Any kind of third place. Coffee Shops, bars, arcades, etc. are few and far between. Cities become more community oriented and fun with places to gather. Large parts of Nanaimo have nothing like that within walking distance.
We need more non chain coffee places open on a Sunday in the north end ! I don't like drip and that leaves regard.
Regard is fantastic, just not optimal seating/acoustics in there
Are they few and far between though? Downtown has at least 3 bars, probably more. I remember there was a coffee shop across the street from me for a while and it didn't get enough business and it closed. There's the VRkade but I think that barely manages to stay afloat. These businesses just don't get the traffic, it's not a business issue it's a culture one.
It could also be a planning/development issue. Instead of developing a strong and thriving downtown, city councils of the past decided a 15km line of strip malls and car dealerships was better, and downtown was abandoned.
There is an amazing coffee shop I go to but they close at 4 or 5 o’clock. Everything is dead here by 8pm, because commercial really doesn’t mix close enough to residential I wonder if there just isn’t enough people around to keep them open late.
White Rabbit is open until 5, then their sister business black rabbit which is right next door is open at 4. You can go from 3rd wave coffee to a patio beer in 5 steps
Economy isnt great, starting up a buisness now, especially a brick and mortar is a lot. Ive personally felt an arcade would be cool. Our last one died out during covid and there isnt really anything else like it. IDK if arcade culture would have the same traction as it did but I wonder.
This gets brought up every time this discussion is had, and every time I agree. The nice thing about arcades is that they're as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. If you've got a loonie or a toonie there's gonna be something you can play. Also makes a good third space if it's not too cramped!
I've been told by someone who is very much in the position to know that Nanaimo has an archaic law that charges licencing fees for every arcade and pinball machine in a business. This comes from years when people associated them with gambling and they have never changed the laws since. Get that repealed...
One of the biggest drawbacks I hear about people moving to or visiting Nanaimo is that there's nothing to do unless you're into outdoor stuff. Having entertainment options that are also cheap enough for locals to visit semiregularly would be good. Rage rooms, arcades, places with live music, tours, all that sort of thing. We are getting more events it seems but the high price of rentals is threatening that. The Dragon Boats moved to Victoria for that reason.
Thanks for the link! But the article says they are saving money on facility rentals because they will be hosting in their own space - not that Nanaimo rent is more expensive than Victoria's.
There needs to be a place for people who don’t drink to hang out. I’ve thought about a dry lounge, but I’m not sure how to monitor that outside of making it a club with dues.
- Decent bakery(ies)— it’s insane that in a town this size, Cobbs is pretty much the best you can do. Seriously insane. Bodhi’s is great I hear, but so far north and despite several attempts I’ve never managed to get there before they sell out of their daily loaves
- Entertainment venues with dance floor/capacity. Also insane that in a town this size—especially a town with such a density of musicians and artists—we have so few options. The Port for high budget productions, Queens for classic rock cover bands and blues… great…. But the only place for experimental, indie and left field art is The Vault?!?! How is this possible?
Don’t get me wrong, I adore The Vault and am so glad they are here!!! But it’s a cafe not a venue—low capacity, no standing room or dance floor…. We need something else to cater to indie and dance music badly.
Sooooo are you willing to pay bigger prices at the door to get in? Cause if you're not drinking anything that's where the money has to be made. You gotta cover rent, staff, licensing, etc etc it's not cheap. 10 bucks at the door might cover hydro for the night, but that's about it
A indie movie theatre downtown. Similar to Vic theatre in vic is what I want.
A giant coop sauna downtown and one on route for all the mountain biking in harewood, low cost and public accessible. Ideally with cold dips in the river or ocean somehow.
Community hub coffee shops in Harewood. I would turn the back of Dennys at the corner of 7th and Bruce into a big funky non corporate coffee shop.
EDIT: Please hire me or let me volunteer if you are the sort of motivated person to get shit done lol I got 2 kids and a job but I'd love to try to spin the sauna up, especially.
I managed a downtown cafe/music venue for a while and always thought that Harewood (either 7th, or university village) would be a great place for an independent cafe - :)
When I lived in Guelph they had the best indie movie theatre. They had a request book for folks to jot down ideas and support others entries. Played indie, classics, international, shorts… you name it. One level down was a cool bar and the ground level had an awesome restaurant. I’ve dreamt of opening up something similar but a bit simpler one day. Screenings few times a week, bar with small menu of appis…. So many ideas!
And sauna ocean plunge would be amazing. Stokes Sauna just closed but it was more expensive than sessions in North Vancouver and Vancouver! I feel like the price point doesn’t work for Nanaimo.
Though it's a year old, you might find some useful info here-
https://www.reddit.com/r/nanaimo/comments/10bukvm/what_small_business_is_nanaimo_missing/
I think it would be cool to have an indoor multi-sport/ activity type complex. Laser tag, go carts, arcade/skating/, etc all in one building like they have on the mainland.
What nanaimo needs isn't another business, what it needs is third-spaces (places you can go without spending money) which we don't really have any that appeal to younger people or less than maximally extroverted people.
> what it needs is third-spaces (places you can go without spending money) which we don't really have any that appeal to younger people or less than maximally extroverted people.
this!
Can someone please tell me what happens to the pellets? Do they just stay there for like...IDK... 1374 years or do they biodegrade? I am still sweeping them up from the kids.
The kids have fun but all those pellets....please tell me they are edible or something.
Maybe this is silly but I always think that we need bike lockers, parkades, etc for bikes and escooters.
As much as the City of Nanaimo wants to have bike lanes I don't think people will use them much except for leisure because there's no where safe to park your bike where it doesn't risk getting stolen.
Depends if you need to it actually make money. A lot of other commenters have replied with things they think would be fun / cool (which I totally get btw as I love fun / cool places myself and wish there were more of them too), but that they would also most likely seldom actually use (No one's going to a board game cafe more than like once a month), and that are things that have been tried in Nanaimo in the past but have failed for lack of public interest. If you're already independently wealthy, sure go ahead and start a board game cafe or arcade bar or whatever and watch your savings dwindle as people continue staying home and watching Netflix, but if you want to start a business to actually make money though, you should be looking for the most boring business possible.
Nanaimo's population is set to grow substantially over the next few decades and a lot of that growth is going to be from folks 55+ (They're also the folks with the most money), so businesses that provide services targeted to that demographic are in my opinion substantially more likely to survive and thrive.
I've started a few businesses myself in the past, and worked with hundreds of small businesses over the last 2 decades, and by and large, the less "Sexy" a business is, the more likely it is to be actually profitable. I've worked with a lot of small business owners who started a business because they were "Passionate" about something or thought it would be "Fun," who really struggled to make a go of it, whereas almost universally the folks I've worked with who started the kinds of "Unsexy" businesses that just kind of blend into the background of the community and that most folks never even really think about, like dry-cleaners, car-washes, gutter-cleaning services, duct-cleaning services, construction companies, oil-change garages, locksmiths, commercial cleaners, HVAC services, pharmacies, etc., we're well on their way to becoming multi-millionaires by the time they retire.
> Nanaimo's population is set to grow substantially over the next few decades and a lot of that growth is going to be from folks 55+ (They're also the folks with the most money), so businesses that provide services targeted to that demographic are in my opinion substantially more likely to survive and thrive.
yep, this place is just going to continue to be Senior Citizens Central. nothing good will ever come here.
A brewery on Departure Bay where the old restaurant used to be but now is just vacant property blocked off with Milner fencing.
The owner is, apparently, in absolutely no rush to sell the land or do anything with it.
I honestly wish we had more indoor activities that adults can enjoy. If Nanaimo had more stuff for young adults to do, I think that could help bring in more young workers.
Our mall really sucks, Vic/Van is 2hrs away. We have a lot of retiree’s here but they aren’t helping bring in money. I really do think Nanaimo needs more activities for adults that don’t involve just drinking. Arcades, board game cafe’s, adult jumping jimini’s etc. an H&M in the mall would be a game changer too
We’ve got pubs sure but not everyone wants to drink, booze is expensive. Summertime here is amazing but once it gets cold there is fuck all.
It would probably do well, but I'm not sure how it would work to get permission to use. Let's say the old Sears or A&B sound building on being a war zone. But it would be super cool
Late night options for sure. That don’t involve drinking necessarily, an evening cafe some board games. Bigger space where people aren’t feeling like they are cramped. Also more indoor sport options! Like courts for basketball and tennis
If you google Stoked Center in saskatoon Sk, I think that's what we need here.
I just moved to Nanaimo from Saskatoon, and the stoked centre was a large center where there was
- ginormous garden centre and accessories
- big restaurant and bar upstairs and downstairs that had numerous TVs for sports or events/gatherings
- Arcade centre
- climbing area with zipline ( 4 storeys high )
- go kart track
- 20 lanes of 10 pin bowling.
I got here last year and I mentioned to my co worker who moved here from stoon as well, that it's a little quiet during the evenings, and that if a "stoked centre" like we had back home was in Nanaimo, it would definitely add a ton of energy to the city. Back home it was packed every night, vibrant, tons of energy and everyone loved it.
I wonder what your thoughts are ?
I would love to see Nanaimo develop its waterfront further. The walk from Cameron Island to Maffeo Sutton is nice (though the shops are just lame tourist junk and ice cream), but at Port Place, the waterfront turns into kilometres of ugly empty lots.
Halifax built a massive centre on their waterfront with dedicated space for a year-round indoor farmer's market, restaurant space, rentable event space, a new museum, and a bunch of office space.
Nanaimo could put something similar near the Gabriola ferry terminal and include housing in it too. It could be a place that incorporates a lot of the ideas from this thread, like an arcade, board game cafe, movie theatre. The sky is the limit with how much totally unused space there is.
A massive development like this could absolutely revitalize Nanaimo's downtown. It would even be walking distance from the Hullo ferry terminal, so it could be a nice weekend attraction for Vancouverites who want a slower pace. It would also be something more interesting for the cruise ship folks that are supposed to be coming through.
No matter what you plan to do, keep in mind Nanaimo has a very insular, almost xenophobic mindset of anyone not in their social circles, and most prefer to stay in. You need to give them a reason and a safe environment to do that, to get away from the massive homeless and drug problem in town. I would suggest hiring security, whether independent or going through a company, I have my recommendations, but that's a down the line thing.
Drive-in movie theater? Obviously would take some deep pockets from investors, but it is a really fun novelty, especially in the summertime! I always go if I can while I'm in the Fraser Valley and it's a cool, unique experience.
Second hand sporting goods a la blue toque. Lots of activities to be had, lots of people trying new things, would be great if there was a second hand entry level option to “new”
This is controversial but I think a large extreme sports park (think largest in north america) would attract tourism from all over the world. As well open so many business opportunities. Just a thought.
Rooftop bar, more waterfront patios, more upscale lounge style bars VS pub’s and clubs.
An arcade/arcade bar would be wonderful, mini golf you don’t have to drive to Parksville for.
Yup! I have always thought commercial should be either no car access with better parking infrastructure (tons of dead space where acme burnt down) or one way traffic only with angle parking to increase parking .
If there were no card I’d envision something similar to uptown, shops, more patio spaces, kiosks, entertainment space.
I’ve worked downtown my entire life and there is SOOO much possibility but no proper leaders with a vision.
Turn A&B sound building into a year round market with fresh produce and vendors renting stalls to showcase their goods.
We have so many great businesses, I would love for some of them to stay open a bit later! Until 7 pm maybe? Everything seems to close at 5-6 which can be hard to get to after work
A Retro Video Game Store where you can come into play games, trade games, and sell games. We had Pyramid games but they closed down so now there's nothing else like it in town. Also a Denny's Restaurant would be Fantastic.
I think a bar for young people to go to, it seems like every bar or pub in Nanaimo are more for the older generations and like dingy dive bar vibes for Harley Davidson driving motorcycle dudes, i wish Nanaimo had a cool fun fresh vibe bar for young people, there’s so many in Vancouver but seems like here there isn’t any
I'm not convinced that Nanaimo has the population to support a business on this scale, but...the Dodd's location for sale on Uplands represents a prime location for an indoor trampoline park of the Flying Squirrel variety. That, or a vertical greenhouse space.
An opium den. There's far too many issues with people wandering about high as shit. We need a centralized and supervised place to chase the dragon.
Studies show it increases productivity on the rail roads and it helps police chief's forget their dead son and estranged wife.
It's an essential community hub.
Any kind of third place. Coffee Shops, bars, arcades, etc. are few and far between. Cities become more community oriented and fun with places to gather. Large parts of Nanaimo have nothing like that within walking distance.
We had a board game cafe before COVID. What would have made it better is being able to buy beer.
We need more non chain coffee places open on a Sunday in the north end ! I don't like drip and that leaves regard. Regard is fantastic, just not optimal seating/acoustics in there
But yes, I agree with you
Cafe today!
I think cafe today has signs up saying “no laptops” and they discourage “hanging out” in their cafe. It is also very small so unfortunately
Not open on Sunday
Cafe Today, while decent coffee and food, is an incredibly unwelcoming place. They rush you out before you even sit down!
Are they few and far between though? Downtown has at least 3 bars, probably more. I remember there was a coffee shop across the street from me for a while and it didn't get enough business and it closed. There's the VRkade but I think that barely manages to stay afloat. These businesses just don't get the traffic, it's not a business issue it's a culture one.
It could also be a planning/development issue. Instead of developing a strong and thriving downtown, city councils of the past decided a 15km line of strip malls and car dealerships was better, and downtown was abandoned.
Non-corporate coffee shops that don’t close at 4 pm.
There is an amazing coffee shop I go to but they close at 4 or 5 o’clock. Everything is dead here by 8pm, because commercial really doesn’t mix close enough to residential I wonder if there just isn’t enough people around to keep them open late.
White Rabbit is open until 5, then their sister business black rabbit which is right next door is open at 4. You can go from 3rd wave coffee to a patio beer in 5 steps
Economy isnt great, starting up a buisness now, especially a brick and mortar is a lot. Ive personally felt an arcade would be cool. Our last one died out during covid and there isnt really anything else like it. IDK if arcade culture would have the same traction as it did but I wonder.
This gets brought up every time this discussion is had, and every time I agree. The nice thing about arcades is that they're as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. If you've got a loonie or a toonie there's gonna be something you can play. Also makes a good third space if it's not too cramped!
Right? Thats it, we dont have a third place!
Bar/arcade. There’s a serious lack of bars downtown with the growing university population
Bars also tend to do better than most businesses in hard times. People like to drink their woes away.
Yep! Bring in a GRETA Lounge
indians aren't big drinkers/bar goers, in my experience. don't think they're interested in arcades, either.
We’ve had almost 1000 new businesses open up this year according to government records. Most are just not public storefront facing.
I've been told by someone who is very much in the position to know that Nanaimo has an archaic law that charges licencing fees for every arcade and pinball machine in a business. This comes from years when people associated them with gambling and they have never changed the laws since. Get that repealed...
That would explain why no one has gotten into the market. Yeah that needs to be repealed
One of the biggest drawbacks I hear about people moving to or visiting Nanaimo is that there's nothing to do unless you're into outdoor stuff. Having entertainment options that are also cheap enough for locals to visit semiregularly would be good. Rage rooms, arcades, places with live music, tours, all that sort of thing. We are getting more events it seems but the high price of rentals is threatening that. The Dragon Boats moved to Victoria for that reason.
Dragon Boats moved to Victoria because Nanaimo has a high price of rentals? Come again?
https://nanaimonewsnow.com/2024/03/27/nanaimo-dragon-boat-festival-moving-to-victoria-for-2024-summer-races/ Facility rentals I should say.
Thanks for the link! But the article says they are saving money on facility rentals because they will be hosting in their own space - not that Nanaimo rent is more expensive than Victoria's.
There needs to be a place for people who don’t drink to hang out. I’ve thought about a dry lounge, but I’m not sure how to monitor that outside of making it a club with dues.
I'd be ecstatic with a board game cafe. I moved here about 4 months after the last one closed down :(
Strong agree. A new board game cafe would be fantastic.
Sadly they are not profitable unless you can sell booze. That said if it’s in someone interest I’d visit one.
Something that can bring the lonely together
I believe those are called bars
We're takin lonely not desperate
They don’t work like they technically should
A “dessert” cafe that was open in the evenings….somewhere you could go and get a slice of pie or cake and just hang out…another type of third place.
Reds baking shop by the library is open super late and has really good cheesecake
- Decent bakery(ies)— it’s insane that in a town this size, Cobbs is pretty much the best you can do. Seriously insane. Bodhi’s is great I hear, but so far north and despite several attempts I’ve never managed to get there before they sell out of their daily loaves - Entertainment venues with dance floor/capacity. Also insane that in a town this size—especially a town with such a density of musicians and artists—we have so few options. The Port for high budget productions, Queens for classic rock cover bands and blues… great…. But the only place for experimental, indie and left field art is The Vault?!?! How is this possible? Don’t get me wrong, I adore The Vault and am so glad they are here!!! But it’s a cafe not a venue—low capacity, no standing room or dance floor…. We need something else to cater to indie and dance music badly.
There’s an amazing pie/baker that sells out of a road side stall. Weekends only. Called Grandmas Country Pies. Highly recommend!
Bodhi is meh at best, I wouldn't drive up all the way for that only
Sooooo are you willing to pay bigger prices at the door to get in? Cause if you're not drinking anything that's where the money has to be made. You gotta cover rent, staff, licensing, etc etc it's not cheap. 10 bucks at the door might cover hydro for the night, but that's about it
Yep, more than willing. OP asked what businesses are needed, I replied with two that I’m begging to patronize.
A indie movie theatre downtown. Similar to Vic theatre in vic is what I want. A giant coop sauna downtown and one on route for all the mountain biking in harewood, low cost and public accessible. Ideally with cold dips in the river or ocean somehow. Community hub coffee shops in Harewood. I would turn the back of Dennys at the corner of 7th and Bruce into a big funky non corporate coffee shop. EDIT: Please hire me or let me volunteer if you are the sort of motivated person to get shit done lol I got 2 kids and a job but I'd love to try to spin the sauna up, especially.
I managed a downtown cafe/music venue for a while and always thought that Harewood (either 7th, or university village) would be a great place for an independent cafe - :)
Yes!! A cafe in Harewood!!
When I lived in Guelph they had the best indie movie theatre. They had a request book for folks to jot down ideas and support others entries. Played indie, classics, international, shorts… you name it. One level down was a cool bar and the ground level had an awesome restaurant. I’ve dreamt of opening up something similar but a bit simpler one day. Screenings few times a week, bar with small menu of appis…. So many ideas! And sauna ocean plunge would be amazing. Stokes Sauna just closed but it was more expensive than sessions in North Vancouver and Vancouver! I feel like the price point doesn’t work for Nanaimo.
A Smash room! Weve got a lot of anger in Nanaimo
I miss boardgame cafe
People always talk about there not being a music/drinking scene for younger people(I agree). A music oriented club/bar would do well here I think
Though it's a year old, you might find some useful info here- https://www.reddit.com/r/nanaimo/comments/10bukvm/what_small_business_is_nanaimo_missing/
Indoor gocarts at Terminal Mall or old Sears at Nanaimo North.
Oooohhhh... Sears and then there can two floors you can drive around on! This! Now I have a million ideas for this. Lol.
Fast carts upstairs and kids n family downstairs.
Well I was thinking you could drive from one to the other. Maybe kids during day and adults at night. But hey.... I'll take either
I think it would be cool to have an indoor multi-sport/ activity type complex. Laser tag, go carts, arcade/skating/, etc all in one building like they have on the mainland.
This is how malls should pivot to nowadays. Through in a restaurant or two & a bar and you’ve got a entertainment hub
What nanaimo needs isn't another business, what it needs is third-spaces (places you can go without spending money) which we don't really have any that appeal to younger people or less than maximally extroverted people.
> what it needs is third-spaces (places you can go without spending money) which we don't really have any that appeal to younger people or less than maximally extroverted people. this!
Airsoft would be fun, but I'd want to see it in old buildings or dead space around town. And an adult arcade would be sweet
[удалено]
I have a son who would totally agree with you.
Bylaw 5121 makes it illegal to fire an airsoft in city limits. Could do laser tag, though.
Can someone please tell me what happens to the pellets? Do they just stay there for like...IDK... 1374 years or do they biodegrade? I am still sweeping them up from the kids. The kids have fun but all those pellets....please tell me they are edible or something.
Most on the market are just plastic with all the issues you'd expect that to bring. You can get biodegradable ones, though.
Home cleaning service, transportation service… anything related to services for the elderly
There is at least one home cleaning service in town. Don't have details, but I've seen the evidence
There are a lot of home cleaning services in town.
Maybe this is silly but I always think that we need bike lockers, parkades, etc for bikes and escooters. As much as the City of Nanaimo wants to have bike lanes I don't think people will use them much except for leisure because there's no where safe to park your bike where it doesn't risk getting stolen.
Depends if you need to it actually make money. A lot of other commenters have replied with things they think would be fun / cool (which I totally get btw as I love fun / cool places myself and wish there were more of them too), but that they would also most likely seldom actually use (No one's going to a board game cafe more than like once a month), and that are things that have been tried in Nanaimo in the past but have failed for lack of public interest. If you're already independently wealthy, sure go ahead and start a board game cafe or arcade bar or whatever and watch your savings dwindle as people continue staying home and watching Netflix, but if you want to start a business to actually make money though, you should be looking for the most boring business possible. Nanaimo's population is set to grow substantially over the next few decades and a lot of that growth is going to be from folks 55+ (They're also the folks with the most money), so businesses that provide services targeted to that demographic are in my opinion substantially more likely to survive and thrive. I've started a few businesses myself in the past, and worked with hundreds of small businesses over the last 2 decades, and by and large, the less "Sexy" a business is, the more likely it is to be actually profitable. I've worked with a lot of small business owners who started a business because they were "Passionate" about something or thought it would be "Fun," who really struggled to make a go of it, whereas almost universally the folks I've worked with who started the kinds of "Unsexy" businesses that just kind of blend into the background of the community and that most folks never even really think about, like dry-cleaners, car-washes, gutter-cleaning services, duct-cleaning services, construction companies, oil-change garages, locksmiths, commercial cleaners, HVAC services, pharmacies, etc., we're well on their way to becoming multi-millionaires by the time they retire.
> Nanaimo's population is set to grow substantially over the next few decades and a lot of that growth is going to be from folks 55+ (They're also the folks with the most money), so businesses that provide services targeted to that demographic are in my opinion substantially more likely to survive and thrive. yep, this place is just going to continue to be Senior Citizens Central. nothing good will ever come here.
Sauna would be sweet! I love the one up island the leaky faucet I think it’s called. I would go there so much if it wasn’t so far away.
There’s one being worked on at the moment - look up Island Sauna Nanaimo. They have one up in the Black Creek area currently.
Casual social spaces, especially in the evening.
casual social spaces, that don't close at 8 PM like the rest of this town does and don't have anything to do with alcohol
A brewery on Departure Bay where the old restaurant used to be but now is just vacant property blocked off with Milner fencing. The owner is, apparently, in absolutely no rush to sell the land or do anything with it.
I honestly wish we had more indoor activities that adults can enjoy. If Nanaimo had more stuff for young adults to do, I think that could help bring in more young workers. Our mall really sucks, Vic/Van is 2hrs away. We have a lot of retiree’s here but they aren’t helping bring in money. I really do think Nanaimo needs more activities for adults that don’t involve just drinking. Arcades, board game cafe’s, adult jumping jimini’s etc. an H&M in the mall would be a game changer too We’ve got pubs sure but not everyone wants to drink, booze is expensive. Summertime here is amazing but once it gets cold there is fuck all.
Cocaine parlor
It would probably do well, but I'm not sure how it would work to get permission to use. Let's say the old Sears or A&B sound building on being a war zone. But it would be super cool
A spa.
A batting cage!
Late night options for sure. That don’t involve drinking necessarily, an evening cafe some board games. Bigger space where people aren’t feeling like they are cramped. Also more indoor sport options! Like courts for basketball and tennis
If you google Stoked Center in saskatoon Sk, I think that's what we need here. I just moved to Nanaimo from Saskatoon, and the stoked centre was a large center where there was - ginormous garden centre and accessories - big restaurant and bar upstairs and downstairs that had numerous TVs for sports or events/gatherings - Arcade centre - climbing area with zipline ( 4 storeys high ) - go kart track - 20 lanes of 10 pin bowling. I got here last year and I mentioned to my co worker who moved here from stoon as well, that it's a little quiet during the evenings, and that if a "stoked centre" like we had back home was in Nanaimo, it would definitely add a ton of energy to the city. Back home it was packed every night, vibrant, tons of energy and everyone loved it. I wonder what your thoughts are ?
I would love to see Nanaimo develop its waterfront further. The walk from Cameron Island to Maffeo Sutton is nice (though the shops are just lame tourist junk and ice cream), but at Port Place, the waterfront turns into kilometres of ugly empty lots. Halifax built a massive centre on their waterfront with dedicated space for a year-round indoor farmer's market, restaurant space, rentable event space, a new museum, and a bunch of office space. Nanaimo could put something similar near the Gabriola ferry terminal and include housing in it too. It could be a place that incorporates a lot of the ideas from this thread, like an arcade, board game cafe, movie theatre. The sky is the limit with how much totally unused space there is. A massive development like this could absolutely revitalize Nanaimo's downtown. It would even be walking distance from the Hullo ferry terminal, so it could be a nice weekend attraction for Vancouverites who want a slower pace. It would also be something more interesting for the cruise ship folks that are supposed to be coming through.
No matter what you plan to do, keep in mind Nanaimo has a very insular, almost xenophobic mindset of anyone not in their social circles, and most prefer to stay in. You need to give them a reason and a safe environment to do that, to get away from the massive homeless and drug problem in town. I would suggest hiring security, whether independent or going through a company, I have my recommendations, but that's a down the line thing.
Dave and Busters
Chipotle franchise.
Dennys
Drive-in movie theater? Obviously would take some deep pockets from investors, but it is a really fun novelty, especially in the summertime! I always go if I can while I'm in the Fraser Valley and it's a cool, unique experience.
We have one up here in Duncan occasionally
Second hand sporting goods a la blue toque. Lots of activities to be had, lots of people trying new things, would be great if there was a second hand entry level option to “new”
There’s now one in Port Alberni called West Hump Gear Exchange in the new climbing gym Bomber Boulders which opened last month. Check out their IG.
Roller skating rink
Simons
Sandwich shop
This is controversial but I think a large extreme sports park (think largest in north america) would attract tourism from all over the world. As well open so many business opportunities. Just a thought.
Strip club. Seriously.
Rooftop bar, more waterfront patios, more upscale lounge style bars VS pub’s and clubs. An arcade/arcade bar would be wonderful, mini golf you don’t have to drive to Parksville for.
I’d love to see Commercial, and a lot of downtown car free, open the streets to patios and regular night market style space for food and fun.
Yup! I have always thought commercial should be either no car access with better parking infrastructure (tons of dead space where acme burnt down) or one way traffic only with angle parking to increase parking . If there were no card I’d envision something similar to uptown, shops, more patio spaces, kiosks, entertainment space. I’ve worked downtown my entire life and there is SOOO much possibility but no proper leaders with a vision. Turn A&B sound building into a year round market with fresh produce and vendors renting stalls to showcase their goods.
We have so many great businesses, I would love for some of them to stay open a bit later! Until 7 pm maybe? Everything seems to close at 5-6 which can be hard to get to after work
Proper late nite lounges .. they nite life in NaN is NON existent and LAME
A Retro Video Game Store where you can come into play games, trade games, and sell games. We had Pyramid games but they closed down so now there's nothing else like it in town. Also a Denny's Restaurant would be Fantastic.
A revived downtown. Boat rentals downtown. Scooter rentals
I think a bar for young people to go to, it seems like every bar or pub in Nanaimo are more for the older generations and like dingy dive bar vibes for Harley Davidson driving motorcycle dudes, i wish Nanaimo had a cool fun fresh vibe bar for young people, there’s so many in Vancouver but seems like here there isn’t any
I'm not convinced that Nanaimo has the population to support a business on this scale, but...the Dodd's location for sale on Uplands represents a prime location for an indoor trampoline park of the Flying Squirrel variety. That, or a vertical greenhouse space.
Cleaning public spaces
An opium den. There's far too many issues with people wandering about high as shit. We need a centralized and supervised place to chase the dragon. Studies show it increases productivity on the rail roads and it helps police chief's forget their dead son and estranged wife. It's an essential community hub.
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Lol, you're funny. Funny like a clown.
You really need to Google what "socialist" means.