Dan MacLennan, Campbell River Courier-Islander

Campbell River still sucks, according to the latest annual rankings from MoneySense magazine, and in more ways than ever before….

MoneySense released its seventh annual Best Places to Live edition this month. In it, Campbell River ranked 184th out of 190 cities. This year Courtenay ranked 73rd. The list ranks communities by a number of criteria, including affordable housing, household income, population growth, crime rate, doctors per 1,000 residents, weather, jobless rate and culture.

“I think by the criteria that they’re using, they’re probably correct,” Mayor Walter Jakeway told the Courier-Islander Monday. “I don’t have a problem with it. They’re very clear in their criteria and I suspect they’re right.”….

“MoneySense is good,” he said. “I don’t like where we are but until we’re prepared to change, it all comes down to our behaviors. Until we’re prepared to change our behaviors and do something drastically different, the future will be the same. The definition of ‘insanity’ is continuing to do the same thing and then expecting a different result. I don’t see any different results coming.

We’re not changing.

“So far we haven’t seen any indication from council that they want to change the way the city runs. Until we’re prepared to change the way we run, we will continue to reflect poorly. If we don’t change today, tomorrow won’t be any different. If we want tomorrow to be different we’ve got to change our behavior today, and we’re not doing that. It’s an interesting situation to be in, but not surprising.”…

The Best Places to Raise Kids list put us back at 184th out of 190, while Courtenay ranked 147th. Criteria for that list included daycare spaces per 1,000 residents, student percentage of population, average house price and climate.