Thoughts about Nanaimo

[colinspace]

Hey everyone...I'm really enjoying this site (especially Gerry Thomasen's blog!) and so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on Nanaimo. I'm a visitor to Nanaimo (I've been living in Montreal for the past 10 years, and before that Ottawa, PEI, England, Alberta, Quebec). My parents moved to Nanaimo (the lovely Departure Bay area) a couple years ago from Ottawa and I like to come to the island for summer vacations and Christmas holidays. This summer is my 3rd visit. Nanaimo inspires my imagination because it's a bit unusual and mysterious; I've often thought about writing a novel set in Nanaimo as it fascinates me in many ways. My impressions of the city are confusing mix of positive and negative and I was hoping by posting my thoughts on this forum I could gain some clarity.

Nanaimo has a great setting, like the rest of the island the natural elements are fantastic - Newcastle Island is a gem, the sea, the lakes, the river, the parks, the mountainous backdrops, the varied topography. The architecture / cityscapes are not bad either, there's an interesting west coast newness and I find most of the architecture in the city and residential areas pleasant enough. I don't mind the way Nanaimo is spread out and is a commercial hub for the island and has lots of malls; it's an unusual urban landscape, I think the flux of non-residents going through the city keeps the identity of the city less fixed and that's a good thing to me. There are many more interesting things about Nanaimo that I could write about..for example, I was just at the Crow and Gate this afternoon and that was wonderful. I imagined going there on a cold winter day and settling into a cosy corner in the pub. Anyway, so far, so good...

Now what confuses me is with all this going for it, for some reason, at times I find Nanaimo to have somewhat of a heavy, depressed vibe. And I am not sure why exactly. I just feel, it's lacking a certain positive energy and I think the element might be the people. I've asked myself, if Nanaimo was filled with educated, and hippy types would I still feel this way about it? I just get this sense of somewhat depressed, "townie", for lack of a better word "hick" type people that populate Nanaimo and brings it down in my mind..a small-town, small-mindedness that I sense in some of the people. If it's not that, then I wonder if it's the drug problem I've read about, or is it some negative remnant of the past that hangs over the city? - this site speaks of the culture of Nanaimo as a ghost town. Nanaimo has lots of things going for it, I just feel like there's something in its vibe that needs to be lifted up. I wonder about spiritual cleansing of the city or something. Anyway, I would be curious what readers of this blog think about this.

[zedex]

I had a nice long piece typed out outlining why people are the way they are here, but so many people would cry because their feelings got hurt, I decided maybe I shouldn't post it.

But I will say I agree this is a decent place to visit and yes, people here are very glum. And for good reason

[Foxglove]

I've only been in this city since the middle of April, I too moved here from Ottawa. I've noticed the same thing with the city. It's a great city, the nature is absolutely astounding, but the energy of a lot of the people I come across does seem sort of sad. I've met a lot of people who have moved here from out East and they love it, but some of the people I've met that grew up here kinda of have this, I can't wait to get out of this city or I wish I got out of this city mentality. Maybe I keep running into the wrong sorts of people, haha.

I think a lot of it could also have to do with the fact the job market here blows. I mean, I never had such horrible experiences looking for work until I moved here. There are way too many people here and not nearly enough jobs, not to mention the minimum wage here sucks, it's expensive living and so many people are out of work. That I feel is one of the biggest problems with this city and could be the heaviness or depressed vibe you get.

And there definitely is a small town mentality among some of the folk, and I think there is sort of this, fear of outsiders. For example, from personal experience in the job market, I had the city of my jobs listed on my resume and I looked for weeks for jobs to no avail. But as soon as I took off that my last job was in Ottawa, I got a lot of calls for interviews. Once I got in the interviews, the interviewers seemed surprised once they found out I was from out of town, lol. Sure that could be coincidence, but I don't believe in coincidence, haha.

I've also noticed a certain hateful mentality towards certain races and cultures here, but I'm not going to post about it.

[Bathtub in Bohemia]

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people don't come to Nanaimo to 'start', they typically come to 'finish'. As such, there is little community involvement, little political awareness and those people who were born or grew up in Nanaimo are, regardless of the fact that they have a university/college in town, are of a lower education level that those that have moved in later. There is also the north/south separation that has evolved over the last 30 years and the murdering of the downtown core by the developers of the 1970/80's eliminated a cultural centre to the town which is now sadly provided, or more accurately not provided, by the shopping malls.

The fact that Nanaimo has had for most of a my lifetime a non-participating mayor (Frank, although a colourful character was hardly a leader and Gary being the most grey and inconsequential character I've ever met is also by no means a leader). The one truly active mayor we had got slaughtered by the same developers who buggered the town to start with. This complete lack of leadership has led to a town in which the only industry left is the service industry; low pay, little security. Anybody who wants more than that, has to leave.

[albertabluesky]

Interesting.....
I agree that if Nanaimo had it's own 'industry' that drove the economy people would generally be more optimistic...

[colinspace]

I had a nice long piece typed out outlining why people are the way they are here, but so many people would cry because their feelings got hurt, I decided maybe I shouldn't post it.

But I will say I agree this is a decent place to visit and yes, people here are very glum. And for good reason

Ah, interesting that someone else has noticed a glum attitude in people here! and for good reason you say... I assume after reading the other responses that it's mostly due to the economic conditions in Nanaimo...

[colinspace]

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people don't come to Nanaimo to 'start', they typically come to 'finish'. As such, there is little community involvement, little political awareness and those people who were born or grew up in Nanaimo are, regardless of the fact that they have a university/college in town, are of a lower education level that those that have moved in later. There is also the north/south separation that has evolved over the last 30 years and the murdering of the downtown core by the developers of the 1970/80's eliminated a cultural centre to the town which is now sadly provided, or more accurately not provided, by the shopping malls.

The fact that Nanaimo has had for most of a my lifetime a non-participating mayor (Frank, although a colourful character was hardly a leader and Gary being the most grey and inconsequential character I've ever met is also by no means a leader). The one truly active mayor we had got slaughtered by the same developers who buggered the town to start with. This complete lack of leadership has led to a town in which the only industry left is the service industry; low pay, little security. Anybody who wants more than that, has to leave.

There seems to be a consensus among the replies that the poor job market in Nanaimo plays a big role in the "energy" of the people of Nanaimo. The other points you mention are interesting..the downtown core issue..I've only just become recently become aware of the south/north divide. I feel there's a lot of potential in Nanaimo, I hope it can evolve to shine more brightly.

[Bathtub in Bohemia]

I would add, that in contrast, when the post-war generation came to Nanaimo and perhaps 30 years afterward, jobs were plentiful, well paid and secure. These were surely the 'best times' in Nanaimo's history and that is the town I remember from my childhood. You could get anything you needed on Commercial Street; butcher, baker, shoes, pets, books, clothing, and a remarkable number of lunch counters (I can count 6). A number of Commercial Street businesses were old Nanaimo families who had some sense of community and were run out of business by the shopping malls.

[colinspace]

Interesting.....
I agree that if Nanaimo had it's own 'industry' that drove the economy people would generally be more optimistic...

Sounds like this is where the mayor should focus his efforts with some leadership... It would be cool if Nanaimo could attract some high tech industry for instance, but then again, in order to attract such companies, you need to have an educated work-force and in order to attract an educated work-force... hmm.. what about making it an artist hub? subsidized housing/loft/commercial spaces for artists? drawing them from Vancouver which is even more expensive...but then it would be harder for them to find work here.. anyway it's fun to think about social engineering and planning for Nanaimo.

[colinspace]

I've only been in this city since the middle of April, I too moved here from Ottawa. I've noticed the same thing with the city. It's a great city, the nature is absolutely astounding, but the energy of a lot of the people I come across does seem sort of sad. I've met a lot of people who have moved here from out East and they love it, but some of the people I've met that grew up here kinda of have this, I can't wait to get out of this city or I wish I got out of this city mentality. Maybe I keep running into the wrong sorts of people, haha.

I think a lot of it could also have to do with the fact the job market here blows. I mean, I never had such horrible experiences looking for work until I moved here. There are way too many people here and not nearly enough jobs, not to mention the minimum wage here sucks, it's expensive living and so many people are out of work. That I feel is one of the biggest problems with this city and could be the heaviness or depressed vibe you get.

And there definitely is a small town mentality among some of the folk, and I think there is sort of this, fear of outsiders. For example, from personal experience in the job market, I had the city of my jobs listed on my resume and I looked for weeks for jobs to no avail. But as soon as I took off that my last job was in Ottawa, I got a lot of calls for interviews. Once I got in the interviews, the interviewers seemed surprised once they found out I was from out of town, lol. Sure that could be coincidence, but I don't believe in coincidence, haha.

I've also noticed a certain hateful mentality towards certain races and cultures here, but I'm not going to post about it.

Lots of interesting info - thanks for sharing your personal experience.