Hi everyone,

We're thinking of uprooting from Vancouver and moving to Nanaimo. The main reasons are:
1. You can buy a beautiful house on the waterfront for the price of a sh1tty vancouver duplex!
2. Lots of outdoor stuff to do - beaches, hiking etc.
3. Good schools for the kids.
4. We work from home so we don't need to be in the big city at all.

Has anyone else lived in both places? We've visited Nanaimo a few times and it seems like a nice place. A few too many strip malls in parts, but the scenery is just breathtaking and the downtown is quite nice.

Just wondering if anyone has any of their own experiences to share!

Thanks
van80 (I might need to change my forum name if this actually happens..!)

Well if you have no reason to be in Vancouver, why stay and pay the high cost of the place?

I have a friend in Nanaimo, he likes it. Moved there as he too works from home, and could never own a house in the LM, so moved there where he could but still easy enough to get to the LM when he needs to.

It's on our short list if we ever have the chance to own and assuming prices don't go insane there, but we rent, and renting doesn't seem much cheaper overall.

Thanks jsmth. Any thoughts on what it would be like for families over there? My wife and I both grew up in the country and it seems a shame to bring our kids up in westside van. Although there's lots to do (camps, beaches etc), its not really the same as being in the country.

Also - I'd love to know where else is on your shortlist!

There's at least one regular in Nanaimo.

Bananahammock. Not posted much of late though.

How about the Fraser Valley (eg Chilliwack)? House prices are sensible, plenty to do outdoors, Vancouver 1.5 hours. Also, mostly good weather.

I would take Upper Fraser Valley over Nanaimo myself. Last time we moved we traveled all over to check places to see what suited us. Ended up in Ryder Lake.

On the Island, Campbell River is nice, Shawnigan Lake. I could live on the island OK, but only because I can get myself to the mainland in 15-25 minutes, depending where I want to get to. Otherwise the reliance on ferries would drive me nuts.

Not sure you're correct that the schools are good in Nanaimo. Island opinion seems to be that the schools get progressively worse the further from Victoria you go. This will be subjective, of course. As for the isolation Aviator would fear, we find generally, that we have no real need to travel to the mainland regularly. Seems mainly to be to get to or from the airport or to visit IKEA.

I agree Comox and Campbell River areas are pretty, but a bit out in the boonies.

Thanks rivingtonpike! We'd likely be sending our kids to Aspengrove, although I still need to check the admissions procedures etc. So we're not too worried about the schooling.

Thanks Aviator. I think we would use the floatplane to visit vancouver much more than the ferry, especially for connecting flights. So I think the 'isolation' would be manageable.

Any thoughts on what the people are like in the North Nanaimo area? Is it easy to make friends? Are people generally welcoming?

We work from home so we wouldn't have any colleagues to hang out with and make connections through. That's the biggest thing that's worrying us I guess.

That would be nice, but expensive. If one does not make the journey often I guess doable. We go to the island a couple of times a week for supper or to meet friends, the convenience of my own schedule works well. Costs me about $65 each way.

I agree with you on the not needing to travel to the mainland often, really don't see it anymore of an isolation then living in the interior of BC for example in relation to the mainland except instead of crummy highways, you have a crummy ferry service...lol

From what I can tell, aside from certain things like Ikea, you pretty much don't need to leave the Island for normal day to day living stuff.


My top choice for the Island is Campbell River simply for the low cost of housing, we would have no need for schools, or to be near Victoria and Campbell River seems to offer everything we would personally need on a regular basis and probably less need to travel outside of our home city compared to now.

If we can ever own and provided house prices are still within our reach in the future, we would probably end up there.

Renting doesn't appear much cheaper based on ads I see online vs what we pay now.

What's crummy about interior highways? I can get from Sun Peaks to Vancouver in 4 hours, it's not exactly a cart track from here to there. The only real need for Vancouver is direct international flights, other than that there's no draw for me to visit.

Compared to what I am used to in the US, I find all the highways in BC crummy.

I wasn't specifically saying interior highways, driving in BC is just a pain in the rear end from my perspective.

The isolation comment was in relation to Vancouver, the interior is just as isolated as the island in that regard, people like to say the island is so isolated when it really isn't, may need a ferry, but I'd rather take a ferry from the island then drive the highways to get to Vancouver.

Just like those in the interior, those on the island don't need to go to Vancouver on a regular enough basis to worry about it, everything more or less one would need is available locally.

Victoria and Nanaimo and other city's all have flight access to YVR for international flights if needed, and Victoria and Nanaimo with service to other domestic destinations either directly or by connection.

Hi there, we're coming up on our 10yr anniversary in Nanaimo next month.
I work for the school district, there's a couple of really great elementary schools here & a pretty decent high, or as you say, there's Aspengrove.

There's loads of outdoorsy stuff to do, 20 mins to downtown on the floatplane (plus helijet & BC ferries 2 terminals)

For us, being on the island isn't too much of a bother as far as having to get to the mainland, the nice thing about Nanaimo is we're only 10 mins from the ferries or the plane ... If you chose somewhere else (that isn't Victoria) on the island you have the added hour or two of travel just to get to the terminals.

Feel free to PM me if I can help.

Edited to add ... Yep, the strip malls are ugly - So much more off of the highway though. You might not see much in the way of snow, I'm hoping for the same amount as last year ... 1 day!
We live at the north end!

Taken yesterday close to town

yep I would say that that doesn't look too shabby


I would agree with RICH- nowt wrong with the Interior Highways- from my experience, a fair bit quieter and less congestedthan those South of the border that we have driven on.