# Vancouver Island or Okanagan.



## countrymarc (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi everyone,

My name is Marc. I'm from Holland and I'm in the process of getting my PR. At first we(me and my wife) were looking to move to Alberta but after having lived there for 8 months we decided that it's just too cold for too long. We've traveled to BC quite a lot and we've narrowed our choices down to 2 as where to settle down and buy some acreage. 
We wanna either live in the Okanagan or Vancouver Island.
We've made a list of pros and cons of both regions.
Okanagan
Pros: Nice summers, little rain, more wide open spaces, more (terrestrial) wildlife, warm lakes
Cons: forest fires, summer a little too dry, colder winters

Vancouver Island
Pros: Better growing season(no irrigation needed), greener, milder winters, ocean with ocean life
Cons: Ferry rides, very rainy, summers maybe a little too cool sometimes

We love both areas and we just can't decide which area suits us best. We wanna buy a property with some acreage and start a little hobby farm. We wanna be in a rural area but not too far from a decent town to have some entertainment and do grocery shopping. We both have stable work in Holland and we'll work from our home( and sometimes have to travel) so work wouldn't be a problem. 
I would like to hear some more pros and cons and experiences from other people who have lived in both regions. I know that ultimately it's up to us to decide but I would just like to hear some other opinions.

Thanks! 

Kind regards,

Marc


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

countrymarc said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> My name is Marc. I'm from Holland and I'm in the process of getting my PR. At first we(me and my wife) were looking to move to Alberta but after having lived there for 8 months we decided that it's just too cold for too long. We've traveled to BC quite a lot and we've narrowed our choices down to 2 as where to settle down and buy some acreage.
> We wanna either live in the Okanagan or Vancouver Island.
> ...


Although you asked a very similar question in 2012, I'll bite,
You already know about as much as I do about the Okanagan, I've been there , (Penticton, Kelowna, Keremeos,), both summer and winter, and I would never choose to live there, mostly for the reasons you listed, but that's me, and it doesn't compare to Vancouver Island, especially the southern half. 
Problem #1, Vancouver island is VERY big, you need to be more specific about an area. Not just for the cost of land , but for weather as well. If you want acreage, how much acreage, and how much are you wanting to spend. The more land, the more $$$$, especially the closer you are to larger populated area's. Ferry rides are only a con if you have to leave the island, and although expensive, its just part of living here. Can be rainy from maybe mid Oct-Nov, to maybe April, but its better than snow, which we may or may not get, if we do, it is usually very little and melts within a day, maybe two, although some years we can get a foot, its not often, especially if its south of Nanaimo area. I jog year round with shorts. We live east of Duncan which is in the Cowichan Valley, (which is nicknamed, "The Warmland"), about midway between Victoria and Nanaimo. Winter temps are more often above freezing than below. As for summer, whats your definition of cool, we have already had temps in the low-mid 20's (celcius), last July we had the NO rain, and get very very little rain during summer, temps are usually mid 20's- 30 ish for most of June,July, August, September, we haven't had the heat on in our house for at least 3 weeks now, if not longer. And most nights leave the windows open to cool the house down a bit. And not sure what you mean by terrestrial wildlife, we have wildlife on the island, probably more than the Okanagan, although we don't have the rattle snakes or scorpions.


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## cowichangang (Aug 11, 2012)

gringotim said:


> ..... We live east of Duncan which is in the Cowichan Valley, (which is nicknamed, "The Warmland"), about midway between Victoria and Nanaimo. .....


Ditto, (hence our user name). Duncan has almost everything anyone would want, its the business center of the Cowichan Valley, also known as just Cowichan, which has a total population of around 80,000, (not Duncan, the whole area,) and the only time we leave town is about once a month when we make a Costco run to either Victoria or Nanaimo (, 45 minutes either way) to stock up on bulk things, or if we want to see a movie that's not showing here. You may ask why does my profile say, Expat in Mexico, well, that's easy, we have lived here all our lives, and when we retire, want somewhere thats less expensive than Canada and is warm all year, not just 5-6 months a year. We can buy ocean front in Mexico for less than half of what we can sell our house here for. lane:


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