Retirement towns

[gunpower]

I grew up in Chase, moved out in 1970. It use to be a great place to live, what's it like now, I do not know !
Last time I was there , it had more than doubled in size, Esso station now a Ok tire shop, Hedges motel gone, Shell station gone and the old CPR station( where I lived )is long Gone !

[Jereky]

Just what I was thinking. I believe the main centres are Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna (for heart and cancer related). A recent brush with atrial fibrillation (and my eyes) brought that reality home!

Kamloops is the tertiary medical centre for all the Thompson/Cariboo region which has everything from Anaheim lake up to Clearwater down to Lilioet and down to Merritt. We have all manner of specialists and surgeons and facilities here at the hospital. They regularly send folks to Kelowna for heart bypass grafts and angiosplasty. It’s quick and mostly an ambulance ride there and back for the day. Most communities have a small hospital or clinic that we regularly pick people up from and bring them in if they need medical treatment.

[Beachcomber]

Quote;
"Rossland. Though I am still thinking of it from the perspective of someone who skis and mountain bikes. Not sure that will be a feature when I am retired. Lillooet is great too."

Of course skiing and mountain biking will be a feature when you retire !!!! I just permanently checked out of the work force in May and I have no intention of stopping either sport. We sold our house in North Van in the summer of 2017 (thank God!) and bought in Coldstream and we haven't looked back! I love being on a ski hill in 20 min (door to lift) and the same time to a very nice shooting range. I'm typing this from the Queen Charlottes and will probably head back to the Okanagan in August......or not! LOL !!!

Well I hope you are right. I got dropped by an ancient looking German dude on a climb today. Made me think of my original comment. Mountain biking was certainly possible for him. I gotta raise my game though!

[patbrennan]

We talked about moving after retirement to get off the island and free up some equity. I asked my wife what she would do if I passed away before her if we lived in a different town(let's face it, most of our wives will outlive us). Her answer was move back to family/kids on the island. That prompted me to rethink my plans!
I also had a conversation on the beach flyfishing for salmon one morning with a fellow who had moved up island after retirement. He said it took them several years to feel integrated into the community and build up a circle of friends, etc. Something else to consider.
We (wife and I) had talked seriously about Kamloops or somewhere in the Okanagan (not Kelowna proper, maybe Summerland or Oliver). It still could happen, if we get fed up with living so close to Victoria or the kids move away.

[RiverOtter]

I'm a ways out for retirement yet, but hypothetically speaking, if I was sitting on a bunch of equity and I had an opportunity to move to another locale and free a bunch up to get more enjoyment out of my twilight years with my wife, I'd be all over it. If you're not financially hindered from staying put and doing everything you want to do do, then that's awesome, but if not I definitely wouldn't let a street address get in the way of that.


A person can waste a lot of valuable living time worrying about what 'might' happen tomorrow, when all we truly have is today. Life and 'plans' change in a heartbeat, literally.

[allan]

My wife and I have talked about moving out of the Fraser valley when we’re older, however after seeing people move out then want to move back. To be closer to their grandkids and getting tired of winter.

They have been shut out of the real estate market because the properties in the valley are going up in value faster then up country.

Our long term plan is to downsize when it’s time to move, keep a house in the valley or where ever most our kids decide to live. Then buy a small place up country that we don’t have to commit too. If we decide to stay up country most of the time. We will just rent out our house down in the valley until life dictates otherwise.

[j270wsm]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cranny or Fernie. Beauty mountains, lakes, rivers, most services including hospital, community rec centre, close to skiing, great mountain biking, real estate is relatively inexpensive, and still some of the best hunting and a great hunting community.

I'm in the Sidney area and it is great too. Different in almost every way but a cool town. The ferries suck...

Fernie is a shit hole....maybe it’s my biased opinion but the town/houses are nothing special. Every store is overpriced, an average house that should be $300k is selling for $500k. One of my groomsmen just bought a 50yr old house on a tiny corner lot that needs a bunch of work for $580k. Through both my son’s minor hockey teams we have met some amazing people that are from fernie but 90% are ignorant self centred snobs that think they are better than everyone. I honestly wouldn’t piss on them if their face was on fire.

I guess coming from the LML....house in fernie could be considered cheap.

[dmaxtech]

Buddy at work has built themselves a retirement home up at Deka and also helped their daughter and son in-law build a house in the Fraser Valley with a suite for themselves. They plan to spend most of their time at Deka but can come down as needed. Win win I say.

[SSG-man]

No US destinations ?

[Hublocker]

I just spent a night with friends in D'Arcy, a cute little village at the head of Anderson Lake, a short drive from Pemberton. Nice houses, fruit trees, mountains all around and the lake of course. We spent a pleasant evening by the fire outside having dinner and a few drinks, hearing about the place and the neighbours.

"So how'd you like to have a place here?" I asked Mrs. as we were leaving.

"Never in a million years," she said. "Everybody is so bored, there is nothing to do so all they do is talk about each other."