A poll in MoneySense magazine rates Vernon as the following:
The 127th best place to live in Canada; the 17th best place to retire; the 175th best place to raise a family; and the 142nd best place for employment.
Hmmmm.
We scored poorly among the non-retired set mainly because of low employment and wages, and high housing costs.
Other factors considered for the polls were walking/biking to work, affordable housing, household and discretionary income, new cars, population growth, crime, doctor availability, the weather, jobless rate and culture.
Ottawa was No. 1, top B.C. centre was Saanich (which, by the way, has a correctional facility right in the heart of its neighbourhood) at No. 15, Kamloops was 44th and Salmon Arm cracked the top-70, finishing 61st.
Vernon did finish ahead of Okanagan neighbours Penticton (132nd) and Kelowna (144th).
Okay, certainly the poll should raise some flags amongst civic leaders.
It is true, we can’t compete with the oil and gas sector. We need some industry to bring jobs, and, yes, housing prices and rent are too high.
Those are factors that can be worked and improved on.
But the appeal of scenic beauty, of living in a year-round recreational playground with a great climate, of close proximity to major centres, of knowing your neighbours, of having a university essentially in the backyard, and of having great schools are factors not listed by MoneySense editors.
And they should be.
After all, there are 38,150 of us who call Vernon home, which is a six per cent population increase from the 2006 Census.
There’s plenty that keeps and brings people here.
—The Morning Star
