I'm downtown all the time, and I have to say that the rumours of downtown's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Most days, if I can, I go for a walk during my lunch break. Every time I go out, no matter what time of year, the downtown area is full of people. There are people on bikes, people walking, people sitting on benches, people in stores, people in cafes and restaurants. It's almost impossible to go somewhere and not see the bustling activity in our little town, and I couldn't be happier about it.
There are a number of new businesses opening, including a few restaurants that I can't wait to try. There are some other businesses who are expanding or renovating, taking the time to close down and transform themselves into something even better. There are new apartments and housing opportunities available, and to the people living in those homes everything is available to them within a few minutes of walking.
One of the only gripes I have about downtown is the number of cars. Downtown is packed tightly enough that walking from end to end only takes a few minutes, and congestion has made it so that walking is actually faster than driving through downtown a lot of the time. If just a few more people left their cars at home, or parked them a short distance away from downtown and walked the rest of the way, we'd see a real difference.
The best part, to me anyway, is the number of community-led initiatives that are happening downtown. We have a wonderful crown jewel of the downtown area in the library, a beautiful building where you can get access to almost any book you can think of, use the computer, read by a fireplace, bring the kids, find seeds for your garden, and even get things 3D printed. I am also a member of the community garden down the street, which helps feed my family and the community at large.
These are the organizations that bring community together and keep it that way. Whether those are community connection days like the one held a few weeks ago at Lake Trail School, or the groups bringing the community together through art like the Wall Things Art mural event, or just letting people build their food sovereignty like LUSH Valley's Share the Harvest community garden, it's these groups and initiatives that are the most integral part of downtown.
Courtenay is growing, I myself am part of that. I moved here in 2020, and I intend to stay here. When a population grows, it also diversifies. You see more affluent people, but you also see more people who are having financial troubles. You see more people from different backgrounds, going through different stages in their lives, and all of these different people are what gives a community it's character. But a community also helps those who are in need, and they make sacrifices for the greater good. They embrace change, they figure out what is needed and how to make that happen, and then do it. And it takes a community to do this work too, we all need to come together, learn from each other and work together to make downtown into something we can all be proud of.
I would love to see a downtown where most people use active transportation, spend time on quiet streets, pop into shops, have coffee with loved ones, borrow library books, plant carrots, hold festivals, make art, and grow connection.
Let's see downtown turn into the missing third place that allows us to actually change the community from a collection of people who live near each other to a group of people who live together.
