Nanaimo Chinatown

[sunsetmountainland]

Nanaimo business owner aims to establish a new Chinatown along Terminal Avenue

http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/nana...venue-1.541714


I think this is a great idea. Especially if the hotel proposal from the chinese tourism company brings in lots of chinese tourists. I would love to see a Chinatown in Nanaimo.

[Denscity]

Would this be the world's first Chinatown to be "built"? All others just developed on their own didn't they?

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Would this be the world's first Chinatown to be "built"? All others just developed on their own didn't they?

Good question. I know Calgary's chinatown is it's 3rd location, so I guess in theory the first one just formed, but then the 2nd and current were 'built' by a group of Chinese business men.

[Mike K.]

Duncan had a Chinatown in the early 1900's through to the mid-20th century. Many of the building facades were moved to the Whippletree Junction commercial development along HWY 1 south of Duncan.

Victoria's Chinatown is of course the oldest in the country but by the mid-20th century Chinatown become just another non-descript part of downtown Victoria's "old town" district with lots of Chinese businesses and residents moving out of the area. Several decades ago City Hall and the business community began taking steps to revive the district and bring Chinese businesses back into what had traditionally been "Chinatown." The area is now a thriving commercial and residential hub that stands on its own.

So the question of whether or not a Chinatown can be built or whether it requires a natural evolution isn't an easy one to answer. Obviously creating an ethnic community of any sort requires buy-in from that community, but if Nanaimo's envisioned Chinatown area already has the foundation required for a formal designation to be successful then I say go for it. But if it's purely a marketing gimmick then it could become a kitschy district that falls short.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Good question. I know Calgary's chinatown is it's 3rd location, so I guess in theory the first one just formed, but then the 2nd and current were 'built' by a group of Chinese business men.

I visited Calgary's chinatown years ago and was surprised at how young many of the buildings were especially since I had spent time in Victoria and Vancouver's chinatowns which are filled with 19th century buildings so it didn't feel like a real chinatown to me. It's too bad that Nanaimo's real chinatown burned down but trying to create one now seems a bit pretentious to me. It died. Let it rest in peace.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Good question. I know Calgary's chinatown is it's 3rd location, so I guess in theory the first one just formed, but then the 2nd and current were 'built' by a group of Chinese business men.

I didn't know that, where were the first 2?

[Phil McAvity]

In Chinatown

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I didn't know that, where were the first 2?

Rather than fill this thread with Calgary history, I posted it in the calgary heritage thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=296