25 replies to this topic

[mx_corbeil]

Hi all,

In advance I'll say thanks for any responses. I realize I probably should've posted this in the sledding general discussion forum, but I like the guys on the XP forum and have seen a lot of them who live in B.C.

I currently live in Ontario, and am considering moving out west with my G.F. We both have good education (4 years business degree) so finding a job shouldn't be that difficult.

I have been up to Golden, B.C. to ride a few years ago, beautiful area. But my question is, where is the best place to live in B.C. I myself am into riding sleds, dirt bike, quads, and my girlfriend loves snowboarding. What city offers this balance and still has living conditions/accomodations as good as a 60,000 population city?

Thanks

[A7M266D]

Golden is awesome bit of everything, golden doesn't get quite as much snow as revy but they get more bluebird days riding.

[BigTyme]

Pemberton!

Just north of Whistler....

[mx_corbeil]

Thanks for the suggestions, anyone else?

[dc76]

After having lived in BC and many other places for several years I will give you my honest opinion on places to consider in BC. There are 3 things I always look for in a city. An Airport, Canadian Tire, and Tim Hortons. I always look at airprot as its an indication of the other amenites. I could do without the Canadian Tire as long as there was a Walmart or Lordco(BC parts store) No way am I going with out my Timmies.

If I was moving to BC tomorrow, there are a few places I would look. First - employment is a huge factor. I want to live in a place that my expertise is sought after. Secondly, cost of living plays a large role.

#1 Kelowna - Population 120,000. Has a good sized airport. Its on Okanagan Lake, has an arid climate which at times can produce a dull, overcast feeling but makes up for it in warm weather and outdoor activities. Sledding is very accessable, as is various terrain for dirt biking. Many of the people I know there work in the service industry, like hotels, bars and such. The ski hill there is Big White.

#2 Kamloops - smaller pop - 90,000. Does have a okay sized airport for that size of population. Does have good hiway access to other areas as well. Has sort of that same arid, mild climate of Kelowna. It does have a small metropolitan area. A little north of Kelowna and gets great snow.

#3 Castlegar - this is likely way off your charts. Very small population, under 10,000. It does have a CT and TH though. And a very small airport. The demographics of this small town feel much larger though. Its very close to neighboring cities of Nelson (full of hippies) and Trail (somewhat industrial). Honestly, it would be my first pick. We spend quite a bit of time in that area and really enjoy it. Its just not for everyone though.

#4 Somewhere between Kimberly and Cranbrook (well thats Marysville) but I have spent lots of time in Cranbrook. I worked two weeks on/off there for a year. Its okay. Its not as nice as living further West in the Kootenay's. The population of Cranbrook is likely around 40,000. It does have a very small airport, CT and TH. Crankbrook seemed very transiant though. Lots of people floating through town with no real direction. I have friends who live there and love it. Its a distant 4th on my list.


I wouldn't live in Golden. It has nothing. Great to visit, great sledding, great fishing. But not a place to call home. Pemberton is really nice, but its nothing more than a town.

I am not a fan of Vancouver, its too large of a city for me and I feel like a redneck. Victoria is nice, but its very touristy and exspensive. There is sledding on the Island, but its a little hard to come by if you don't know the area. If I was going to live near Vancouver it would maybe be Abbotsford. Its still too close to Van for me though.

You could also look into Penticton, Squamish, Salmon Arm (kinda half way to everything) The biggest downfall to BC is money. Everything costs more there. BC stands for Bring Cash.


Really you likley should have posted in the General Mountain section rather than the trail section of the XP forum to get the attention of other people who live and ride in the mountains. If there is an area you are curious about feel free to send me a message. We started a 5 year plan last year to move back to BC. Things are going well, we might make it a 4 year plan to get there sooner.

[finndoo]

If you can afford to live in Kelowna go for it but it is too much for me. Kamloops is a bit cheaper and has good hills nearby. The Kootenays is even cheaper and awesome hills but if you want a population of over 60,000 I am not sure if there are any places like that there. I live in Prince George and we have good access to quadding, fishing, camping, hunting and the rockies are within a two hour drive. Our housing is still reasonable, our airport gives good access to Vancouver and Mexico but nowhere else without a number of transfers. Our hospital has been expanding a lot over the last ten years but there have been a lot of school closures and we have a university with a medical program. This is not a totally awesome place to live but with good friends and the great outdoors literally minutes away I do manage to enjoy myself in every season.

[sagebrush]

#2 Kamloops - smaller pop - 90,000. Does have a okay sized airport for that size of population. Does have good hiway access to other areas as well. Has sort of that same arid, mild climate of Kelowna. It does have a small metropolitan area. A little north of Kelowna and gets great snow.

Moved to Kamloops in 1992 from Vancouver and have never looked back. More of a farm and ranch style city, where Kelowna is more about the Lake and Vineyards. If your into outdoors, this is the place to live...
You could join us around the camp fire for Moose meat on a stick! lol

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[I braaap]

Nelson baby! In the kootaneys most snow of everywhere

[Octanee]

if i was to say, Revelstoke is a snowmobiling hot spot, its a renowned place, Cranbrooks pretty good, (i live here) we got a few spots we ride at, winters vary but its pretty decent though, Fernie gets like 20-30 ft of snow i think, thats 1 hr from cranbrook, i know guys say its some great riding there, kelowna, ehhh i dont know, its a pretty hot/deserty place, also a big city, i personally wouldnt live there for snowmobiling, same with kamloops, basically you want to be around revelstoke, or the "kootenays" Castlegar is a area near i guess many different places to snowmobile there, but the town is kind of smaller and such,

Also golden they say is a good spot, lots of outdoor stuff and snowmobiling too, as they say,

i guess it really depends on what you want to do,

i know you want to snowmobile, so them places are good, but, how about summertime activities?

dirtbiking?,mountain biking?, quadding?

but basically, revelstoke i think is a snowmobiling/dirtbiking/quadding/mountain biking place, golden i know for sure is good mountainbiking, and snowmobiling too,

Fernie seems to be more snowmobiling/mountain biking, (went there 2 weeks ago to find out theres nowhere to ride a dirtbike or quad around there really)

i live in cranbrook, and to me its a pretty good place, you go thru town in like 10 mins, But to me this town has everything you could ever need.... for hte most part, and quick access to the out doors, also supposed to be the "sunniest place in bc" we still get great deep snow though, its also kind of in a valley between 2 different mountain ranges

20 mins from cranbrook is the nearest ski hill, Fernie has a ski hill also, golden too, revelstoke i dont know but i would bet there is,

if you ahve any questions about the "east kootenays" which is around cranbrook area kind of stuff that way, feel free to pm me any questions!

if you like some pics from around here, heres a link of past year, top pics are earlier in the year to later on, i think like december- april
http://www.facebook....1390ec80&type=1

[crooklyn]

Prince George!

ok sure it has a the pulp mill smell every now and then, but its the smell of money!

we have a new cancer center being built by the gov't and lots of industrial business. also its the only city in canada where you can still get a house for under $200k.

[rp809]

ive sledded in areas in Kamloops, Revy but I grew up in Golden. by far the best sledding so many areas and a awsome ski hill, the locals know of areas that the out of towners dont.

[sidewaysInto3rd]

I'm in the process of moving to Squamish from Vancouver. Spent last season in the kootenays. Riding's great over there, but so is the coast

Let's just say, we rode june 30 and I probed well over 10' of snow on the coast!!

Squamish is close enough to vancouver if you want big city things (hockey game, concerts, shopping, whatever), its very close to all the best coastal riding areas and your girlfriend can go to whistler every day

I considered moving to the kootenays, but since i've been in vancouver for so long squamish makes more sense for me.. closer to friends.

[bnorth]

I've lived in Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, and now Clearwater.

For access to the outdoors and sledding I rank Clearwater the highest for sure but it has absolutely no amenities being it's a town of only about 4500. Kelowna is definitely my favorite and I would love to get back there someday but it does have a lot of low paying service industry jobs and the good jobs are very highly in demand by professionals with lots of experience. As such you will notice a definite "sun tax" as an example I took a 40% increase in salary moving to Clearwater...

Kamloops is great as well just not nearly the access to lakes and beaches as Kelowna, visually a little less appealing and get used to the dusty wind cause it always blows there.

PG is almost equal to Clearwater on the outdoors access but it is a solid drive to get good sledding. It's also very isolated as it is 6-8hrs to get to any other cities. The air quality is awful and the weather is pretty dismal as well. Lot's of snow in town which is nice but the summer sunshine and temps just don't cut it for me.

[gdhillon]

Plus one for PG!

I was down in burnaby attending BCIT for the last year, and wow I felt like a redneck lol. Like Colt Ford says "there aint nuthin wrong with them big city lights, but me, I prefer them slow country nights"

IMO Prince George isn't to far from bigger cities ~8hours away from Van and the drive is just beautiful.
And in all seriousness, if you and youre GF have a solid education (like you said) you won't have a problem finding work in PG.

[K0WB0Y]

Kamloops and around the Shuswap is nice, kind people and endless outdoors, big lakes and great ski hills. I have always loved the Quesnel and Williams lake region. PG is nice but a little to far out, but they do get more winter than the rest. As for the Lower mainland,im not a fan.