Living in the Old City

The Old City is the heritage quarter on the slope above Nanaimo harbour, where the city began. It carries the oldest housing stock in Nanaimo, the most architectural character, and a downtown at the bottom of the hill that a household can genuinely walk into.

Why People Buy Here

The Old City is the one part of Nanaimo that could not be built again. Period houses on a hillside grid above a working harbour, with detailing, proportions and a street pattern that came out of a different century.

For the buyers who want it, nothing else in the city substitutes. A restored heritage house on a hillside street with a harbour view is a specific thing, and the people who buy them are not comparing against a north end subdivision.

The downtown sits at the bottom of the hill, which makes this the second most walkable part of Nanaimo after the harbourfront itself. Restaurants, shops, the market and the seawall are all reachable on foot.

The trade is that these are old buildings on steep ground, and both of those cost money.

Heritage Housing and What It Asks

The stock here is genuinely old, and condition ranges from meticulously restored to barely touched since it was built. Two houses at similar prices on the same street can be entirely different propositions.

The inspection list is the longest in the city. Foundation, structure, knob and tube wiring, plumbing, insulation, roof and moisture management all need proper attention, and heritage designation where it applies adds further constraints on what may be changed.

None of that is a reason to avoid the quarter. It is a reason to buy with a proper survey and a realistic budget, because the difference between a finished restoration and a project is measured in tens of thousands.

Set against the other parts of the city:

• LantzvilleA separate district municipality north of the city that stayed rural on purpose.
• Brechin HillThe rising ground above the Departure Bay terminal, close to downtown.
• CedarRural acreage and farm ground south of the city, toward Yellow Point.
• Central NanaimoThe middle of the city, with older housing and the best transit coverage.
• Chase RiverSouth of the centre, around Colliery Dam Park and the older mill ground.
• Departure BayThe ferry terminal, the beach and the established streets above them.

The Downtown and the Harbourfront

Downtown Nanaimo sits below the quarter, with the harbourfront walkway, the market, restaurants and the passenger ferry terminal along it. It is a genuine walkable core rather than a strip.

The harbour itself is active, with the seaplane base, the passenger service to Vancouver, moorage and the crossings to Newcastle and Protection Islands all operating from it.

That combination of a heritage residential quarter directly above a working waterfront is unusual on this coast, and it is the reason the Old City holds its appeal regardless of what the newer parts of the city are doing.

What an Old House Costs to Run

Heating is where an unimproved heritage house differs most from a modern one. Without upgraded insulation and windows the annual number runs well above a newer equivalent, and that belongs in the budget from the outset.

Maintenance on period buildings is more specialised and more expensive. Original windows, exterior trim and roofing details all cost more to do properly than their modern equivalents, and doing them improperly is what ruins a heritage house.

Who the Old City Suits, and Who It May Not

The Old City suits somebody who actively wants a period house, is prepared for what one asks, and values walking into a downtown more than parking outside a mall. It suits restorers particularly well.

It suits less well anyone who wants a house that needs nothing, anyone who wants level ground, and anyone whose budget has no contingency, because old buildings reliably find one.

If the walkability appeals but the age of the housing does not, the central neighbourhoods sit behind the quarter with newer stock. If the view is the main draw, the north end and Hammond Bay both have more of it.