Bellingham, WA (Seattle, Vancouver, Olympia: transplants, tech jobs, neighborhoods)

[Beenhere4ever]

Spent a lot of time in Bellingham. Seems about as safe as anywhere I've been. Maybe a little sleepy for some people, but I kind of am drawn to sleepy.

[420inthe360]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

Spent a lot of time in Bellingham. Seems about as safe as anywhere I've been. Maybe a little sleepy for some people, but I kind of am drawn to sleepy.

Not always, I mean there's your ocassional hobo or meth-head in downtown area at night but, any metro city at night is dangerous. So I still concur with your statement.

[420inthe360]

Originally Posted by JBums1028

Hello! I'm fairly new to this site, but I'm in the process of searching for Higher Education Administration graduate programs. Since most of them are located out of state, this site has been a extremely helpful when it comes to figuring out which locations will be the best fit for me. I recently traveled to Seattle and I fell in love with Washington state! I saw that Western Washington University had a program in Higher Ed and I figured it would be worth it to look into. If anyone has any info about the University I'd appreciate it. This thread has already given me some good info about the vibe of the town, cost of living, etc. If someone could maybe talk a little bit more about the safety of Bellingham, I'd greatly appreciate it!

I have lived in B'ham my whole life, and it's pretty much safe in the sense, you can go out and take a walk at any time of the day and night. Just make yourself visible and try and try and stay in the streets or public parks at night. I have seen many tents and outposts in forests that aren't populated (but surrounded by apartments and such) like that here throughout Bellingham, and really have no idea how grouchy or how friendly the hobos are here. Maybe someone else on here can fill on this

But since you're talking about WWU, it's basically safe, bus stations everywhere, a lot of people walking, downtown area is near, sea port is near, and also an area that's filled with rich people (not super rich but they're pretty rich judging from the buildings there.) I wouldn't have a problem walking down there.


Edit: Also, quite a lot of police on weekend nights in downtown area and areas where there would be partying.

[anzs]

I would agree with you 100% except change the 'snobby rich people' to snobby broke-asses that make up stories like no other and pretent/act like they're billionaires. That would be more accurate. I think the reason for this is that they're disappointed that their parents didn't leave them with more $ after going into massive amounts of debt supporting their 30-40 year old babies their whole life. Yep, that pretty much nails it.

[west seattle gal]

Sounds like a personal gripe.

[Loriandrandy]

I just have to chime in here. I've lived in Bellingham since 2005 (so 12 years).
The pros:
The mountains, the San Juans, the Bay - absolutely drop-dead gorgeous! You are close to great skiing, hiking, sailing...
Seattle and Vancouver BC is close by - a few hours and you're in the thick of the city.
The grocery scene is much improved with WinCo, Whole Foods and Trader Joes.
The schools are pretty decent.
The Inter-urban trail system is fantastic.

The cons:
The cost of living is extremely high.
Jobs are few and far between.
There are a LOT of homeless people (drive down Holly Street at any time of the day or night).
There are plenty of - "meth heads" downtown. They seem to have immunity from the police there, for some reason. I don't feel afraid walking downtown during the day, but wouldn't feel comfortable doing it alone at night.
The weather. For 6-9 months of the year, this is the gloomiest, darkest places I have ever lived (moved here from Vancouver, WA, so it's not like I'm not used to PNW weather). Speaking for myself, the weather keeps me from doing much of anything outside for at least 1/2 of the year, because I hate being cold and wet. It's extraordinarily depressing - and I hear this from a LOT of people.
Bellinghamsters are cliquey. There are very distinct social groups/strata here and it's tough to gain acceptance. A lot of people have been here for generations and are very suspicious of "outsiders."
There's an extremely snobby group of very rich Bellingham "insiders" that live in McMansions on the lake or in Edgemore, and they all make it very clear that they are Bellingham Royalty. Big Fish In A Small Pond Syndrome is alive and well here.
People aren't very friendly. Walking the inter-urban trail, for example, we made it a point to smile and say "hi" to every person coming the other way. Many just looked right through us. (of course there are the exceptions to this).
The restaurant scene is abysmal.
There is pretty much nothing to do at night unless you're college-age.

Like I said, I've been here for 12 years and I just haven't gotten to the point that I could ever say "I love Bellingham." We have jobs and a home here, and that's why we have stayed.

[Loriandrandy]

"Does it ever occur to liberals, (probably not) that homosexuals, (You brought up the example not I!) for example who prey on young boys, (which is both wrong as well as disgusting) are to be found naturally repugnant, by a large portion of a number of different societies, and that over the last thousands of years? "


Oh my goodness. I work in a field where I encounter sexual predator victims on a daily basis...and you know what? Not ONE of the perpetrators of sexual abuse has been gay. And several of them have been white men who rail on about their Christian virtues and wouldn't dream of missing church on Sunday. It's unconscionable that you would make such a bigoted claim.

[Blindtom]

Originally Posted by Loriandrandy

Like I said, I've been here for 12 years and I just haven't gotten to the point that I could ever say "I love Bellingham." We have jobs and a home here, and that's why we have stayed.

I have been here 4+ years, and almost every day I think to myself how lucky I am to be here!
I love Bellingham. I guess it suits some people more than others.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Blindtom

I have been here 4+ years, and almost every day I think to myself how lucky I am to be here!
I love Bellingham. I guess it suits some people more than others.

B'ham is kind of like Seattle; they're mainly for people who enjoy out-of-town activities, like hiking, skiing, sailing. People who expect high-quality entertainment, nationally-acclaimed music groups, and so forth (sorry, I grew up in the Bay Area, so that's what I'm used to), find those places to be seriously lacking. I've been considering Bellingham for jobs (WWU), but have been having trouble resigning myself to the weather and the lack of entertainment. And now Loriandrandy posts that there's not much of a restaurant scene? Uh-oh.

OTOH, on another thread, someone says there's a real bookstore scene happening, with author readings and other events. I could get into that. I was impressed with all the natural-foods co-ops and groceries when I visited. And I keep telling myself that although B'ham's weather can be depressing, at least it has water, and will long into the future. I'm thinking--maybe if I focus on the sailing, and on the bookstores, and WWU events, it wouldn't be so bad.... Ya think?

[perigee]

Bellingham is the city of subdued excitement. To give a musical analogy, SFO may get Lady Gaga concerts, but Bellingham is the type of place that gave us Death Cab For Cutie, which depending on your musical tastes may mean that you want to fire bomb the city.

It's a great place for those that want to go out and find their own excitement and own adventures, but if you need big city entertainment then you'll be bored out of your mind. Though, for the record, the restaurant scene is pretty good.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMiBZ6s4SjY