See this post is a little old, but I'd have to say that anyone strongly disagreeing with this comment is a little out to lunch. Nanaimo has undergone a major turn-around in the past few years, so much so that when I go to visit I hardly recognize it. But back even just a few years that's about the description I'd have given it. Crackheads smoked on the steps outside the city hall, junkies picked glass out of their face outside the musuem, the south entrance to the city was nothing but pawn shops and hookers, bums loitered Harbour Park looking for a place to sleep, bottles to pick, discarded cigs to smoke... Nowdays I'd have to go looking for it, but there were prominent issues in the south. Some of what I've seen down there is more than just a "little mischief" as someone else said. Obviously the north end of the city is a bit of a different story and, yes, over the span of time Nanaimo as a whole is getting a facelift. Areas like Harewood, St. George, and Nicol have all drastically changed. But to say that it's hooey that Nanaimo was ever hard-bitten or had a rep for gangs, drugs, and hookers is itself hooey.
But to answer the question, if you're looking to retire Nanaimo is not bad if you move into the right area. Parksville and Qualicum are both retirment communities as well as areas like Sidney and Lantzville that you could look into as well as Comox and Ladysmith. Although I guess you're all moved in by now?
