'Kelowna' (2007 population 123,460, metropolitan population of 165,596) is a
city on
Okanagan Lake in the
Okanagan Valley of
British Columbia,
Canada. Its name derives from a native term for "female grizzly bear."
Kelowna is the seat of the
Regional District of the Central Okanagan, the third-largest metropolitan area in British Columbia (after the
Vancouver and
Victoria), and the largest in the
British Columbia Interior. With scenic lake vistas and a dry, mild Canadian climate, Kelowna has become one of the fastest growing cities in North America. The appropriate management of such rapid development (and its attendant consequences) is a source of significant debate within the community. Kelowna is the second most expensive housing market in Canada (behind
Vancouver).
[1]
Because of the
Okanagan's climate and vineyard-filled scenery, it has sometimes been compared to California.
Kelowna also ranks as the 22nd largest
metropolitan area in Canada.
History
Kelowna, 1920
First settled by missionaries in 1859, Kelowna was officially incorporated in 1905. Neighbouring towns include
Westbank to the west across the lake,
Lake Country and then
Vernon to the north,
Peachland to the southwest and further to the south,
Summerland and
Penticton.
The service industry employs the most people in Kelowna, the largest city in the tourist-oriented
Okanagan Valley. In summer, boating is popular, and in winter,
Alpine skiing at the nearby
Big White Ski Resort.
Kelowna produces
wines that have a worldwide reputation.
Vineyards are common around and south of the city where the climate is ideal for the many
wineries. Notable ones include the Mission Hill Estate Winery, specifically for its unique architectural design. However, at least two major wineries were damaged or destroyed in 2003 due to the
Okanagan Mountain Park Fire. Kelowna is also the home of
Sun-Rype, a popular manufacturer of fruit juice and snacks.
With roots dating back to 1965,
Okanagan College is the predominant centre for vocational and undergraduate post-secondary education in Kelowna. With over 5000 full-time students it constitutes the largest college in British Columbia outside the
Lower Mainland and
Victoria. The
University of British Columbia took over the North Kelowna campus of
Okanagan University College (now Okanagan College) on July 1, 2005. While UBCO continues to offer many of OUC's undergraduate programs,
UBC Okanagan also offers Engineering and Management undergraduate programs and has developed Graduate programs in most disciplines.
Kelowna was home to the late Premier of British Columbia,
W.A.C. Bennett and is the birthplace of his son,
William R. Bennett, who also served as Premier of the province.
Former
Major League Baseball players,
Jeff Zimmerman of the
Texas Rangers, his brother
Jordan Zimmerman, and
Paul Spoljaric were born here. The city is also home to
The Grapes of Wrath, one of Canada's most popular rock bands in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Evangeline Lilly of the hit TV show ''
Lost'' was discovered on the streets of Kelowna.
Enduring legend has it that various celebrities, including
Arnold Schwarzenegger, own houses in the area; as Kelowna grows, celebrity-sightings are giving
Ogopogo-sightings a run for their money.
Demographics
According to the Statistics Canada 2001 census
[2], the population estimates there were 96,288 people residing in Kelowna and 147,739 people residing in the Greater Kelowna Area. 48.4% of residents were male and 51.6% were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 4.8% of the resident population of Kelowna. This compares with 5.2% in British Columbia, and 5.6% for
Canada overall.
In mid-2001, 18.4% of the resident population in Kelowna were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2% in Canada, therefore, the average age is 41.1 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada.
In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Kelowna grew by 8.2%, compared with an increase of 4.9% for British Columbia as a whole. Population density of Kelowna averaged 50.9 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 4.2, for British Columbia altogether.
Ethnic origin
| English | 20,665 | 48.1% |
|---|
| Scottish | 16,275 | 37.9% |
|---|
| German | 13,170 | 30.7% |
|---|
| Canadian | 12,410 | 28.9% |
|---|
| Irish | 12,265 | 28.5% |
|---|
| French | 7,455 | 17.4% |
|---|
| Ukrainian | 4,485 | 10.4% |
|---|
| Dutch | 2,915 | 6.8% |
|---|
| Polish | 2,815 | 6.6% |
|---|
| Norwegian | 2,765 | 6.4% |
|---|
| Swedish | 2,380 | 5.5% |
|---|
| Russian | 2,045 | 4.8% |
|---|
| Italian | 1,865 | 4.3% |
|---|
| North American Indian | 1,695 | 3.9% |
|---|
| Welsh | 1,390 | 3.2% |
|---|
Religious groups
:''
Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census''
Travel
For years, only one major highway passed through the city of Kelowna:
Highway 97. The road itself is good, but its connections to all points east and west in the province were only managed by using the slow, curving
Trans Canada Highway and the
Crowsnest Highway.
As the Okanagan Valley is a popular getaway for residents in
Vancouver, a new freeway was built into the BC interior in 1986, eliminating over two hours of travel time between the two major destinations. This freeway, starting in
Hope, is known as the
Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5), and terminates in
Kamloops.
A spur route (
The Okanagan Connector, or Hwy 97C) was later added in 1989; it connects in
Merritt, and heads eastward to
Peachland, about twenty minutes south of Kelowna.
This new freeway system makes the drive from Vancouver to Kelowna just under four hours, at 425 km in distance.
Kelowna is connected to Westbank by the three-lane
Okanagan Lake Bridge which links
Highway 97 south. The floating bridge is slated for replacement as it has outlived its usefulness and is incapable of supporting the current traffic levels. The construction of a new bridge --
William R. Bennett Bridge -- has begun, although there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the project. Delays and connectivity are some of the major issues, since the highway leading up to the bridge is only three-laned and is not a freeway. This will be rectified with opening of the new 5 lane
William R. Bennett Bridge in 2008, which will include 2 interchanges on the westside approaches.
Highway 33, which connects with Highway 97 in Rutland, provides an alternate way to enter and exit the city, towards the southeast.
Kelowna has
an International Airport north of the downtown core, with regular flights to and from
Calgary,
Edmonton,
Toronto,
Vancouver,
Victoria,
Las Vegas,
Honolulu and
Seattle, as well as seasonal service to Mexico.
Climate
Relative to Canadian norms, Kelowna enjoys a dry climate and mild temperatures (Mean Annual Temperature = , January Mean Temperature = ; Mean July Temperature = ).
Okanagan Lake tends to moderate the winter climate, but
Arctic air occasionally penetrates into the valley during winter (coldest recorded temperature = , 30 December 1968). Summers are hot and sunny, with daytime temperatures often exceeding (hottest recorded temperature = , 24 July 1994). The city averages about of precipitation per year, with about 1/3 of the precipitation falling as snow.
Although Kelowna averages 300.5 hours of bright sunshine in July (61% of daylight hours), the early winter months are mostly overcast; thus, Kelowna averages only 40.3 hours of bright sunshine in January (for comparison, consider 120 hours at
Winnipeg,
Manitoba and
Miramichi,
New Brunswick; 44 hours at
Prince Rupert, British Columbia; 45 hours at
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories).
Kelowna is the least windy place in
Canada with 39% of days recorded as calm
[3].
(All data are derived from
Environment Canada statistics for the Kelowna airport)
Venues and attractions
Kelowna Marina
★
Prospera Place, a 6,800-seat
arena
★
Apple Bowl, a 5,700 seat outdoor
stadium
★ Rotary Centre for the Arts
[4]
★ Kelowna Art Gallery
[5]
★ Kelowna Community Theatre
[6]
★ Kelowna Museum
[7]
★ Kelowna Marina on Okanagan Lake
★ Capital News Centre
★ Kelowna Farmers Market - April to October Outdoors
★ The Bluff, an outdoor arena
★ Kasugai Gardens, an outdoor Garden beside City Hall built to celebrate friendship with its sister city; Kasugai, Japan.
[8]
Gallery
Sport
★
Kelowna Rockets -
Western Hockey League (Winners of the
2004 Memorial Cup)
★
Okanagan Sun -
Canadian Junior Football League (Winners of the 1988 and 2000
Canadian Bowl)
★
Okanagan Challenge -
Pacific Coast Soccer League
★
Kelowna Falcons -
West Coast Collegiate Baseball League
★
Kelowna Wilderness -
Outdoor Basketball Association
Media
Radio
★
AM 1150 -
CKFR,
oldies
★
FM 88.9 -
CBTK,
CBC Radio One
★ FM 89.7 -
CBU-3,
CBC Radio Two
★ FM 90.5 -
CBUF,
La Première Chaîne
★ FM 99.9 -
CHSU, Sun,
Hot AC /
CHR
★ FM 101.5 -
CILK, Silk,
adult contemporary
★ FM 103 -
CKOV, B-103
Country
★ FM 104.7 -
CKLZ, Power,
classic rock
Television
★ Channel 2, Cable 13:
CHBC,
CH
★ Channel 5, Cable 8:
CHKL,
Global
★ Channel 21:
CBUFT-1,
SRC
★ Channel 45:
CBUT-2,
CBC Television
★ Cable 11:
Shaw TV community channel
★ Internet Television:
okbc.tv, Online On-Demand Internet Television
Print
★ ''
Kelowna Daily Courier'': Daily newspaper
★ ''
Kelowna Capital News'': Free community newspaper published three times weekly
Local services
★
800 Community Resources
★
The Okanagan Regional Library has 3 branches in Kelowna
★ Emergency services are provided by the
Kelowna General Hospital,
the BC Ambulance Service, the
Kelowna Fire Department,
Central Okanagan Search and Rescueand the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
★
Kelowna Regional Transit System provides transit to the Kelowna Area (A branch of
BC Transit)
★
Kelowna weather
Education
Events of significance
★ On
August 6,
1969, a
sonic boom from a nearby air show produced an expensive broken glass bill while at least 6 people were injured
[12].
★ Winter 1983 was the last time that the Lake completely froze over. (A
Royal Canadian Mounted Police helicopter successfully 'rescued' an SUV that had tried to drive across the Lake and cracked through the ice).
★ In both 1986 and 1988, alcohol-fuelled riots erupted during summer Regatta festivities.
★ On
May 7,
1992, a forest fire consumed 60 hectares of forest on
Mount Boucherie in West Kelowna; no homes were damaged.
★ In August 2003, a
nearby wildfire destroyed over 200 homes and forced the temporary evacuation of approximately 30,000 residents
[13].
★ During the 2003 fire, many trestles of the historic
Kettle Valley Railway were destroyed. One of the trestles, Trestle 18, has been rebuilt, and other trestles are planned to be reconstructed as well.
★ In May 2005, Kelowna celebrated its Centennial.
★ In 2005,
a new bridge to replace the
Okanagan Lake Bridge began construction, being part of a plan to try and alleviate the severe traffic problems experienced during the summer months (the height of tourist season).
Sister cities
★
Veendam,
Netherlands
★
Kasugai,
Japan (other
sister cities in Japan)
Trivia
★ In the Sci-Fi series ''
Stargate SG-1'',
Jonas Quinn hails from the nation of Kelowna on the planet
Langara. ''Stargate SG-1'' and its sister show ''
Stargate Atlantis'' are produced in Vancouver.
★ Some believe a lake monster named
Ogopogo lives in
Lake Okanagan. In the past, naysayers have pointed out the similarities between the so-called monster and a beaver, a log, and other less monstrous lake denizens.
★ The Online Virtual World
Club Penguin has its headquarters located in Kelowna.
★ In the song "Driving One of Your Cars" by Swedish musician
Lisa Miskovsky, she mentions Kelowna in the lyrics "Kelowna is beautiful in summertime they say".
★ Fido, the comedy/horror/thriller movie about zombies, was shot in Kelowna and debuted on September 7, 2006 at the Toronto Film Festival.
References
1. CBC.ca: Kelowna house prices move ahead of Calgary, Toronto
2. Kelowna Community Profile - Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released June 27, 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE.
3. Atlas of Canada http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/superweather.html
4. Rotary Centre for the Arts
5. Kelowna Art Gallery
6. Kelowna Community Theatre
7. Kelowna Museum
8. http://www.jgarden.com/gardens.asp?TAB=photos&ID=210
9. Public Schools in Kelowna: Kelowna Senior Secondary, Rutland Senior Secondary, Mount Boucherie SecondaryOkanagan Mission Secondary, KLO Middle, Dr. Knox Middle, Constable Neil Bruce Middle, Rutland Middle, Springvalley Middle
10. Private Schools in Kelowna: Aberdeen Hall Preparatory School,Kelowna Christian School, Heritage Christian School, Vedanta Academy, Okanagan Adventist Academy, Immaculata Regional High School, St. Joseph Elementary, Kelowna Waldorf School, Okanagan Montessori School, Okanagan Montessori
11. Post-secondary Schools in Kelowna: UBC Okanagan, Okanagan College, Sprott-Shaw Community College
12. sonic boom
13. Okanagan Mountain Park Fire 2003
External links
★
WikiMapia map of Kelowna
★
Kelowna City Hall
★
CHBC TV News Website
★
CKOV 63
★
Regional District of the Central Okanagan
★
School Board
★
University of BC - Okanagan
★
Kelowna Directory
★
Travel Guide
★
Kelowna Photos
★
Kelowna Hiking Trails
★
[1]
★
Kelowna Art Gallery
★
Circle The Earth Kelowna Page
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