Nelson

Nelson sits on the steep, north-facing slope above the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, tucked into the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia's West Kootenay region. Compact at roughly 12 square kilometres and home to about 11,200 residents per the [2021 Census](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/), the city terraces uphill from the waterfront, giving nearly every street a view of water or peaks. Incorporated in [1897](https://www.nelson.ca/), it grew from a mining and rail hub into one of the best-preserved heritage cities in the province. That heritage is Nelson's signature. The city counts more than 350 heritage buildings — said to be the highest concentration per capita in BC — with the Baker Street and Vernon Street commercial core as the showcase. The downtown streetscape was photogenic enough to serve as the primary filming location for the 1987 film *Roxanne*. Today Nelson carries a national reputation as a small arts-and-culture town, anchored by the restored Capitol Theatre and the Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, and it doubles as a four-season outdoor base, with Whitewater Ski Resort to the south and lake, trail, and backcountry access close at hand. The city is organized into a handful of distinct areas, each with its own feel: the heritage downtown and the Uphill blocks climbing the hillside above it, Fairview on the west side around the Selkirk College Tenth Street campus, Rosemont on the bench beyond Cottonwood Creek, and the North Shore reached across the water by the Big Orange Bridge. The neighbourhood guides that follow walk through each of these in turn.