I thought about moving from Abbotsford to Port Alberni, workwise. Is anyone living there as I´m not sure what to expect from the town beside kitesurfing?
PA has daily thermals from around April to August. There was a bit of a kite scene right in the canal, by harbour quay, still a dock launch there, but now most of the kiting is focused on China Creek -- 15 minute drive up the inlet. There is a small group of kiting/windsurfing locals, plus it's a daily driver for some east coasters -- Comox to Parksville crew.
For me, PA has always been nothing more than a gas station and food shop on the way to tofino surf, but now I spend a week there every July with family at Sproat Lake. Kiting potential has made me appreciate the place a lot more -- okanagan heat and great wind, warm enough for trunks in summer. 36c with 6m wind, good times.
Rest of the year it is amongst the rainiest places in the world, gets lots of weather. I think there's good mountain biking and backcountry snow too. And as slappy says, 1.5 hour to wick makes for easy surf days.
PS for local info on PA, recommend you post your question to bigwavedave site, there's more PA folks on there -- SandyBeach is one of the site mods and a PA booster