Kelowna guide for first-year university, college students

You just touched down in Kelowna, maybe skimmed a few syllabus packages, maybe not, and you want to get out of your low-budget rental.

Here’s a quick run down to get you started.

Moving to a new city is always weird so this is a bit of a guide for the student essentials, a few good study spots, downtown parking tips and where to go for a night out.

Studying

There are a lot of good places to work and study if you’re sick of common spaces or your school’s library. For coffee shops, Pulp Fiction, Bike Shop Cafe and Blenz Coffee won’t kick you out if you get one iced coffee and sit there for two hours. Anarchy Coffee Roasters deserves an honourable mention, too.

At the downtown branch of the Okanagan Regional Library there are a lot of good, quiet spots with big windows so you can study without triggering your Seasonal Affective Disorder.

You’ve probably heard of this already but the OCSU has a free app that helps you find discounts for stores and services around the Okanagan and Shuswap to help you out.

Parking

Parking in downtown Kelowna can get tricky sometimes. Parking is free after 5 p.m., all day Sunday and on statutory holidays. City parkades like the one next to the library, Chapman and Memorial are only paid from Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you’re truly averse to paying for parking, there are plenty of side streets that allow street parking if you’re fine with walking for five minutes.

There are a lot of private lots in downtown Kelowna run by companies like Diamond Parking who pay people to watch the lots like hawks and write out hefty tickets. But the consequences of not paying those companies for a ticket or two are up for debate.

Nights out

As far as dancing goes there are really only a handful of options.

The OK Corral is a staple, people are probably going to invite you out there. It’s open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturdays are for good ol’ country music and two-stepping with your beloved if you have one, Thursdays have more typical dance music with a mechanical bull and Fridays vary depending on if there’s a theme like 90s night.

Try not to get intimidated by the line-dancing and just give it a shot, or you can show up at 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays and take a lesson for $5.

Distrikt Nightclub is the only typical club in town. If you want to skip the cover charge you can reserve a spot on the guest list online which gets you in for free before 11 p.m. The floors are sticky and most of the time the DJs aren’t bad. The hotdog cart outside also slaps.

Red Bird Brewing, The Blue Gator and O’Flannagan’s have smaller dance floors, often for live bands and you can bust a move at Tonic’s too. If you’ve got $30 there are a lot of events at Revelry, and some of them are even a good time.

If you’re more into punk and pizza, Jackknife and Dunnenzies are going to be your go-to spots, and yes, it is a little strange that a city this size has two places specifically for punk and pizza.

For a quieter, sober night out, you can’t go wrong with Twice the Dice Board Game Cafe.

Kelowna generally closes down early so if you’re looking for a drink after midnight, you’ll probably end up at Leopold’s Tavern.

Here’s a great guide to happy hours, too.

If I missed your favourite spots let me know. Send me an email at jtomas@infonews.ca.