Dear editor,It should come as no surprise that downtown Courtenay is suffering.Let's face it; it's already developed. It's built, done, complete, no hope for new development there.Real estate agents and strip mall contractors have nothing to gain from downtown, so why bother with it? The goal of successive councils has been to sprawl out the community and create satellite downtowns, the latest will be at Lerwick and Ryan.Once the new Thrifty has opened near Home Depot and Costco, along with the other stores that will make up the Ryan Hill downtown, why would anyone go to Fifth Street? How long does anyone think that Thrifty will keep their location on England open after the new store opens? Unfortunately, Courtenay is following the same mistakes that Nanaimo made, build strip malls and box stores, until the downtown rolls over and dies. Once that happens, it will take years to resuscitate the patient, if at all.Nice to hear Coun. Winchester blame the merchants.Coun. Anglin is concerned, but doesn't feel it's really the City's business. Avoidance is the best policy. Thanks, Bill, way to go to bat for us.Many people from elsewhere have commented to me that we have a great downtown. They want to know how we keep it so vibrant and current.Well, I suppose it has a lot to do with the merchants, but that depends on who you talk to, I suppose.Doug Kerr,CourtenayEditor's note: Doug Kerr owned a business on Fifth Street in downtown Courtenay and run for Courtenay council in November.
