The fall is one of my favourite times of year to travel around B.C. In addition to getting away from the Lower Mainland’s rain, I’m learning about innovative new developments in various regions–and sampling fresh harvest markets, cool restaurants, world-class wineries and beautiful orchards, all local “secrets” in the many pockets of this diverse province.
When meeting friendly locals, it’s obvious that they, too, enjoy the fruits of whatever a nearby patch of land produces. Wouldn’t it be nice to walk down your street and buy some fresh-farmed eggs, pick ripened fruit right off the trees or select home-grown vegetables in local markets? Wouldn’t we all love to belong to a nearby wine club where we could book private tastings and sip some of the best New World wines–all while making new acquaintances? If that tweaks your interest, I think you’ll be very intrigued with our feature on B.C. harvest towns and our round-up of wine club perks.
If you’re still not convinced about your own big move to a smaller community, perhaps try a home exchange (swap your house for a small-town abode for a month) to try out a town for size–and taste–the autumn?
If you’re struggling to find and select the perfect neighbourhood or house, we have a great story on lots for building and another piece on building your dream home, covering everything from preferred local builders to customizing prefab homes.
Whether you’re looking to semi-retire at a lively resort-style community, start a new business (perhaps a franchise is in the cards?), or buy some investment property, communities from Chilliwack to Pemberton across B.C. and places as far-flung as Mexico and California are all still great places to invest. As we try to do every issue, we illustrate the amenities, the homes, the communities and help you “do the math” on changing your residence and lifestyle to something right sized.
In this issue, I also want to give a plug to the amazing creative team we’re so furtunate to have! Our editor, Charlene Rooke, is a previous editor of Avenue Calgary, Western Living and Air Canada’s enRoute inflight magazine, as well as at The Globe and Mail. Most recently, she was the publisher of BCBusiness, and we are so pleased to have her insights on Right Sizing.
Our designer, Amélie Légaré, has been the creative genius behind the look of Mountain Life magazine for the past 12 years (along with numerous real-estate publications for Maggi Thornhill in Whistler) and Flavours magazine. And like so many others (who are ablel to work remotely), Amélie has just right-sized her own life, as she moves from Whistler to Pemberton, to design and build her dream home, from scratch!
If you’re looking for further information on down-sizing, up-sizing, better value on real estate or so many other topics I’ve mentioned here, please check out our resources at rightsizingmedia.com. And stay tuned for upcoming issues, in which we’ll meet some of B.C.’s most inspirational developers, and the B.C. mayors who are really making a difference in their communities.
