Courtenay, BC ???

Rains a lot.

One hospital in town with an "old-girls" network. There was no shortage of nurses in the area. A few units had vacancies that couldn't be filled. The hospital had an ER, a maternity unit that did a few deliveries and the odd gynie surgery, a surgical unit, a small icu (mainly heart attacks) and did hip replacements for the area. The hospital belongs to the Catholic Church and will only do certain women's health services. They are under contract to the provincial government ( I never quite figured out how that worked). The next hospital is up the highway in Campbell River (which is a lousy drive in the rainy season as the highway is next to the water and the waves and rock wind up on the highway). A few years back it wasn't uncommon for nurses to have casual jobs in Campbell River, Courtenay, and Parksville. I heard about one nurse who lived in Nanaimo, had a part time job there and commuted to a part time job on the mainland.

There is the military community, the people who were raised there (and are not all that warm to newcomers) and a growing group of seniors (who have moved there with no support system because they can't afford to live in Victoria due to the rising property costs).

School choices are limited. A lot of drugs in the area. Grow ops are in most neighbourhoods. The military and RCMP fly over the gulf islands a couple of times a year for hidden weed fields. The kids at the local schools knew where to score and were far more aware of the drug culture than kids raised in the city.

There isn't a lot of work to be had. The last time I was there the lumber and fishing industries were dead. There are no other real employers in town. I knew women who were teachers and only managed to get a couple of sub days a year despite having a lot of experience in other cities and provinces.

If you are buying property make sure the disclosure statement is up to date on the state of your house. The vendor has to disclose if the property was ever used as a grow-op. That piece of paper is used across BC.

Nanaimo is a better choice. More of a city without the small town mentality. More choice for work and housing.

But the thing to remember that we forgot is young people leave the island, they don't move to it.

My kids even pointed out that they had no future in that town and would need to move to the mainland or at least Victoria for education in either the trades or university.

It's a beautiful area to be wealthy in, have a family business, or retire to. I would do a few trips to the area to check it out very carefully.

Thanks so much for the info!! Sounds like it may not be quite what we're looking for. What exactly is a grow op?? Marijuana??

We're planning on taking a trip up there to scope out prospective towns. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Personally I would take the Comox Valley over Nanaimo any day of the week. We lived in Comox from 1989-1993 - with our 4 kids - 2 born in St Joe's from there we were posted to Nova Scotia. My brother currently lives in Black Creek which is about 15 minutes from Courtenay/Comox. It is more rural than Comox/Courtenay. You have a wide variety of activities in the Comox Valley- lots of outdoor recreation. The Comox side of town is not as questionable as the Courtenay side. I guess it all depends on what you like to keep your children active in as far as *nothing to do*. North Island College offers very good programs. Further education could be found at Malaspina in Nanaimo or UVic or Camosun College in Victoria. The Comox Valley does get a thermo inversion in the winter causing the cloud to just sit in the Valley limiting sunny days unless you head up Mt Washington for snow activities. Nanaimo has a reputation of a very rough town - drugs and gang activity. I grew up in Victoria - there are lots of opportunities here but the COL is high. Duncan is 45 minutes away but you are dealing with a highway that can be questionable for weather in the winter with fog and snow. You could always look at the Okanagan Area - Kelowna, Pentiction which are more affordable with lots of activities - summer and winter. Wishing you the best, Cheers

If you are looking for more of a small town feel, I would definitely consider the Okanagan. Kelowna is turning quite "Metro" and the traffic is terrible, but the towns south of there may be more what you are looking for. I lived in Penticton for two years and just moved back to Vancouver a year ago. I miss it. It's not too big, but has a great, easy-going mentality. Winters arent too bad. Summers are hot tho. Dont know anything about the hospital there tho, but tee is one...LOL