How's Bellingham for a Place to Raise Children? (Vancouver, Olympia: 2010, crime)

[debrabye]

Destiny621,

You mentioned that you are originally from Vancouver, B.C. and as well you spent a lot of your time in Bellingham area!

My husband and I are an interracial couple currently residing in Florida, 7 years too long if you ask me. :-). We are really hoping to relocate back North but probably not to Vancouver, B.C. where he is also from originally. We have been considering areas within Washington state such as Bellingham. Can you tell me if this is an area you would recommend, especially to raise children?

Thank you



note: debrabye, I've created a separate thread for your inquiry because it doesn't have anything to do with "Duvall." If you'd like to get a response from Destiny621 from a personal perspective, please feel free to DM her.

[Prple]

debrabye,
Yes, I would recomend Bellingham, I think it would be a great place to raise a family. I would also recomend Olympia, the two cities are similar. Both have great schools and are small/medium sized cities with minimal traffic.

[allforcats]

debrabye, the more north you go, like toward, or at, Bellingham, the more rural and agricultural the scenery becomes, and the closer the mountains are. (There's even an alpaca ranch up there!) That would also put you right near the Canadian border, with relatively quick access to the glorious restaurants and attractions of Vancouver, B.C. and Whistler Mountain resorts. YUM!!

Around Olympia you would have easy access to the Olympic Peninsula, in my mind the most beautiful place on earth with 1,400 square miles of the Olympic National Park including mountains and glaciers, and the Quinault Rain Forest and Hoh Rain Forest, as well as the vast Pacific Ocean. YUM!!

Good schools in both places, especially Bellingham.

[E Roy Slade]

the crime may be lower than some places but i hate the drivers and they seem scary at times but maybe on just some streets

its a college town and college students drive drunk the most possibly

i should look up statistics i guess

half the drivers or more could be ok i guess

they refuse to use turn signals

[Newtotown]

Being from BC also and living near Bellingham (Birch Bay) I think it is a decent area.

I think the driving habits mentioned just may be small town drivers, mixed in with the city drivers from BC. I don't find it bad or scary though.

Being close to the water and different lakes make it good for a lot of days outside and the people seem to be very friendly and accepting.

If you are used to a lot of big city activities, you may find the area lacking, but I haven't lived in the area long enough to say for sure.

[elaineAcook]

Bellingham is a great place to raise kids! There is lots for them to do, places to go, learning opportunities. I lived here originally when my children were small. When I divorced I went back to CA...determined to get back up here. Which I did. When the kids were going into high school, I decided to move back so they would have ample educational choices and then career choices with out moving miles and miles away from me! Selfish...maybe, but they don't regret it!

[BabyWearer]

We think so! We moved here (DH's from here) earlier this year to raise our family. Bellingham is beautiful and while the weather is taking me time to get used to, the rain isn't terrible (usually a drizzle) and when the sun comes out it makes one appreciate the sky so much more. Today it rained a bit in the morning and then the sun came out around 11:00 and it was outside play time for us! I love being near the bay and the lake and trees and ...

One thing I wanted to specifically mention - because you did - I'm from CA and frankly you just don't see many different races here in Bellingham. I doubt people would have any issues with interracial couples but you might not find many couples with similar backgrounds.

[rkcarguy]

I have to dissagree with many of you, because my view of what is a good town to raise kids in, may differ from yours. Housing prices have continued to escalate in Whatcom county despite nationwide slow downs in the market. Investors banking on the 2010 olympics just across the border in Vancouver are buying up property and the area is growing at an astounding rate. The sad part is that thanks to advertising to a elderly croud, we are loosing students from our schools despite the growth. About 10% of our teachers, including my wife, were not renewed for next year because of a drop in students. This is because families are moving away and old people are moving in. Most of them are tightwads from other states and when the city wants to build a skate park or other form of "fun"(fun is restricted here in Bellingham), it's no-no-no. As a result there seems to be less and less to do, despite the growing population.
In alot of my other posts I have really critisized the area for many negatives, but finally this year, after living with relatives for almost 5 years, we were able to get into a home. To sum up, I have lived here all my life, so had the last 3 generations of my family. It has become harder and harder to live here, and I've decided that 2010 will be my judgement day for this place. The job market here just doesn't support the cost of living, and with the ramping up of tourism and the Olympics approaching, I see it only getting harder and harder. As a college educated couple, I don't see how raising a family here is going to work when we both have to work to make the house payment. Unfortunately having cute green trees and mountains to look at doesn't pay the bills and put food on the table. Like most of my friends, it's only a matter of time until I follow their footsteps to a better(financially) fit place to live.
If you don't have a big wad of cash to offset the purchase price of a home, I'd recommend moving elseware.