ROTHENBURGER – All together now – ‘We’re Number 18, we’re Number 18!’

SEEING OURSELVES as others see us can be either reaffirming or disconcerting, depending.

So what are we to make of the latest survey that pegs Kamloops as Number 18 on the 2022 top 25 Canada’s Best Small Cities list created by a marketing outfit called Resonance Consultancy?

The survey looked at cities with less than 200,000 people, covering six categories it calls place, product, programming, people, prosperity and promotion. They address such things as sense of place, infrastructure, shopping, nightlife and marketing success.

Victoria, not surprisingly, is in first place. And, of course, our nemesis Kelowna is in second. How is it, though, that Kamloops ranks lower than the likes of Lethbridge, Burlington and Fredericton? Not ours to reason why. There we are at 18, just below Barrie.

The description of our Tournament Capital is positive enough. It speaks of our “bulbous mountains” and rolling grasslands, our fishing lakes, university, skiing and film productions.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.