Talk:Nanaimo

Untitled
August 25, 2005. Moved the last statement to the end of the second paragraph for coherence and unity.

History
The history section is filled with mistakes...Robert Dunsmuir's first Mine, and Dunsmuir & Diggle, were both in Wellington, Not Nanaimo. Dunsmuir and Diggle Ltd. Was also formed AFTER the HBC rights to coal expired on the Island. (Dunsmuir was primarily an employee of the HBC until he found coal in Wellington)

Can we delete the history until a more factual version can be provided.
 * The undated/unsigned comment about history above came from Nov 07. While the history section does need editing and expansion, it is not incorrect.  Dunsmuir's first mine was downtown, (he mined before that for HBC) but his first big mine was in Wellington.  The section should be improved, but should not be deleted.  In the meantime, have a look at List of Coal Mines and Landmarks in Nanaimo area.  -- KenWalker | Talk 19:49, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Frank Ney
I think that there should be at least an entire paragraph about Frank, not just a sentence. Masterhatch 13:37, 14 October 2005 (UTC)


 * What would you like to hear? That he used to go to numerous parties during a single night and wear a different costume at each?  Gossip?  He had a propensity as a real-estate developer to turn old logging roads into paved streets and name them after story book characters (Pirates Lane/Twiggly Wiggly Cres. etc etc).  The term 'colourful' may be a little light in describing this mayor.  (but hey, I never met the man).


 * The whole article is a little slim of info. Considering its history is longer than Vancouver and on par with Victoria.  But that is plight of a resource town in BC.

I'll see what I can dig up. Wikipedia_V.I. 09:54, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Since Frank J. Ney has his own wikipedia page, putting too much information on the Nanaimo page would be somewhat redundant. It is also worth considering that the history of the city is not the history of its notable individuals, but the city itself. Dmurchie (talk) 04:58, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Seven Potatoes
It's the best nickname ever for the city, and should be mentioned in the article, not deleted.
 * 404 hits came up on google for this nick name and virtually all of them were blogs of some sort. I would hardly call that a notable nickname. Let's stick with actually "common" and notable nicknames. Masterhatch 04:23, 26 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Oh, come on. You don't even live here -- you don't hear what kids say on the schoolgrounds.


 * I've lived here for a decade, and I've never heard that one. You'd think anyone in Scarewood would have heard that by now :)

I've lived here since the mid sixties, and the family was here for decades before that, and though I've heard of the faux translation, we've never used it as a nickname, nor have I ever heard anyone else do so.1canuckbuck (talk) 08:58, 19 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I haven't lived there in 12 years, but I know Seven Potatoes.--Westendgirl 08:37, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

I've been in Nanaimo for a few years and did hear it. I'm not sure if this is true(can someone confirm?) but "nanaimo" sounds like "seven potatoes" for japanese. Nevertheless, the name is probably(can someone also confirm this one?) native. --Enigma 04:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

That's right, phonetically, "nana imo" translates directly as "seven potatoes", but I had to go on campus to confirm that. Very few people outside of MUC life, so far as I've been able to find, have ever heard of it. And, yes, the name itself is an English rendering of the local tribe name, shown in the article. I must confess, I got caught out on this one :) Lord Dust 06:24, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

I've lived there for seven years and I have only heard this name from Japanese-speaking people. The nickname came about since the Romanji of 七薯 happens to be precisely na-na-i-mo. Also, the "phrase" 七薯 is rather forced since it's lacking a counter (I believe it should be 薯七個---can anyone confirm?) If anything, this nickname is not homogeneously known throughout Nanaimo and its fame is largely limited to people who know the Japanese language. --weixifan 18:46, 22 June 2006 (UTC)


 * One of the local Japanese cultural societies is called Seven Potatoes Society.


 * I've lived here most of my life without ever hearing that one thrown about. Google identifies about 1300 articles related to the term but a sizable portion seem to be cooking blogs. I agree that it doesn't really belong. On the other hand, cool fact. Alexis 18:35, 12 September 2006 (UTC)


 * In Japanese, a more colloquial translation for the phrase "seven potatoes" would be 七つの芋 (nanatsu no imo) or 七個の芋 (nanako no imo). (The two characters in the middle of each of these are a counter and a particle.) But Nanaimo without the extra characters (七芋 or 七薯) still sounds like a valid place name, similar to the Japanese prefecture Shikoku (四国) which means "four provinces". —Traal 06:40, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

It should be put back in ... it is a common name. Foreign students, a lot of them Japanese, are not contributing more to the Nanaimo economy than the pulp mill - and it is pretty common usage. It should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Canadaman1 (talk • contribs) 22:02, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

The current council is also working hard to solve the drug and biker issues often associated with Nanaimo.
Does anyone have anything to back this up? I've seen no evidence that there is actually anything being done. If anything the amount of homeless addicts camping and using downtown has increased in 2005. 70.67.126.31


 * Well, I'll say two things. As a night shift taxi driver, I don't have so much faith in my esteemed Council that I'm gonna tell a biker showing me the butt end of a pistol and demanding I wait outside with my lights off where to shove it. On the other hand, I recall from when my father was on the school board that things that are dealt with well are usually also dealt with quietly. Have you noticed the number of condemned houses and Fire Marshall orders in the Hub and Haliburton areas? Have you noticed that there's been a fair bit of residential demolition work over the last two years? New houses mean higher rent, higher rest means fewer flophouses... I think I see a strategy here. I'm just not sure if I like it. But wouldn't say that nothing is being done, exactly, just not what you'd expect. If you can wade through a few Council meetings on TV, maybe you'll find out more.Lord Dust 11:02, 13 December 2005 (UTC

From what I could see, there is no real effort to control the drug problem. The only thing I noticed was less prostitute on the street(quite probably working from hotels or houses) and more police work shifts. --Enigma 05:01, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Well that Hell's Angels Clubhouse was recently busted. It's not huge but it counts for something. I think my friend mentioned there being a video of it on youtube... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.116.130.49 (talk) 16:12, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Other "Nickname" for Nanaimo
I've heard "Surrey by the Sea" used for Nanaimo by Nanaimoites as well as from other people on the island,for the exact reasons stated above.

Sections
I've added some sections to the article, but it definitly still needs work. Some of the sections are a bit short but I think they can be fleshed out. Some sections that I didn't put in but that I think should be created when we have enough content to fill them are "Media", "Sports teams" and "Notable people". Dv82matt 08:17, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

1255 03:36, 22 May 2006 (UTC) I have added a link for Diana Krall the most famous person ever to come out of Nanaimo. I can't believe it wasn't there previously
 * She was listed in the miscellaneous section. I've moved the other people listed there into the Notable natives section as well. Thanks for the heads up. --Dv82matt 00:42, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Demographics section
Under the racial diversity heading, I see these numbers: Now, looking at Nanaimo's census data, I see that of 71,805 responses, 1,270 indicated Chinese origin. That's less than 2%. Does anyone know where the numbers in the article come from, and how there could be such a massive discrepancy? →smably 18:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Caucasian: 70.3%
 * Aboriginal: 4.0%
 * South Asian: 1.8%
 * Chinese: 20.5%
 * Southeast Asian: 1.5%


 * vandalism. simple as that. it is fixed now. Masterhatch 02:16, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks. Should have checked the edit history. :) →smably 18:09, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Deletion of stats
Putting aside the omission of a ref to StatsCan by the original editor, was not the deletion of the stats a bit of a hasty move? I'm also unsure of what TheMightyQuill is refering to in declaring the stats 'racially twisted'. LordCo Centre 08:52, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Description
Both in the Economic and Education sections, there is language that seems to be more of an advertisement for the city than a concise description of the subject matter. Thoughts? Dwcarroll 13:20, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Nanaimo Information
Please support me in removing the spam commercial external link nanaimoinformation.com (almost every side page is full of google adwords (while home page is given a clean look) added in by different IPs (four times now with different ips) clearly trying to spam our town's wikipage. I am assuming the site is owned by real estate webmasters (check website footer) a local seo company to make money on the internet. Commercial links made to make money have no business in wiki as an external link. Thank youSpammyLinkMonster 23:37, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Media Outlets
Following msessage placed on User talk:Denelson83:
 * Thanks for expanding on my edit by including the call signs for the two tv stations currently broadcasting in Nanaimo. The links you placed are intuituve. However, the text you added is not quite accurate. Yes, both channels are carried locally on cable on the channels you mentioned. BUT, these signals are also BROADCAST on these frequencies. It is my opinion that it is an important distinction a new resident may want to watch local news and not have a cable service subscription. I intend to edit to clarify this fact.

SteinAlive 14:26, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, now I see the error of my logic... ThanksSteinAlive 20:17, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

demographics
why is there no demographics section? there used to be. Masterhatch 04:36, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Rename page
move.

Rename: Nanaimo, British Columbia → Nanaimo

Per WP:CANSTYLE and WP:PRIMARYUSAGE, this town should have an article at the undisambiguated name (see also WP:CANCITY). An internet search which excludes various combinations of this town's name still [ produces results] exclusively related to it. The undisambiguated title redirects to this article. I've created a disambiguation page to deal with Nanaimo bar, Nanaimo Station, and Nanaimo (electoral districts), none of which qualify for the undisambiguated title, and other articles too. Mind matrix  16:25, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Support as nominator. Mind  matrix  16:25, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Support per nominator. DigitalC (talk) 23:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Support per CANSTYLE. Can't we just have these all on one page? -Royalguard11 (T) 00:45, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * support makes sense Masterhatch (talk) 03:22, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Support, as per nom's search findings, naming convention and primary usage. Skeezix1000 (talk) 20:58, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Education
Although I like seeing the schools listed...Individual schools should not be listed unless truly notable as lists of churches, schools, businesses, etc are not really encyclopedic.

Currently schools are listed which aren't even in Nanaimo.

There is also the challenge of defining what is a school. There are dozens of schools which offer programs which overlap, at least in part, what the traditional "school" would be defined as. If this was 1960, listing all the schools would be easy, but not in 2009 and beyond. The "Nanaimo" wikipedia article isn't really the place for what could essentially become a yellow-pages listing for schools, services or businesses.

Listing all the public schools opens the gate to listing every school, private or public no matter how small. If we did start adding the names of every school, without compelling evidence of "notability", who then decides what private or semi-private educational institutions to include. Everything from 3-4 year old preschools to programs offering courses to seniors would be a subject of debate for inclusion.

An education section is warranted, but it should stick to the notables and the general with a link to an education specific page if warranted. Whatever is listed should be inside the city of Nanaimo city boundaries otherwise every private school wanting to attract students from Nanaimo will also end up wanting inclusion.

Dmurchie (talk) 16:12, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Notable Residents Criteria
Some discussion may be useful around who/when a person should/can be included in the Notable Residents section. For example, are deceased residents still considered "residents"? (Currently yes) Do former residents of amalgamated areas like Wellington or Departure Bay count as "Nanaimo"? (Currently yes, but may be confusing for readers since the Nanaimo page has no amalgamation history.) How important is "local" notability vs "global" notability? Local celebrity status makes Mayor Frank Ney an obvious choice, but he is virtually unknown off the Island, while his uncle Major Frederick James Ney who lived in Wellington-Nanaimo, was notable on two, maybe three continents, yet is virtually unknown locally despite being elected to public service in Wellington during WWII.

The article itself suggest more discussion is warranted as it mentions Robert Dunsmuir, yet the notable residents section currently overlooks both Robert and James Dunsmuir, both highly notable historical figures. With clearer criteria, it should be easier to determine which historical and current residents should be included. Dmurchie (talk) 19:11, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Local Heritage Sites
This section is incomplete and misleading.

The Nanaimo Heritage Commission has published a series brochures.

There are far more than just two heritage sites, and while the Bastion is one of those sites, the Christian Science center is not.

The section should be corrected or deleted.

WestCoastCasual (talk) 22:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Agreed this section should be removed or updated. I have removed it until someone would like to take on updating it. The above link would be a good place to start.

Air.light (talk) 12:38, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Hub reference
I removed from the introduction the statement that the "Hub City" nickname had to do with street layout. The moniker was the result of a Chamber of Commerce initiative to brand Nanaimo as the point from which one could, having arrived here via ferry from Vancouver at the new terminal, travel to Vancouver Island locations to the North, West, and South. Nanaimo thus acted as the hub to those "spokes," and therefore made the town more feasible for commercial development. (Previously, one ferried to Victoria and travelled North from there.) While the street layout of the old town does indeed resemble a hub (the Bastion) and spokes (the streets leading to it), this pattern, which exists in other settlements of the day with a central defense fort, had been in existence for a century before the nickname. Any attribution of the nickname to anything other than the town's promotional efforts would be speculation, possibly deconstructive, and should be backed up with some kind of citation.1canuckbuck (talk) 09:33, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't have a copy of the edition of Beautiful British Columbia that had that snippet about the street pattern in it, I've seen it in other articles and histories; it's not in that book I linked for the Vancouver Island Development League's naming of it (they were the predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce).....ultimately the origin of the term was the VIDL, yes, but I think it was not just because of the city's location as the "hub" of transportation on the island, it was with the spoke-like pattern of the city's core that the idea came.....sorry I don't have their meeting notes...but I know it was in Beautiful BC Magazine long ago.Skookum1 (talk) 09:37, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
 * re "this pattern, which exists in other settlements of the day with a central defense fort, had been in existence for a century before the nickname".....which other Canadian cities? American cities?  Boston, maybe.  And a century before the nickname was, um, before the city was laid out, no?Skookum1 (talk) 09:40, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

As a tourist I think the most IMPORTANT meaning of Nanaimo as the hub is that you have to go through it to get from/to anywhere on the ISLAND. (It has a bigger more important meaning than anything parochial about street layout). I drove 2.5 hours to the Pacific Rim then had to drive 2.5 hours BACK to Nanaimo and an extra 1.5 hours to get to Victoria. HUB City was really drilled in. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Madanthony113 (talk • contribs) 13:05, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

Verification of Actual Pulp Mill Contribution
While I root for the success of the Harmac, I am a little sceptical that it is actually pumping "$500,000 per day into the local economy" - of course it needs a citation. It should be removed until it can be proved... I suspect that this person is conflating "operating costs" with "contributions to the local economy." It is a major empirical statement and should be either confirmed with a citation or removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Canadaman1 (talk • contribs) 22:07, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

History
I was on Vancouver Island for ONE DAY on vacation ftom Metro-Detroit and *I* heard that Nanaimo meant "seven potatoes" in Japanese. I have no Japanese ancestry. When I returned home I looked it up online because I can count 1-10 in Japanese and 7 is 'hitchy' [sic!]. It turns out the names of the numbers are not the same as the counting words and 'nana imo' does indeed mean '7 potatoes'. This is an important fact and it would be a sign of anti-diversity and economic stupidity not to include and embrace it. It would put you on the map. Madanthony113 (talk) 12:49, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

History
I was a tourist passing through for ONE DAY and have no Japanese in me, yet *I* heard Nanaimo means 7 potatoes in Japanese and that the city has a vibrant Japanese Canadian subculture. You are showing anti-diversity and shooting your economic foot if you do not embrace that. Madanthony113 (talk) 13:10, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

Being meaninglessly reverted
I'd just like to note I'm being repeatedly reverted by a single editor for inconsistent reasons. First time I made an edit was because it was "unsourced." Second time the same edit with more context and a local newspaper source was reverted as "inappropriate." I'm trying to comment that the city was branded "Harbour City" in the lead up to Expo 86 by the mayor, with the assistance of Charles and Diana. The reverting editor has decided he doesn't like this idea....
 * 184.66.82.46 (talk) 05:06, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I added it to the body per MOS:LEDE. Seraphim System  ( talk ) 06:01, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

Notable residents
I removed some notable 'residents' of Nanaimo. Besides the list being too long, the removed people weren't born here, didn't grow up here, and didn't become notable here. Masterhatch (talk) 20:45, 17 January 2022 (UTC)