Nanaimo
Zone 4 of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board is the City of Nanaimo and area (pop. 73,000). It is located on the east side of Vancouver Island, along the Strait of Georgia. It is Vancouver Island's second-largest city after Victoria, which is located 113 km (70 miles) to the south. Nanaimo is 48 km (26 miles) west of Vancouver.
With 2 BC Ferry terminals (Departure Bay and Duke Point) connecting travelers of all kinds to the Lower Mainland, Nanaimo’s central location makes it a good jumping-off point and regional hub for distribution, communications and business – thus the name Hub City.
Nanaimo is also known as the Harbour City. The beautiful natural harbour stretches over four kilometres from downtown's' busy commercial boat basin. Other amenities include Malaspina University-College and the waterside Port Theatre.
Nanaimo’s rich history spans its roots as an ancient Coast Salish gathering place to the arrival of the European Explorers and the Hudson's Bay Company. Nanaimo's modern history was built upon rich deposits of coal and abundant fishing resources.
Nanaimo has grown continuously in recent years and it is projected that recent strong, positive net migration will persist in this area. This will rapidly expand the population by approximately 60% over the next 30 years. (BC Statistics).
Immediately north of the City of Nanaimo border is the seaside Village of Lantzville (pop. 3,800). Once known only as part of Nanoose, when coal was originally found there, Lantzville was known as Grant's Mine. In 1920, an American company bought the mine and property. Mr. Lantz was one of the directors of the American company and the area become known as Lantzville.
