Really? We looked at houses in Rossland, and though it's a nice location next to the ski hill and all, it's pretty dumpy in terms of housing. Yes, Castlegar has more industrial development (though nothing like Trail, yuck) it's all along the highway and the residential areas are quite nice, and your housing dollar goes 2-3X more in Castlegar vs. Rossland. People think it's Canmore or something, asking huge money for knock-down wrecks.
Also, Castlegar is between Rossland and Nelson, meaning easy access to Whitewater or Red Mountain, take your pick.
Castlegar has a larger, much better equipped series of schools. But, if you want REALLY small-town, Rossland is the pick.
Neither Rossland nor Castlegar have WalMarts. Both Trail and Nelson do...