I live in the Upper Cascades. I have a lovely view overlooking the Western portion of campus, including Academy Hill. Most mornings, I count myself fortunate for that view: it's always a lengthy walk to class, but looking up at that hill on my way down, I've always known it could be a lot longer. 

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Academy Hill, to me, is something of a distant landmark — I'd been there before, certainly, but until recently realizing that I would be living there next year, I figured that there was no better time to do a full "investigation" into exactly what Academy Hill is like. In that spirit, I interviewed several people living (or working) on the Hill, as well as exploring it myself, looking into exactly what life was like on Academy.

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To describe the Hill in basic terms, it's a collection of living tenements like Veda and the nearby suburbs sneaking up the back of the Hill. There are some shops like Franco's Liquor Store and the nearby bodega-esque corner store (which is surprisingly well-stocked if you're willing to make a short trek), restaurants like the Golden Island Asian Cuisine, and various other establishments, like the Aberdeen Hall Preparatory School. In that context, it seems like a lovely, if ill-visited, part of the UBC Okanagan campus. In that sense, it is a beautiful, interesting place. Naturally, however, that perspective is lacking in depth or personal experience. For that, I looked to my friends.

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"I live in Veda, Lakeview," said one friend of mine. "I think it's great. Super close to campus, easy access, great view.” 

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"Any complaints, thoughts, [possible] improvement?" I asked. He paused for a moment. 

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"I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I've seen ads on Instagram showing Veda with lower prices [than I'm paying]. I'm not sure if that's because it's earlier in the year, compared to me landing my apartment in April, but it is a significant decrease in price. I feel kinda [cheated]."

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And this was a theme that I found to be nearly universal in the opinions of my friends and semi-neighbors: Academy Hill was nice, but...

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"I use the bus infrequently because of the times; it doesn't line up with my schedule," said another friend. "As a commuter student it's hard to live on Academy without the right attire or footwear [during Winter]. It's very difficult to trek on Academy Hill with all the ice. So if they could de-ice the sidewalks, it'd be better … I don't mind the walk too much, but for others it'd be nice to have the bus more regularly." 

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This came up again and again — not any specific complaint, but rather that life on Academy Hill was good, but... The view is beautiful, but how about that walk? There is, after all, good reason for the prominent "scooter culture" on the Hill. Since the vast majority of students don't own a car (or at least don't have one on campus), and the bus route that runs up and down the hill is inconveniently timed at best, the inexpensive and prolific rentable Lime scooters have proven a permanent fixture across the Hill. 

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Naturally, with UBC-owned land increasingly developed both in downtown Kelowna and directly adjacent to Academy Hill, many of the issues which face the Hill today are at risk of being replicated, at least in the new campus expansions. With new housing projects even further from classes than Academy Hill, not to mention the new downtown wing, the campus is subsequently faced with something of a crossroads for transportation (among other myriad issues). 

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One possible solution to this particular issue can be found in the face of a solution already implemented in UBC Vancouver: a comprehensive public transit system. With a densely-organized campus in Vancouver, and a Kelowna campus rapidly seeking to emulate it, a concentrated transit system makes little sense in the Kelowna campus' current form. However, with rapid expansion on the university administration's mind, working with the city to establish a bus running to and from campus as a pseudo "hop-on-hop-off" bus would do more than its fair share to help students, especially as all students are already entitled to free public transit throughout the city of Kelowna.

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Though that's more than getting ahead of ourselves. The point in that tirade, among others, is that Academy Hill is a fairly nice place to live, occasional gripes notwithstanding. There are always issues which face us in our everyday lives, but that does not mean we cannot resolve them — the question is not, in that case, whether we can resolve these problems, but whether we choose to.