Kelowna has few attractions for families

Dear Editor: I continue to be saddened by the direction of “growth” Kelowna has taken.

Twenty-five years ago, I moved to Kelowna with my young children. I chose to raise my children here, as Kelowna in 1993 was a family-oriented community.

My children and their cousins, who settled down the road in Summerland, have many happy memories, spending time at the family attractions that once existed.

At Flintstone Village, our children could paddle in a boat, visit Fred and Wilma’s house, play mini golf, and take part in annual Easter egg hunts.

At Old MacDonald’s Farm in Westbank, our children could have a pony ride, pet baby animals, fish for trout from the bridge, or splash in the small water part.

Just down the road in another part of Westbank, we could choose another all-day activity such as Butterfly World (where we walked through what seemed like a tropical habitat and have butterflies flutter by and land on our shoulders), Reptile World or Parrot World.

Many family picnics were held at the waterslides Westbank once boasted. Summer afternoons were spent tubing along the course, squealing down the waterslides, and sitting on the grass having quality family time.

Also in Westbank, across from George Pringle Secondary School, was a bowling alley, where we shared many birthday parties.

On a hot summer day, we could cool off at the water park in Kelowna’s City Park. Kelowna and Westbank were very family-oriented, and that is a big reason that I chose to settle here and raise my family.

Family oriented parks and attractions have disappeared to make way for more condo developments, box stores, golf courses, brew houses and wineries, none of which attract young families.

Westbank once had two thriving high schools. For reasons still unknown to parents who watched the closure of Westbank Elementary and Lakeview Elementary, we now hear news of what we knew to be inevitable: Mount Boucherie Secondary School is bursting with students and 17 portables will be on-site to house the continuing population growth.

The old Kelowna Secondary site was promised to be a green space and is instead being developed into another massive series of condominiums.

The new bridge was a great improvement over the old three-lane one, but was out of date by the time it was finished.

Last week, it took me 2.5 hours to get from Rutland to where the old Cattle Country restaurant was, just before the Glenrosa turnoff.

I was travelling at five km/h most of the way. This is now “normal” commuting traffic.

I invite the local mayors to travel this route regularly, to experience what your constituents do every day.

Kelowna and West Kelowna have lost the “family friendly” atmosphere they once had. Stop the development and address these growing concerns. Suzan Miles, Kelowna