About the author: Lauren Semple (she/they) is a strategist, storyteller, lover of leisure, and the voice behind the queer travel blog, Sounds Gay Let’s Go.
You’ve heard about Nanaimo’s famous sprawl, but that just means there’s more to explore! Our city is home to a tapestry of distinctive neighbourhoods, each with its own unique spirit and local character.
Our new blog series, Meet the Neighbours, is your guide to discovering those hidden spaces and the local faces who hold a torch for them. This series tells the continuous story of the passionate people and deep connections that define our city.
From long-time anchors to tireless advocates, follow along as we share authentic stories of resilience and community from across all of Nanaimo’s unique areas. Come for the sprawl, stay for the people!
Meet Dave the Barber
That 50s Barbershop on Victoria Crescent is absolutely steeped in nostalgia. Clippers hum, a barberpole spins, collectables line the walls, and Dave Lawrence, part barber, part historian, part unofficial mayor of the block, has you feeling settled before you’ve even sat down.
Dave didn’t land here by accident. His love for downtown runs deep. “Born in Nanaimo,” he says simply. “Local.” While his childhood took him across Harewood and Lantzville, downtown Nanaimo was always a place that lit him up. He remembers walking its streets with his aunt and uncle, looking at the shops and the business owners before him. “I remember thinking, one day I’ll have a business down here. Didn’t know what, but I knew it’d be something.” That small certainty stayed with him long enough to become reality. In 2007, he hung his first set of clippers on the Crescent.
Dave’s path to barbering is one of those stories that feels like it was happening long before he decided to join in. “Pretty much my whole life, barbers tried to talk me into becoming one,” he admits. He was the kid in the Elvis pompadour who knew exactly how to describe the style he wanted, with remarkable clarity about hair movement and shape. Even the barber in what is now his shop space tried to recruit him.
When he saw the one-year barbering program at Malaspina, he went for it, “If I hate it, it’s a year of my life. Who cares?” Now, it’s impossible to imagine Dave without the barber’s coat, creating great cuts and conversation from behind the chair. “You talk to all kinds of people. Someone who just got out of rehab, then the next is a higher-up at City Hall. Where else do you get that?” For Dave, it wasn’t just a job; it was a profound connection to the community, and that connection has driven him over the years.
A Crescent Steeped in History
For years, Dave knew the shop space had history, but not this much history. One day, a 98-year-old man walked in and casually mentioned he used to work at the same barbershop… only it used to be a couple of doors down, beside the Queens Hotel. “How long was it there?” Dave asked. The man shrugged. “Forever.”
That sent Dave down a research rabbit hole. The oldest evidence he uncovered was a photograph of Victoria Crescent in 1895: a dirt road, a wooden sidewalk, and a barber pole standing proudly beside the Queens Hotel. “There’s been a barbershop on this block for like 130 years,” he says, still astonished. “It’s insane.”
He’s now working with the City to install a heritage display out front, a way of marking the legacy not just of his business, but of the generations before him who sharpened razors and slid combs on the very same block. Dave speaks about neighbourhood history with the excitement of someone who can’t believe he gets to live inside it. “Sh**’s old here,” he grins. He loves the old brick, the rows of storefronts, and the way the Crescent blooms pink with cherry blossoms in the spring. But what he loves most are the stories buried beneath the sidewalks.
He recalls legends like the Scotch Bakery, which sank during an earthquake because of Nanaimo’s mining history, requiring three steps to reach the bottom entrance. Then there’s the rumoured prohibition tunnel beneath the Queens Hotel. “A guy from the recording studio found a sub-basement,” Dave says, eyes bright. “There was a bed from the 1800s and a doorway bricked over with this intricate pattern.” He believes this doorway may have led to a tunnel used for bootlegging, a legend that makes the Crescent feel both alive and haunted at once.
Local Love
The Crescent hasn’t always had an easy time shining brightly among the other gems downtown. Dave remembers long stretches when Commercial Street got all the love while the Crescent felt overlooked. “Victoria Crescent has an inferiority complex about Commercial Street,” he says. “We kind of get forgotten.”
So he and a handful of business owners decided to stop waiting and start organizing, joining together to create the Victoria Crescent Association, which Dave now leads as President. The association pushed for beautification: banners, planters, lighting, and signage. They pushed for visibility, and slowly, the City listened. “I was so proud when I saw the new sign on the main road pointing people to the Crescent,” Dave recalls. “That meant something.”
The Crescent still has rough patches, like any neighbourhood, but Dave believes it’s rising again. Dave created his Fresh Start Program out of the shop, collecting school supplies and giving out fresh fades to kids as they read to him. He has been organizing the annual back-to-school drive for over a decade, and that adds to the positive momentum in the neighbourhood. “Right now? We’re in an upswing. More businesses opening. Less trouble. Good energy.” Events like Sunk City and Backyard Fest are also bringing new life to the Crescent, proving it is a growing hub for creatives, retailers, and entrepreneurs.
For all the support Dave gives the community, he’ll never forget the day the community gave it right back. His shop was broken into; tools stolen, business shut down for the day. As he waited for the police, a server from the Queen’s showed up and handed him fifty bucks. “Before the police even arrived. That’s the power of social media and community.” More people arrived. More support. Enough to buy new tools and reopen the very next day. “It sucked for fifteen minutes,” he recalls. “Then it was just love. Overwhelming love.” This unifying support is a defining trait of the downtown community. “I try to help out. Promote other businesses. Support my neighbours. I love this place.”
After nearly two decades on the Crescent, Dave has become one of its anchors. He’s the person newcomers ask questions to, the one who remembers what used to be where. And he wears that with pride. His advice for anyone new to Nanaimo is simple: let go of old notions and give the neighbourhood a chance. “People come here and go, this downtown’s great. You’re by the ocean. You’ve got so many great shops and restaurants.”
If you ask Dave where to go after your haircut, his top picks include:
- Sound Heritage – “Great record store. If you want a record player, go there.”
- Smoke Zone – older than his own shop, an institution.
- Nana Sushi – his go-to lunch spot.
- Bastion Pizza – right next door, “really good.”
- The Vault Café – a game-changer for the neighbourhood.
He also champions downtown in general: “I do all my Christmas shopping downtown. Artzi Stuff. Flying Fish. Modern Café. So many good spots.”
When asked to describe Victoria Crescent in a handful of words, Dave’s answer came quickly: “Funky, old-fashioned, weird, and good.” Why those? “Because it fits perfectly. You never know what you’re going to see down here. And everyone, older people, younger people, they all embrace it. That’s the Nanaimo way.”
