Harewood
A charming and relaxed old suburb of Nanaimo, Harewood occupies the relatively flat space between Malaspina University-College and the hill that drops to Downtown. As an old neighbourhood, Harewood has all kinds of old "character" homes, including miners' cottages and large old farmhouses from when this was Nanaimo's frontier a hundred years ago.
There was a time in recent memory when people outside of Harewood considered it to be gritty and called it "Scarewood". But it's a much nicer part of town these days, owing in part to the university, an influx of young families and students, and some significant investment, including the renovation of Harewood Mall into University Plaza. There is also a lot of development in the Chase River district just south of Harewood, so the transition is very palpable. In fact, you might not hear the name "Harewood" soon except from locals' mouths; the area's being re-billed as the "University District".
Harewood's boundaries may be thought of as running south into Chase River near Tenth St, west to the college, and north to Third St or Bowen Rd, depending on who you're asking. The railway tracks might be thought of as separating Harewood from "South Nanaimo" to the east, toward the water.
There are a few small malls in Harewood, with a supermarket, video stores, drug store, pub, restaurants, Value Village, gas, auto mechanics, and more.
Along bus routes? Yes.
Bad part of town? Some parts, sometimes.
Nearby parks: Colliery Dams, Morrell Sanctuary, Buttertubs Marsh
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