Bellingham, the ugly truth.... (Vancouver, Lynden: 2010, apartment, rent)

[sberdrow]

I lived in Bellingham years ago. I had to move because my wife missed her family. I thought it was the most beautiful town in the USA. You have waterfalls, lakes, access to Mountain climing, Views of the Cascades, access to whidby Island...OMG stop complaining. I make good money but I would take a job that paid half, just to live there. I live in Texas. I have to drive 45 miles just to see pine trees. We have no Mountains where I live, just hills, the humidity is unbarable. You just have refreshing rain. Count your blessings

[racechick73]

Yeah, what it really boils down to is what you prefer. To some people the weather is a huge factor, to some it might be political views, or to some it might be housing costs. Save up your dollars (at least 300,000 of them), and Bellingham will take you right back, sberdrow!

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by racechick73

Yeah, what it really boils down to is what you prefer. To some people the weather is a huge factor, to some it might be political views, or to some it might be housing costs. Save up your dollars (at least 300,000 of them), and Bellingham will take you right back, sberdrow!

Man, my own message sounded so good, That I talked to my wife, and we both agree we Are going to move back. Just have to figure out how. I really miss it. I descoved Bellingham in 1989 while I was stationed at NAS Whidby Island. Another awesome place, if you like beauty, is Port Angeles.

[racechick73]

And P.A. has much cheaper housing. Good luck to you guys! Maybe you can buy our house since we're pretty adamant about leaving- how does August sound?

[Nomad1273]

Rkcarguy compares Bellingham to Idaho over and over. Having been a resident of the Hayden/Coeur d'Alene area for the last 6 years, I can assure him, it's no picnic here either. Normal people are being priced out of their homes by Californians moving in and driving the prices up. And having a state income tax is no guarantee against rising property taxes. In fact, because of Bush's tax cuts, local governments are starved for cash and property taxes are the one way for fire and police departments to get necessary funding, and local school bonds are making up the difference from the pathetic No Child Left Behind act. Jobs here are few and far between and because it's a Right to Work state, we have the right to work for way less than the rest of the country. Plus, there is an extremely fundamentalist and conservative mind-set here that makes it downright scary at times. I've had friends run off the road or cars vandalized because of anti-war bumper stickers. One woman I know repeatedly had her car vandalized when she had a Proud Democrat sticker on it. She finally wised up and put a Gun-Toting Democrat sticker next to it and it hasn't been touched since. It's beautiful country, but the attitudes aren't, and the local economy doesn't make up for the anguish.

[racechick73]

I once heard that the skinhead population is high around Hayden, or it's their headquarters or something. Is that true?

[Nomad1273]

We had the notorious neo-Nazi camp in Hayden for over a decade until the Southern Poverty Law Center joined forces with a local attorney to file a lawsuit that bankrupted them and shut them down after they shot at a woman and her son, blew up what they thought was a Jewish business (it wasn't), and intimidated and harrassed the local community for years. The fire department used the compound for training for a while, but now it sits empty. The lawsuit bankrupted the local organization, but a lot of those people are still in the area.

A couple of years ago we had a neo-Nazi running for mayor of Hayden. A huge percentage of the voting population turned up to vote him down, but about 10% voted for him. This month we had a neo-Nazi running for the school board, but he was overwhelming voted out. Unfortunately, between repeated neo-Nazi attempts to gain a foothold in local politics and fundamentalists we still get some terrible people in local government.

This is a state where we don't even have minimal day care standards because the Republican legislators in the majority believe day care is wrong for children and women should not work. One of them was quoted in the paper saying "what can we do to keep mom at home?" When I first moved here they were busy trying to outlaw breast-feeding in public. Yet, no developer or multi-millionaire business owner is left behind, and the Right to Work law makes sure their employees are underpaid and overworked and thankful just to have a job.

It's great for California retirees with a bundle of cash and lots of toys or for anyone who wants to live under government run by a cult. But I'm tired of being the "token liberal" at work and am looking for a more progressive place to live.

[Nomad1273]

Then today, there's news in the Spokesman Review that the the shooter in Moscow, ID (80 miles south of CDA) this weekend was a card-carrying member of the Aryan Nations. So, yeah, I'd say there are still a lot of skin-heads around.

[racechick73]

[
It's great for California retirees with a bundle of cash and lots of toys or for anyone who wants to live under government run by a cult. But I'm tired of being the "token liberal" at work and am looking for a more progressive place to live.[/quote]

I think you'd fit in great in Bellingham- nothing but loud liberals.

[Nomad1273]

Maybe. I get along with most people of any political persuasion, and I used to have a lot of respect for conservatives before Bush took office; but I don't like being bullied, being told I or my children are going to hell because we don't believe Bush walks on water, or having access to decent-paying jobs because of Republican legislation to keep workers under the thumb.

You might love it here, if you can find decent-paying work. Bush's approval rating may be down to 25-35% in the rest of the country, but it's still over 65% in Idaho. If you're conservative, and especially a religious conservative, you would be have plenty of company.

There are a lot of good things about this area. It is beautiful with the lakes and mountains, the schools are decent compared to a lot of the rest of the state, and most people are friendly all in all.