Courtenay BC

[mielamirinda]

Hi all,
I'm just wondering if anyone could give me some information on Courtenay BC since Im planning on moving there form the East Coast. What kind of city is it how are the rental prices for place to live and the town does it have a bus sytem?

Also is there any other city in BC resembling Courtenay wether it be by the coast or not something small but not too small and with a variety available in town of shops educational systems and overall social scene.

greatly appreciated

 

[talloola]

Courtenay is a small city, but growing fast, great weather, lots of recreation, fishing,
skiing, golfing, hockey etc etc. The ocean very close by. Lots of rivers, hiking and
great for mountain biking.
We have a nice airport, with direct flights all over canada, and many u s cities as well.
We also have a military base.
Not a lot of jobs, unless one goes into business, but with all the growth, the jobs
are increasing, we will have a costco in about a year, have a home depot, super store,
walmart, canadian tire, we have the old town and the new areas, and the town of
comox is close by, and very interesting right on the peninsula.
Comox lake isn't far, very large, good fishing and water skiing, etc.
You can't miss, living in any of the island cities, although victoria is more expensive
and larger, but still nice.
If one needs to travel to Vancouver, the ferry travels from nanaimo to vancouver.
Nanaimo is about one hour drive south, from Courtenay.
A decent condo would rent for anywhere from 900 to 1300 hundred a month.
depends how large, or location etc.
We don't have a slum in this city, even the most modest residencial area is still
neat and clean, and great to raise kids, with good schools.

 

[VanIsle]

Talloola, while there may not be a lot of jobs now, if all those stores are going to be opening, then there may be a good number. Our airport here is expanding and there will be a lot more flights coming into Nanaimo in a few months. I think it's only a couple of months now until they will have the "landing via radar" so that the fog will no longer be a problem. I just stumbled on a website from my home page today regarding jobs in Victoria and it's actually quite extensive. Really surprized me. I have put it on another site but here it is again:
CHEK NEWS | Vancouver Island News | Victoria News Anyone who reads this may be looking for work here on the Island.

 

[mielamirinda]

Thank you so much about all the information, Courtenay seems like a beautiful place I do hope jobs areant extremely hard to find once we get there. One more questions What about the hospitals in Courtenay for specific purposes like needing an endocrinologist or such do most go to Nanaimo's hospital is it any good there either?

 

[talloola]

Thank you so much about all the information, Courtenay seems like a beautiful place I do hope jobs areant extremely hard to find once we get there. One more questions What about the hospitals in Courtenay for specific purposes like needing an endocrinologist or such do most go to Nanaimo's hospital is it any good there either?

Can't answer that specific question, but our hospital is excellent, and in the next two
years or so, we will have a new one, they're just looking, as we speak for a site.
A job won't be extremely hard to find, it's just that we are not an industrial area, so there aren't lots of plants and factories in the area.

We also have the north island college, which I forgot to mention, a nice full campus,
not just a small branch.

 

[mielamirinda]

Ive been randomly checking out the Comox newspaper?! and I didn't know there had been a flood in the region is this something common does it happen a lot because as beautiful as Courtenay if this sort of thing happens a lot I cant even begin to imagine being in that situation.

 

[#juan]

We almost picked Courteney when we moved to Vancouver Island. Nanaimo won out because that is where the ferry goes. Our kids visit us from the mainland and we decided that it was worth it to save them from that extra drive after the ferry.

 

[talloola]

Ive been randomly checking out the Comox newspaper?! and I didn't know there had been a flood in the region is this something common does it happen a lot because as beautiful as Courtenay if this sort of thing happens a lot I cant even begin to imagine being in that situation.

no, the flood was unusual, but the hard rains, the high tides from the ocean, and the
fact that they had to let more water out of the dam, all came at the same time, so
there was a couple of days of flooding down around the river area of the town, it's
back to normal now, and probably won't happen again. Perhaps they should have
been letting more water out of the dam prior to the flooding, before the high tides
arrived.
They release water year round when the levels call for it, that's a normal procedure.

 

[taxslave]

Like most places that build on a flood plain occasionally parts of Courtnay occasionally get wet feet. Not much of the town is that low. House prices are higher than they should be because of all the rich retirees moving in from elsewhere. Like most of the communities on the east side of the island Comox valley has managed to chase most of the good paying jobs out of the area in exchange for low paying part time jobs in tourism and changing diapers on raisins.
Fairly good snow boarding and skiing at Mt. Washington and in the back country. For a real snow experience look to Mt. Cain up by Woss. You can golf all year round most years.
If you are independently wealthy most of small town B.C. is good living but decent jobs outside of the lower mainland are getting scarce. Gets cold away from the coast, often below freezing for several weeks.

 

[VanIsle]

My son just came home from Mt. Washington a couple of hours ago. He said the snow base is about 7 feet deep. He said it is beautiful and awesome and he wonders why he never went when we lived there (in Courtenay).
There are lots of jobs in Nanaimo also but there really isn't much in the way of "good" paying jobs. I work with a fellow who just came here from Scotland a few months ago. Him and his wife came with great expectations. He earns $9.75 starting wage. His wife just landed a really good job at the University in Courtenay/Comox and he feels it likely they will move there. She must have pretty good credentials to get a good job so quickly.

 

[talloola]

Like most places that build on a flood plain occasionally parts of Courtnay occasionally get wet feet. Not much of the town is that low. House prices are higher than they should be because of all the rich retirees moving in from elsewhere. Like most of the communities on the east side of the island Comox valley has managed to chase most of the good paying jobs out of the area in exchange for low paying part time jobs in tourism and changing diapers on raisins.
Fairly good snow boarding and skiing at Mt. Washington and in the back country. For a real snow experience look to Mt. Cain up by Woss. You can golf all year round most years.
If you are independently wealthy most of small town B.C. is good living but decent jobs outside of the lower mainland are getting scarce. Gets cold away from the coast, often below freezing for several weeks.

Those extreme high tides happen for a short time ,at this time of year, it backs up a small tributary of the river
and flows into the park,( which they have set up for), happens every winter, and it is
harmless, BUT the
actual flooding that happened was caused from the dam water that was let out,
which then mixed with the high tide water and heavy rain, then caused an actual flood
'over the 'sides' of the main river' into the park, then across the street, and into a few very
low lying residences and an rv park, it made a bit of a mess for a couple of days, had
to do some clean up. I've been here for 30 years and have never seen that before.