It’s essential to know what you’re getting into when deciding to relocate to a new city. The things that matter to you the most might not correspond with your ideal home and its location. Today I’ll be diving into areas you might want to avoid when moving to Nanaimo BC
Before we relocated to Vancouver Island, I had never spent a substantial amount of time in Nanaimo. It was just a starting point for us to access other areas and I really had no idea what living here would be like. Like everyone, I had an idea of what my ideal neighbourhood would be that would fit my ideal criteria such as access to parks and trails, lower density and safety. In this video, I’ll cover a few of these and list areas you may want to avoid.
High-density and traffic
If you’re looking for a quiet place to live, then I would definitely avoid anywhere near downtown Nanaimo. Although Nanaimo’s city center is quite small, it still has a higher volume of apartment buildings and condos because of how many businesses and shops there are. The streets are small as well, so driving can be trickier to navigate although I will say parking isn’t as bad as it is in bigger cities. If you’re in any of the harbourfront buildings, expect bustling crowds of tourists, especially in the summer months!
Areas like The University district and Central Nanaimo around Bowen Road (which is a super busy street) are also higher density due to a mix of residential, commercial, recreational and learning institutions. Keep in mind that someone seeking proximity and walkability to amenities will also favour these locations!
Many neighbourhoods in Nanaimo are expanding to meet the housing demand and influx of people moving to Vancouver Island. The BC government has also announced it’s “Homes For People” action plan, part of which will legalize secondary suites province-wide and allow for zoning of 3 to 4 units per lot. This is great news for housing in Nanaimo but things might get a little tighter as they are province-wide.
If you’re looking to be removed from the Hustle and Bustle, I’d recommend looking into communities such as Cinnabar Valley, Extension and North Jinglepot.
Crime
This one is a touchy subject. I personally consider Nanaimo to be a safe place to live but as in any city, there are areas that you might want to be extra cautious in or maybe avoid altogether if you want to avoid things like vandalism, theft and drug use.
Old City (downtown) is one of these areas for sure and trickles out to other areas around central Nanaimo and the hospital. There is a police station located on Milton Street which adds a sense of security and many neighbourhoods have enrolled in the block watch program. I also found this interesting crime map online but it isn’t updated very frequently so your best bet is to follow the Nanaimo RCMP online and just be active in your community.
Many neighbourhoods that are considered to be family-friendly, such as Diver Lake, I have heard have a higher occurrence of smaller crimes but it’s believed this is due to the population of teenagers in these areas. And again if you’re watchful for your neighbours this can really help.
Walkability
Is being able to walk places important to you? Nanaimo is a very long city, and although getting from one end to the other by car isn’t excruciatingly long it’s nice to know you have things close by that you can reach without driving far or even better, walking.
I touched on this when I covered the Hammond Bay neighbourhood. You’re just not close enough to anything to dart out at a moment’s notice to walk where you need to be and it helps to have a car there. This is also super relative to what you’re needing to walk to. Like in Hammond Bay, your walk to parks and beaches is very short which is the same as Westwood Lake but again you’re close to the lake so it’s a nice trade-off! Also in South Nanaimo, College Heights which has some of the most impressive views in the city isn’t your ideal walking area due to it being up on a ridge, the same as Upper Lantzville.
