Confused on Bellingham Residents. Need a little help. (Seattle, Vancouver: fit in, for sale)

[optyk]

Hello everyone. Gonna give ya a little back story on me first...

I'm 34(IT Pro) and my wife is 31(Commercial Insurance). We have a 6 year old son and live in Palatine, Illinois. Its a NW suburb of Chicago. We have for about 2 years now been looking to move to Bellingham for a change of pace/scenery and to be closer to a large set of friends we have up in Vancouver, BC. They have always told us that WA state was a great place, they actually drive/shop through it fairly often. So we have been researching for the past 2 years.

Now what I don't understand, is that a lot of residents of BHam seem to have more negative opinions on it then better ones. I've searched and read many threads in this forum from 2007 all the way up to the current date and I'm still really confused. I've seen people complain about a 8.5% sales tax; In the Chicago area its 11.5% (the highest in the country). Plus Illinois has a 5% per NET Income Income tax, which is also very high, but WA has none.

Right now we pay $900 in rent for a 2bdrm 1 bath apartment. Some utilities are included but not all. We have 1 assigned parking spot. Are only allowed 1 cat. No dogs. Have have to pay for laundry service separate in the basement of the building. Not to mention the weather. Its either full on summer here or full on winter, we only get 2 seasons. For example, our past elec bill was $1000+ over the summer because of the AC window units that were needed in each room to keep the house cool enough. And now that its the dead of winter, for example, when I walked to the bus stop with my son this afternoon it was -10F outside with the windchill.

But anyways, I have looked over the years at apartments in Bellingham and have seen some really nice ones. We actually just found one on Racine St. and its a $1050 3bdrm 2 bath apartment with TONS more amenities then what we have here for $900 a month. Plus add in the decent weather of WA and its almost retarded how nice it sounds out there compared to here.

I've seen BHam people say there's no good stores/restaurants etc. But if you look at the area I have looked at, there seems to be plenty.

3100 Racine St, Bellingham, WA 98226 - Google Maps

So I'm confused when you guys complain about tax rates, traffic, shops, crime, jobs, scenery. Hey don't forget, Illinois is flat as hell, the most we get to look at is farms. Oh yay! How could moving to what seems to be such a nice state as WA be so bad?

[scirocco22]

Well, as you can imagine, our local forums consist of a lot of peoples' opinions. "Opinions" will be the operative term here. City-Data Forums try to allow both pros and cons of an area but not all see the pros and cons in the same way. If we see that somebody has an agenda to trash a location, we can always report those types of posts to a moderator.

In my opinion, Bellingham is a great place. As you pointed out, compared to the Chicago area, I'd think that Bellingham would compare favorably and it would definitely be my choice to live if I had to choose between there and most places in Illinois.

But that's just MY opinion and we are all entitled to our opinions here at C-DF.

[mrslovettstailor]

I have only visited Bellingham but thought it was a great place! And one of my sons will be headed up there to Western Washington not this coming year but the next, after he has a year of community college first. I have been to Chicago MANY times, my family is from that area, and I cannot imagine Bellingham NOT coming out miles ahead I have noticed that everyone always seems to "hate" their city (no matter where it is) or can only find the wrong with it no matter ever they are from, its probably that whole "grass is greener" thing.

As far as costs go everyone told me I was CRAZY with wanting to relocate to WA as cost of living was so much higher, but after spending 3 weeks there in various locales I will say it really isn't. I live in Michigan in a rural area and costs are considered to be on the low side of the US. But I will tell you it was right in line with what we saw in Washington, even Seattle. Rent, groceries, gas it was all pretty much the same. Maybe if you are BUYING a house there is a huge difference because of property taxes and the like, not sure but as a renter it is no difference than being here in the middle of nowhere.

Another thing I noticed on the boards, and this may not really pertain to you I guess because of the career's you and your wife posses, is the complaining aboutthe job market. Now perhaps it is not what it used to be in WA but I read all of the papers from Seattle, and then the smaller ones for the Olympic Penninsula where we are headed in the spring, and there are ALOT more jobs available than anywhere near here, or other places I know of. Out in the olympic penninsula I see alot of sales/retail/food services jobs and hear alot of complaints that thats all there is but I tell you this, try getting a job even at a McDonald's here. Good luck. There are NO JOBS not even the minimum wage offerings I see they have out there.

And that brings me to another + as far as I am concerned. Our minimum wage here is I believe $7.20 and in WA its like $8.60. Now I am told thats because of the higher cost of living, but as I said it costs here what it does there, so I would happily take the extra $1.40 with no complaints.

[Lamplight]

I think, like mrslovettstailor mentioned, there's the "grass is always greener" thing. But since people vary so much, I'd say that some places are just a better fit for different people. I'm also hoping to relocate to Bellingham, and when I visited I really, really liked it. In fact, after my time there it already felt like home to me, and when I got back to my home town it almost felt like an unfamiliar place. I've lived in this town my entire life, but for several years now I just feel like I no longer fit in here. It doesn't feel like home to me. I've grown to dislike many things about it, but primarily the miserably hot and humid summer weather. From April through October I'm completely miserable, and that's most of the year!

But if you go to the Nashville forum, you'll find that most people posting LOVE it here. It's hard for me to comprehend, but it's true. But then when I read where some of them moved from, I usually think, "Yeah, okay, even I would rather live in my town than where they're from". Yet some of them have moved from places that I would probably choose over middle TN. It seems they are simply a better fit for this place than I am, even though I'm a native. I also think having lived here for so long may have something to do with it. I think humans are naturally wanderers, and sometimes that instinct may show itself in some of us.

Edit: The cost of living did appear to be higher in WA than TN. Average rent in Bellingham is actually slightly less, but home prices are MUCH higher, gas is higher, and food seemed to be a little higher. Car tag renewal, if I've read it correctly, is about half what it is here. Unemployment is quite high here, and I think Bellingham's rate is a little lower.

[Hemlock140]

Bellingham has a lower cost of living than the metro Seattle area, but WA state in general is high due to high taxes. Probably people living there will discourage people because they don't want it to turn into a huge city,
this is a typical reaction to being rated highly by several "best of" lists.

[rkcarguy]

The "best of" lists bellingham made in the past have contributed to it's downfall. Housing and cost of living have risen sharply because of it, which in turn drove up values and taxes. There is jobs here where much of the nation has nothing, however most of them don't pay a living wage for the cost of living here.
Someone posted to "take a tour with a realtor before committing to moving here" ....which is an excellent point.
To the OP, Racine St. is the Ghetto of B'ham, listen to the B'ham police scanner on a friday or saturday night and the Racine, Queen, Puget, Alabama, Nevada streets are the center of action.
I just google searched Racine St. and got the first 7 results of homes for sale and then a police report of domestic assault

[Billtown]

Why do you consider taxes to be high in Washington? If the sales tax is 8.5%, that falls in line with most of the country. No income tax. Property taxes seem low compared to states I've lived in or have researched to live in.
But this is something I have been wondering about....unlike NV and Fl, which makes up some w/ their tourism, how does WA make up fo not having an income tax or high property tax?

[Bill Loney]

Originally Posted by optyk

Now what I don't understand, is that a lot of residents of BHam seem to have more negative opinions on it then better ones.

I live in Bellingham. I find your assertion to be completely off base. To be honest, other than a few complaints about cost the of living and occasionally about jobs, I hear nothing of the sort.

The people I know that live here love it.

I certainly wouldn't judge this place based upon a few people's opinions that post here.

[lightning31]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

To the OP, Racine St. is the Ghetto of B'ham, listen to the B'ham police scanner on a friday or saturday night and the Racine, Queen, Puget, Alabama, Nevada streets are the center of action.
I just google searched Racine St. and got the first 7 results of homes for sale and then a police report of domestic assault

I live in this neighborhood (in a multifamily dwelling at that) and it's not a ghetto AT ALL! I would recommend you get out more. Also, a domestic situation is just that..domestic between those people. I have lived here for 6 months and never had a cop car in this building at all. They are mostly young couples (students), some older folks and single folks.

Bellingham is a great town and people are really friendly here. We have lots of different restaurants and if you really have to get something you cannot find here, well Seattle and Vancouver are just down and up the road respectively. I moved here from BC and couldn't be happier. Taxes aren't that big a deal in WA either, there is no income tax and as a native who left and came back, it's far worse in other parts of the country (and world).

To the OP, if you choose to come to Washington, welcome in advance.

[mrslovettstailor]

Originally Posted by Billtown

Why do you consider taxes to be high in Washington? If the sales tax is 8.5%, that falls in line with most of the country. No income tax. Property taxes seem low compared to states I've lived in or have researched to live in.
But this is something I have been wondering about....unlike NV and Fl, which makes up some w/ their tourism, how does WA make up fo not having an income tax or high property tax?

I always wonder this myself. I always hear the cost of living is so high there but I am from Michigan which is considered to have one of the lowest costs of living, and there is not much difference between here and there save for the additional 2.5% sales tax but then WA doesn't have state income taxes and the wage scale there is higher so it seems it would all even out. As far as groceries, property tax (obviously depending on the individual city in WA and MI), fuel... its all pretty much the same.

Someone told me when I mentioned this in another post that alot of it had to do with housing prices. But if you look Seattle it is no more expensive than any other large city, if you choose a metropolitain area you get the metropolitan prices. You cannot compare the cost of a 3 bedroom in say Bellingham to a 3 bedroom in don't-blink-or-you-will-miss-it Arkansas which is what everyone seems todo. The prices in WA seem to be right on with COMPARABLE areas in other states.