Hey there,
Residents of Fernie have long held a sort of uppity attitude towards Sparwood (its funny to outside eyes, really, but I suppose we’ll take any opportunity to think ourselves as more metropolitan than our hick neighbours). That said, real estate prices have led to many people making the same realization as you, and Sparwood has steadily been moving into Fernie’s orbit as something of a bedroom community. At the same time, what little by way of a commercial hub that ever existed in Sparwood has shrivelled, and a fair number of Sparholians now drop down the valley to Fernie to do almost all their shopping.
As far as roads go in the immediate area, the Fernie-Sparwood stretch is probably the best stretch of highway you’ll find. It’s wide, about as straight as any highway in the rockies can be, set well back from the valley sides (and thus never closed on account of avalanches), and reasonably sheltered from blowing snow. So to answer question number one, it’s very commutable.
As far as question two goes, my sense is the former option. While certain sections of the oldtimers have been known to point to the arrival of the Seven-Eleven as a sign of the apocalypse, Fernie is probably the closest match to Nelson you’re going to find in the Interior in terms of having a lively independent funky business scene. Still no Starbucks, and the first Timmy’s (this’ll shock any Ontarian) only arrived very recently. The past ugly ski season had a somewhat nasty effect on the local economy, and I think a lot of people are surprised to see how much of downtown has suddenly hollowed out in terms of vacant rental space. It’s not St.Catherines-boarded-up-shops-bad by any means, but if the laws of supply-and-demand are functioning correctly, would-be entrepreneurs ought to be able to line up underpriced retail storefront before things bounce back.
I can’t be too much help on the karate question. There is (or was, unsure now) a substantial taekwondo tradition in the town.
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