This is one of six articles about Canadian communities picked by readers as great places for retirement. Read about Osoyoos, Chatham-Kent, Gimli, Port Stanley, and Rothesay.
Brad and Laura Koop weren’t quite ready to retire, so last summer they purchased 40 acres of land near Creston, B.C., chock full of wildlife – elk, wild turkeys and the occasional black bear. The property has a couple of springs, a creek, ponds, timber and fruit trees and a three-bedroom house.
They paid $580,000 for their slice of paradise, which would have cost double the price back home in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island. Mr. Koop, 51, sold off his floatplane company and now considers himself semi-retired – because owning an acreage is a job of its own. He’s been living in rural places all of his life, so the move was an easy one. His wife, Laura, 46, is a nurse practitioner, and her job allowed her to make the transition easily.
“We’re kind of winging it right now, but we can see settling here for sure for the long term,” Mr. Koop says. “We’re pretty comfortable living here on the outskirts. Right now it fits us really well. The price was good. The house isn’t too big. My shop is perfect. There is lots of game around here. Amazing water. Good timber. We burn wood. We have a beautiful cellar. Lots of fruit trees. That keeps you busy enough.”
The Koops are typical of the type of purchaser that Creston real estate agent Bryan Smithson has been seeing the past year. Mr. Smithson says the acreage the Koops purchased received multiple offers after it was listed for $599,000 – one of the more high-priced properties for the area.
“That’s our biggest-ticket property this year – small acreages from 10 to 40 acres. That’s a hot item,” Mr. Smithson says.
“Generally, we have had a big influence from the Prairies, and a lot of people from the Coast. We get people looking for small acreages, and if they are moving, say, from 800 acres in Alberta to 40 acres, that’s a downsize for them. But that’s perfect for when they retire.”
Life is leisurely in Creston, just 10 kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border and Idaho. The town and its surrounding five communities – Erickson, Canyon, Lister, West Creston and Wynndel – have a total population of about 15,000.
Creston’s weather is ideal for avid gardeners because it doesn’t have the weather extremes of the Okanagan. It’s a temperate climate with little snowfall. In warm months, fruit trees are heavy with cherries, peaches, pears and apples.
You can live on a farm only 10 minutes from town. Calgary is about a six-hour drive. The border crossing is only an eight-minute drive away.
There is a golf course, riding stables, mountain biking, nearby skiing, and a couple of wineries. It’s not uncommon for sports fisherman to catch 20-pound rainbow trout in Kootenay Lake. For those who are more indoorsy, the College of the Rockies, a public community college, offers courses. Also, the community also boasts a new $22-million recreational centre with a curling rink and swimming pool.
However, Creston does not have a major hospital, so it might not be the top choice for someone with major health concerns. The nearest hospital is in Cranbrook, a one-hour drive away, on roads that can be treacherous in winter. But if residents do want to get away, the Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport offers direct flights to Arizona, where retirees often go for three to five months.
With few jobs, the town is a draw for people older than 50, says College of the Rockies instructor Paula Harper, who was raised in Lethbridge, Alta. She’s lived in Creston with her family for seven years, and she figures that about 65 per cent of the population is retired or semi-retired.
They are people who were either raised in the area, or relocated from colder-climate provinces because of the temperate weather and low property prices. But she cautions anyone thinking of making the move to a small town to think carefully.
“I’m happy here, but big-city people aren’t always happy here,” Ms. Harper says. “For me, it’s a nice lifestyle. I walk to work in half an hour. We hope to buy a house one day, and a nice beautiful new house is $400,000 for about 2,800 square feet. That’s reasonable compared to a lot of places, so that’s a big draw.”
Real estate agent Jamie Wall says it’s been a banner year for business. She estimates that about 75 per cent of her clients have been from Alberta. Retirees to Creston fare better if they are in fairly good health, and don’t mind travelling to see their family elsewhere, she says. Otherwise, it might not be the best fit.
“Those are the two biggest reasons for people to leave the valley,” she says. “But generally, people here are trying to get away from that hustle and bustle lifestyle. And if they miss it, they trek over to Spokane, Washington, or go to Calgary.”
Aside from the comparative value of real estate, there is the bonus of lower property taxes.
“In Calgary $600,000 to $700,000 is average for a nice newer home, whereas here you can buy 20 acres for that, with a beautiful house on it. And our taxes are substantially lower than what they are used to paying. Here the taxes could be $1,000 a year. That’s a pretty big difference.”
There is concern that the drop in oil prices could cause Albertans to retreat. But any fallout from a downturn in Alberta’s economy probably wouldn’t affect the immediate market, predicts Ms. Wall.
“We are wondering about the oil thing going on right now, because we depend on the oil industry in Alberta to fund us. But one thing that keeps me from not worrying is a lot of clients I have are at retirement age, so their pensions are there, and their money has been made.
“The only thing I worry about is that 10 years down the road, people being affected by it now won’t have the savings put away. I think if it does hit us, it will be way further down the line. So the worry is in future.”
Christy Johnston, 74, has a part-time job as the town’s one-woman welcome committee. When she hears of a newcomer, she’ll arrive at their door with advice and discount coupons. Ms. Johnston, originally from California, lived on an Alberta farm for 20 years. She eventually moved to Creston in 1994 for the weather, the friendly residents and the slow pace. She says she’s seen a spike in newcomers the past few months, and now welcomes about a dozen people a month.
“I would say about one-third of my newcomers have lived here before and have come back home to roost,” Ms. Johnston says. In 2004, she purchased a small house for $70,000.
“It’s quite small, but it’s mine,” she says, laughing. “It’s on a beautiful piece of land, on a hillside overlooking the valley. I bought it for the location.”
Clarification: Creston's 20-bed inpatient hospital has a 24-hour emergency department; Creston Valley Regional Airport also offers a medivac service and patients can be airflifted to Kelowna or Calgary in 30 minutes.