Salmon Arm

[momof3heathens]

Anyone familiar with Salmon Arm?

What is the community like? The teens in particular. Is it a teen age drinking/high pot usage because there is nothing else to do kind of place?

How is the high school in terms of working with teens with learning disabilities or mental health concerns? Are the kids outgoing and inviting or standoffish?

Do you pretty much need to have a car to get around?

What about employment opportunities for young adults?

How easy is it to find a family home rental?

What type of stores do they have there. I know about Askews(sp?) What about LD or SOF or Walmart?

If not Salmon Arm then same questions of Vernon.

[Spikesfrugalside]

I don't know of the community much in terms of specifics.

My gf lives closer to Sorrento, her son goes to high school in Salmon Arm and I can ask her those questions for you.

As for shops...plans are for a Walmart but they haven't broken ground yet. A new SOF and SDM have opened up. There's an old Safeway and yes Askews is downtown. There isn't an RCSS but there's the Great Canadian Wholesale Club which is part of that chain and is open to the public. There isn't an LD.
There is a small Rexall in Sorrento.

A few years ago rental housing was difficult to come by (that's when my gf was looking but now it isn't a problem.)

I'll ask my gf your questions and post them when she replies back. HTH!

[momof3heathens]

Yes please and thanks.

I was thinking I might have my son move in with his grandparents in Salmon Arm. He is suffering from some serious depression and is self medicating. I want him away from his current influences. He said he is up for moving in with them(he really likes them)but he also just wants us to move as a family so I am thinking Vernon as more opportunities for everyone.

[Chantel]

By self medicating I assume you mean getting drunk and smoking pot with his friends, right?

Every city has that. I know a lot of kids from Vernon and from Salmon Arm who do that. It's the kids, not the city, really. I've never done either in my life and the influence is everywhere.

Vernon does have more opportunities than Salmon Arm, but Kamloops has even more. If you were considering moving somewhere in the area, I'd say Kamloops would hae even more opportunities than Vernon, if he wants to get into sports or recreational activities or even a trade, we have a lot of that here. If he's still in highschool he could take a trade as a course at the university and be done a semester early and be ready to be employed somewhere in his chosen field, FREE.

[strahan]

Out of the 3 towns listed Kamloops is the roughest, dirtiest one of them all. There is more opportunities there for work and recreation, but it is definately the worst town in the means of crime, and drug usage.

[Chantel]

Well considering that Vernon has 60something thousand people and Salmon Arm has 16k, in comparison to Kamloops' 100k, I could see that maybe with almost twice as many people as Vernon we might have more people who use drugs and more people who commit crimes.

But really, it's not *that* bad. I've lived here all my life and while drug activity does exist, it's not like it's crippling our city. The same applies to crime, things happen but it's not like somebody gets shot or robbed at knifepoint every single day. We have rough areas of town, but if you avoid the dingier parts of the north shore and downtown, you're pretty much okay.

Kamloops is a great place to live, and aside from the occasional dirty, rough PEOPLE, it's not really all that dirty or rough. It certainly could be extremely worse.

[strahan]

By any chance does worse mean a pulpmill in town. Or perhaps a railway tie incinerator. Maybe if you had lived in towns other then Kamloops you would have a differnet opinion. Dont get me wrong I grew up in Kamloops, but Vernon and Salmon Arm are both friendlier, quiter,and much more scenic places to live. I must say that for a city the size of Kamloops they have one of ther best public transit systems that I have seen.

[Chantel]

Yes the pulp mill stinks, but I've been elsewhere on vacations and they all have their little annoyances. I'd personally rather those things than the traffic of a place like vancouver.

But again, both of those places are much smaller than Kamloops, so of course they'll have more scenery and be quieter. Friendlier maybe or maybe not, I've met some pretty horribly mean people in every city, but some absolutely wonderful ones everywhere as well.

[momof3heathens]

I have lived in Falkland and Enderby way back in the 1980's. I always preferred to visit Vernon over Kamloops more so due to layout rather the people. I am sure both have changed majorly over the years. I know my parents are apt to come into Vernon more so than Kamloops so that will be a major deciding factor if we decide to make the move as a family.

[thogg]

I have lived in Kamloops and vernon and went to school years ago in salmon arm .... as for drugs i think they are all about the same BUT for services ... such as medical for your son... I think you should look into kamloops ... there is more to offer you and your family but if i had to choose between vernon and kamloops I would go for vernon as there is a lake not a river and there is a sof sdm and a ld and GREAT pediatric dr and they have a lot of other programs .... BUT there is the chris rose centre in kamloops ..... ??? good luck

[KamGirl]

I wonder about job opps for your family in Kamloops..I know of a lot of people and families looking to move out of Kamloops due to lack of quality and consistent job opps..Kamloops has had some of it's biggest private employers go down in the last couple of years and I know a lot of people who are looking for FT (or any type) employment here still...And yet if you or your family members have a specialized skill or profession--you might just get lucky and walk in to prosperity with no trouble ;-)
As for the drug use--I'd agree it's rampant everywhere these days...Small communities..Medium sized communities...Maybe your son just needs a change in scenery and influences to begin to thrive...Wishing you and your family lots of luck...

[momof3heathens]

Thanks all.