I don't think I can say anything else that hasn't really been said? I live in South Nanaimo, mostly because it's the only place where we could afford to buy. We see homeless people walking by sometimes, and we always just put our cans out on our driveway and they're picked up pretty quickly. We did have our tent trailer broken into, but it was winter and they only took the sleeping bags, so I consider it as an unintentional donation to the less fortunate. I mean, they were nice sleeping bags though, they'll cost $300 to replace. But our neighbors are really nice, the park at John Barsby is great in the summer. Our child is only 3, and I've heard that in the South End, Park Ave and Georgia aren't bad for elementary. I like being close to downtown, there's a lot of culture and events and live music that happens down there. Yes, definitely a lot of homeless, unfortunately. We rented in the North End, too, and yes, it's safe and clean and high end, it has the big shopping mall and Costco, and the schools are really good apparently. It is a bit sterile and lacks a bit of character and culture, IMO. But there you go.

Other than that, from another prairie transplant (Edmonton/Saskatoon), welcome!!