Courtenay is the Comox Valley's largest urban centre, the place Experience Comox Valley describes when it lines Courtenay up with seaside Comox and former coal-town Cumberland. Locals talk Downtown Courtenay and the Courtenay River in the same breath. The new 6th Street Active Transportation Bridge now links 6th Street to Simms Millennium Park for walkers and cyclists, tying into the Courtenay Riverway path and giving the river a proper pedestrian crossing that is not the busy 5th Street Bridge.
Riverfront work is the civic story of the decade. Simms Summer Concerts are back on Sunday evenings at Simms Park, lawn chairs pointed at the water. Across the bank, the Anderton Riverbank Restoration is reshaping the west shore from near 5th Street toward Riverside Park, opposite the Florence Filberg Centre. Lewis Centre runs the recreation desk, Sid Williams Theatre holds the stage nights, and the Courtenay and District Museum on 4th Street keeps the Elasmosaur and fossil-tour crowd in the downtown mix. Native Sons Hall and The LINC Youth Centre round out the booking map.
East Courtenay is planning Fire Hall #2 at the Waters Place training grounds, while Bill Moore Park and Dogwood Park are in the concept-feedback queue. The Comox Valley Record covers CVRD recreation debates and Area B politics that still shape life inside city limits, including outdoor-pool talk. Stage 3 watering restrictions on the Comox Valley water system are summer background noise. The hometown tell is whether you cross at 6th Street now, whether Simms has a band this Sunday, and whether Downtown Courtenay feels like the Valley's main street.