mill (not too sure bout CM druggies) an all

As ive said before somewhere along the way on BE i was told i was going to live in the rough part, but if you have lived where I have lived then the rough part of Kamloops is a godsend so the only way is up

Gaz

Two completely different lifestyles, only you will know which suits you. For us I would not give a thank you for Vancouver, I love Kamloops, but it is was far away from the major centres for work. We settled in the Fraser Valley.

Kamloops is 4 hours by road out of Vancouver and easy two day trip to see what it is like (or under 40 minutes by air out of Abbotsford).

Rural Canada has a terrible meth problem and its worse in the small poor towns such as Kamloops and Barriere. I know I wouldn't want my children to grown up around meth labs and go to school with kids who have nothing much to do than take this junk. This story was five years ago and its only got worse since then.

BC Meth Stories

Kamloops is a 'poor town'? Not sure how you reach that conclusion.

Like in any other city these days there are drug issues, but crystal meth rarely makes news here, the local RCMP has been extremely aggressive targeting dealers and it's all grow-op drugs busts that make headlines. In the 5yrs I've lived here I'd say the situation's got better, not worse.

Yes hence its a story... drugs are everywhere, maybe next door to you, its not just a poor problem and is more widely found in Big cities.

There are more drug users of every type from where im moving from... then again drug use and the users are not the reason we are moving from the UK

Im not expecting Kamloops or any other town to be perfect but for you to try tell people not to move to somewhere you do not know or live, but just read/quote articles on....is not the best thing to do!!

Ive read many more countless horror stories on Vancouver , i have visited the city but I dont live there so cant quote!!

PS i didnt see a single meths kid or adult the month i was there, im just back from our local shops and seen four.

Gaz

Depends where you look, they are pretty much everywhere. Grow ops abound in many BC towns as does crime. There are good and bad areas. Not sure a month is going to give much of an insight, it takes longer than that to find your way around. Even Yahk has its problems!

If I see somebody from a small town on the news who's house has burnt down due to a gas leak I tend to think 'yeah right - your meth lab blew up'.

It seems to me that grow-ops, meth-labs etc don't make the news so much any more because they have become mundane and are no longer news-worthy.

I never stated such a thing. I said it was smelly and has, like lots of rural towns, lots of meth addicts. Move there if you want, but given the choice, I just personally wouldn't subject any children of mine to such a place.

I think I need to be on crystal meths to listen to some of the drivel on here!!

Hope you and your family have a long healthy happy life in perfectville ... me and mine will continue to go forth and live in this hell hole , will my children ever forgive me for bringing them here i wonder??