Poplar Grove Winery. Photo: Destination BC/Andrew Strain
ESCAPING THE VELVET RUT Relocating, even later in your career and life, doesn’t have to mean downsizing: here’s one couple’s tale of leaving an apartment in the city for semi-retirement and a house in wine country—a move that expanded their housing and lifestyle options, and demonstrates how the smart move today is the one that’s financially and personally right for you. By Shelora Sheldan
Maybe we’re a little late to the party. While friends and peers had long ago purchased real estate in Victoria, the timing was never right for us. My husband and I had a very underpriced, funky, two-bedroom rental apartment within blocks of the downtown core, with a private garden and the ability to fix it up as we saw fit. Every amenity, from doctor to dentist and theatre to restaurant, was within walking distance. It was, as they say in Victoria, a “velvet rut.” After 30 years, the velvet was usurped by rut and change was underfoot. Our timing couldn’t have been worse. In our late 50s, we were beyond asking our parents for 28
Right Sizing
Spring 2020
financial help, and with our budget, Victoria’s skyrocketing real estate prices (with its no-subjects-and-beyond-asking-price reality) and no-vacancy rental market, push quickly became a shove out of town.
Finding the Right Place During our ensuing annus horribilis, the prospects of a forever home led us to Penticton. The setting, poised between two lakes, with mountains, orchards and wine country at the doorstep, appealed. While we knew many of the winemakers and wineries, and had visited on occasion, we had pre-
viously not considered laying down roots. But the real estate prices were in keeping with our budget and the city boasted some vernacular architectural styles that piqued our interest. Looking deeper, Penticton, with its population of 35,000, has art, theatre and a few notable cafes; scores high for walkability; completed a recent hospital expansion; and has an airport with links to Calgary and Vancouver. It has great recreational assets including bird watching, cycling, hiking and skiing, and the city bursts to life in the summer with back-to-back festivals (including the annual Elvis festival) and a Farmers Market
