Williams Lake is a great place to retire, according to a top 20 list published in December by the Globe and Mail.
While residents might find room for improvement in some areas, it seems the city does have a lot to offer for seniors.
Looking at cities across Canada for livability, the authors wrote they sought out communities which are "lively, safe and offer ready access to health care" and Williams Lake, B.C. landed at number 17 on the list.
With the negative news sometimes highlighting challenges in the local health care system, perhaps it is good to know Williams Lake still has it pretty good with lots to offer.
Williams Lake's mayor Surinderpal Rathor said it is a "great honour" to have the community featured in the top 20 list for livability for retirement. Rathor credits the work of people living and working in the community to make it better with helping the city make the cut.
"It's an effort made by everyone," he said, of the many opportunities in the community provided for seniors and others. He pointed to other improvements the city is currently working on which he believes will make the community even better, such as the water treatment plant and seniors housing.
The Globe and Mail article said it used data for people over 65 in communities with populations above 10,000.
The authors took into consideration 50 variables across 10 categories. The categories were: economy, housing, demographics, health care, safety, education, community, amenities, transportation and climate.
To see what some of the active seniors in the community thought of making the top 20 list, the Efteen visited the Williams Lake Seniors Centre.
Diana Shklanka has been in the lakecity since 1984, and worked at Thompson Rivers University. Shklanka chose to stay in the city after she retired for the ready access to hiking and said the seniors centre is also a great amenity. She did say she's rethinking her choice of Williams Lake due to the often overcast skies so far this winter, an uncharacteristic climatic feature in an area known for sunny skies.
Kirsten Fleming said she came in 2006 when her husband got a job at the mine. She said the community has also been good for her son and her grandson, who has grown up here.
"It's a good place to retire," she agreed, affirming the findings of the Globe's list, pointing out some of the amenities and noting she spends a lot of time at the rec centre.
In 1980, Katrina Fedor moved to Williams Lake with her husband. She said their intention was to spend two years in the lakecity, but not only did they last longer than two years, they retired in the community.
"We feel that it has enough interests and programs for retirees to keep us interested," she said. Fedor said her only concern is the health care system but adding there are great supports for arts and entertainment in the community and many sports opportunities as well.
"There's a lot of things going on," she said.
The Globe and Mail article said data was compared for 448 cities across Canada. British Columbia dominated the list, and Victoria and North Vancouver were ranked first and second, respectively.
B.C. cities took 16 of the top 20 spots. New Brunswick made the list at number three with the city of Dieppe. Erin, Ont. ranked sixth, while Calgary and Canmore ranked seventh and eighth, to keep Alberta on the list.
