Bellingham vs Olympia (Seattle, Vancouver, Lacey: sales, real estate, rental)

[corvidae]

I'm interested in the Bellingham/Mt. Vernon/Burlington area, as well as the Olympia area.

I've heard that both are pretty "granola-y" but I'm interested in those areas because they are smaller cities in western Washington. I don't think I could deal with Seattle's traffic on a daily basis.

Here are the things I'm looking for, in order of importance to me:

Outdoors activities... I love spending time hiking, mountain biking, skiing, rafting and camping. I also prefer to be away from crowds while I'm doing these things.

Arts... It is important to me to be in an area where the arts are valued... I am a visual artist.

Employment... I am interested in possibly teaching at a college or technical college...

Cost of Living... Washington is an expensive state. Any place that is less so would be nice.

Educational Opportunities... I might be interested possibly in going back to school in the near future.

[West coast at heart]

I am fairly familiar with the area. I spent eight summer vacations in the Mt Vernon area and explored several cities surrounding the area. Bellingham would fit all of your criteria except for being the least expensive. Of course there are several areas outside the city that would be less expensive. The closer to the water you live the more expensive property will be (obviously). Have fun exploring the area looking for the ideal spot for you.
My wife and I love the area and are looking to relocate there as well.

Peace,
wc@h

[LorDeCascadia]

Both cities are very similar and I would say both are exactly what you are looking for.
Oly and Bham are both very outdoorsy towns, have a significant college feel, and, for cities their size have
great art scenes. Bellingham is about 80,000 people (a perfect sized city imo) and Oly has around 50,000. HOWEVER. Know that the Olympia area includes the cities of Lacey and Tumwater. The borders are hard to identify and in some parts you can step out of a store in Olympia, cross the street and be in a store in Lacey. This makes the Olympia area feel a lot larger (combing the population of the 3 cities you get about 150,000 people). Dont let that worry you, Olympia still has a great small city feel.
Olympia has proximity to Seattle and Portland
Bellingham has Seattle and Vancouver.
Olympia has Mt. Rainier
Bellingham has Mt. Baker.
Oly is closer to ocean.

Both towna have a number of colleges (Olympia- Evergreen, SPSCC, Saint Martins University. Bellingham- WWU, Bellingham tech college, a community college).
I would venture to say that Olympia is a bit pricier than Bellingham, however, and both seem to have the same difficulty in job market.

[Blindtom]

Olympia is the capitol, which will make se difference.

[Pahn]

Bellingham is right on the water too. It's only technically not ocean.

[Tiger108]

Look at job openings before you "decide" where you'll live. Once you have a job, you can see where you can afford to live, how far you are willing to commute, etc. Maybe you will get a job that's not convenient to either of these places. Of course, you'll have to visit. Ideally in the winter so you know if you can tolerate it. While you're looking for a job, look at rental and real estate sales listings. I think Olympia will cost less, but, of course, if your job is closer to Bellingham, or in another area entirely (Portland?), the lower cost in Olympia could be irrelevant.

[trailtramp]

Reviving this 8 year old thread, anyone have more recent input in general? Thanks

[kavm]

What are the differences in the rainfall amounts and medical care between the two cities?

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by trailtramp

Reviving this 8 year old thread, anyone have more recent input in general? Thanks

Olympia is a good location for hiking, an hour or two will get you to the beach. It’s fairly close to Seattle mileage wise, but with the traffic and road work, it can take awhile to get up there.

Homelessness is growing, although recently, attempts to clean up the trash are going on. The artsy vibe is downtown, where a lot of homeless are. The other day, I drove by a homeless man stretched out in front of a fast food place, I was sure he was dead, but drove by later, he’d apparently walked off. Olympia seems to be fading, I was recently in Florida and the towns I visited had a boom town feel, tons of construction. Olympia is way quieter, but that may be what you want.

Between the two, Bellingham.

[wolfdog]

Both are waaay too liberal for me.