I moved out to Courtenay from Burnaby thinking it’d be a calm switch, smaller place, more space, you know the drill. But what no one tells you is how annoying it is to track down everyday stuff when you don’t know the area.
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Hoskin & Kelly
Hoskin & Kelly
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You ever notice how the smallest decision ends up changing the whole rhythm of your week? Like choosing to ask one person instead of another, or clicking one link and not the other. It’s kind of wild how things line up or fall apart based on stuff that tiny.
I totally get that. When I first settled in Salmon Arm, I ran into the same weird disconnect. I could find 10 places to buy coffee, but try finding a local seamstress or someone to tune a piano and suddenly you're going in circles. I’ve been trying to stick to tools that don’t feel like they’re built just for tourists or Vancouverites. What ended up working for me was something more BC-specific — not just in name but in how it’s set up. Like, when I searched for shoe repair or mobile car detailing, it actually showed people in my area, not ten towns over. That made a huge difference. Now, whenever I need something random like firewood delivery or someone to fix a trailer hitch, I just use bc local. It’s not trying to be everything, but for what it is — finding real local services and businesses — it’s been a total lifesaver. I used it to track down a small bike shop that doesn’t even have a website, just a phone number and an address. That shop fixed my brakes in an hour and even let me hang around and watch. There’s something great about finding places that still work like that, and this site actually helps make that possible without wading through junk.