Post #1145424
2026-04-14 02:27 UTC
Replies (7)
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@capn_b@beige.party 2026-04-14 03:05
@Undercat not Canadian but Nanaimo Bars are delicious, so at least you'll have that going for you
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@sus@timeloop.cafe 2026-04-14 03:17
@Undercat i looked into moving to Nanaimo in about 2018? there are walkable parts, but i think it would be a hard place to be a non driver. If you’re committed and careful about where you live, you could probably do it though. Pretty working class and trans/queer friendly as far as I’ve seen and heard from friends who live there but I’m cis and don’t live there so 🧂
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@Dtraslerwriting@mastodon.social 2026-04-14 03:23
@Undercat My wife (who pays attention more than I do!) Says Nanaimo is bikable and very liberal. Two of my kids are Trans and we find BC fairly unthreatening. We're been in Coquitlam 17 years and visited the island many times.
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@AlsoPaisleyCat@tenforward.social 2026-04-14 03:34
@Undercat You are fortunate to have the opportunity to move to Nanaimo. As a coast person who settled in Eastern Ontario for work, I would be delighted to return to live there. Others will be more current, but the geography does create a lot of bottlenecks in the road layouts so considering where to live in relation to where work is located is a significant challenge. It’s worth reading up on its history: as a an important Central Coast Salish centre, then coal mining, then pulp and paper making. A few resources: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/index.php/en/article/nanaimo https://www.nanaimo.ca/about-nanaimo/history-of-nanaimo https://www.nanaimohistoricalsociety.ca/resources
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@jigmedatse@social.jigmedatse.com 2026-04-14 03:35
@Undercat I know very little, but maybe not exactly 100% friendly, but probably not all that unfriendly. Both Nanaimo and Victoria are decently diverse, with Nanaimo having some fairly strong, "logger et al" community which can be tricky to sus out if you're not familiar with them. I'd say decent, the walkability/bikeability I'm not that familiar with at all. Check out maps regarding that?
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@Space_Burger_Steve@mstdn.ca 2026-04-14 09:22
@Undercat IMHO, Victoria is like a smaller, more bikeable Seattle. I like it. I've ridden along the Galloping Goose trail from the ferry terminal to downtown Victoria, it's pretty nice. Nanaimo is more like a big Bellingham. There's trees, a few malls, trees, lots of highway, and sprawling, quiet suburbs, with nice trees. Probably okay for biking, but you could end up with some serious distances. But be forewarned, the drive between Victoria and Nanaimo is about 1.5 hours, on a good day. Definitely more of a day trip excursion than just heading out for dinner.
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@smn@l3ib.org 2026-04-14 18:07
@Undercat asked my queer friend who lives in Victoria, he says: > Victoria is trying to become bikeable. It's fairly progressive, but it's expensive to live here. Victoria is also touristy so it's walkable, but the rest of the island is very car-centric. Victoria is pretty gay friendly. He also says that the only time he's encountered overt homophobia is in Vancouver. He'd probably also try to stay out of the boonies; Nanaimo is "boonie-adjacent" apparently.