This Week I Heard: Glenmore, Kelowna
Week three of Teresa May's 1,000 Conversations Tour in Glenmore, Kelowna: what 22 residents said about street safety, roads and growth, parking, and the cost of living — plus a call for new voices on council.
A shorter week than usual — I was travelling to Vancouver, so there was one coffee session instead of two. But I still spoke with 22 residents: at a seniors’ coffee connection in a downtown park on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning at Bright Jenny Coffee on Kane Road.
Running total: 116 / 1,000 conversations · 3 / 13 neighbourhoods
What I heard most
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Safety on our streets. Still the first thing raised, in every neighbourhood I’ve visited so far. In Glenmore the conversation is less about what people see out their window and more about what happens next — how someone gets help with an addiction, what actually works, and why it feels like nothing is changing.
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The city grew faster than the roads. Traffic, again. People understand why Kelowna is building. What they don’t understand is why the infrastructure keeps arriving years behind the housing.
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And nobody planned for the cars. This one is specific and it’s real. Take one lot with a single home on it, replace it with four homes, and you’ve gone from two cars to eight. Multiply that across a neighbourhood and the parking problem isn’t a mystery, it’s arithmetic. I’ve worked in residential construction long enough to know this gets decided at the approval stage, and it’s being decided badly.
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Cost of living. Food, housing, everything. Much of this sits with the province and Ottawa rather than City Hall, and I’d rather say that honestly than pretend a council seat fixes grocery prices. What I can promise is that I already have working relationships with our MLA and our MP, and I’ll use them.
What people love
The people. The climate. The beaches. The activities. When I ask what they’d change about City Hall, a lot of folks in Glenmore don’t have a long list — they just want the problems above actually solved.
Although one person did have a suggestion for City Hall: new city councillors.
What surprised me
How many people said they want to see new city councillors with new ideas and perspectives. That is exactly what I am trying to deliver to them: someone with fresh perspectives.
Thank you to everyone who stopped to talk this week, and to Bright Jenny Coffee for the table and the very good coffee.
Next week I’ll be in the Mission:
- Tuesday, August 11, 1:30–3:30 p.m. — Milk Shed Coffee House, 4629 Lakeshore Road
- Wednesday, August 12, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Marmalade Cafe, 2903 Pandosy St
- Friday, August 14, 8:00–10:00 a.m. — Bright Jenny Coffee, Kane Road (Glenmore)
Can’t make it? Share your thoughts anytime at teresamay.ca/1000.
Teresa