Living in Terrace B.C.

August 6, 2008 7:22 AM

This is a long shot but can anyone provide me with info about living in Terrace, B.C.?

I got an excellent response to my previous question about Prince George and now another opportunity has come up in Terrace.
We have never been to northern B.C. at all - we are from Alberta. Can you tell me about climate (Is there snow in winter? Does it rain a lot in summer?) Can you generalize about the people? Other positive or negative qualities?
Anything you can tell me about quality of life there would be helpful.

posted by canoehead to work & money (9 comments total)

well, other parts of Canada are colder: here are the climate normals for Terrace, BC.
posted by scruss at 7:35 AM on August 6, 2008

My understanding -- from friends who've lived there -- is that it is very expensive to fly anywhere and that it takes a very long time to drive to Vancouver.
posted by acoutu at 7:59 AM on August 6, 2008

that it takes a very long time to drive to Vancouver

According to Google Maps...17 hours!!!!
posted by mmascolino at 8:05 AM on August 6, 2008

According to Google Maps...17 hours!!!!

It's actually probably a bit longer than that. Once you're north of Kamloops, the roads start getting pretty hairy. You'd want to fly from Prince Rupert to Vancouver, or maybe there's some chain of ferries one could take.

The big difference between Prince George and Terrace is that Terrace is much smaller. Prince George has about 70,000 people, Terrace has less than 2,000. Prince Rupert is the closest "city" to Terrace and it's got about 12,000.

Terrace is a service town, primarily for the railroad and logging companies, I believe. There's basically nothing there. There really is next to nothing there. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you.
posted by Nelsormensch at 8:24 AM on August 6, 2008

Sorry, my mistake. Looks like Terrace has about 12,000 which puts it in the same league as Prince Rupert. Still a lot smaller than Prince George.
posted by Nelsormensch at 8:26 AM on August 6, 2008

If you like to to or snowboard, or want to learn to, there's lots of options in that region. Shames Mountain is very close to Terrace. Ski Smithers is just down the road.

For more info on that subject:
http://www.skiandridecanada.com/mapresorts.php?prov_id=BC

/disclaimer, I run the site
posted by hungrysquirrels at 8:28 AM on August 6, 2008

If you were at all hesitant that moving to Prince George might constitute culture shock for you, stay the hell out of Terrace. Terrace is Prince George with none of the shopping or culture, and almost all of the non-rednecks removed. To people from Terrace, Prince George is the big city.

The climate is wetter in both summer and winter since it's more coastal. It's warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

It also just feels a lot more remote. It's expensive and time consuming to fly anywhere. Expensive and time consuming to drive anywhere. Other than to Prince Rupert, almost any significant trip out of Terrace involves going through Prince George, so you can tack either a flight to Prince George or the 7 hour drive to Prince George onto whatever trips you might take, and compare them to when you were thinking of moving to PG.

Terrace is also very pretty, though. Not the town itself, but the parks and rives nearby. At least it was before the pine beetle, I'm not sure what it looks like these days. It has lots of the outdoor recreational type opportunities that you would get in Prince George, and they're likely cheaper in Terrace.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:22 AM on August 6, 2008

Terrace is a nice place to visit, or drive through......in the summer.....
posted by birdlips at 9:36 AM on August 6, 2008

Thanks for the sobering info. ( I was under the impression that Terrace was less redneck than PG so thats particularly interesting to hear.)
posted by canoehead at 10:27 AM on August 6, 2008