PSA: If you're thinking of moving to Bellingham, don't! (Seattle: real estate, 2014)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

I guess entertainment is different for different folks. If you like to ski, mountain bike, fish, hike, kayak, sail, or climb, B'ham is where it's at! If not, you're in the wrong place.

That's not entertainment, though. That's outdoor recreation. Going out in nature is just enjoying nature. It's not entertainment. You're doing all the work yourself. Entertainment is something that's provided for you, presented to you by others. The fact that people in the Northwest don't know the difference between entertainment and outdoor recreation indicates that there isn't much entertainment available there.

[PartIrish]

Let's see, the Pacific Northwest Ballet has the highest per capita attendance of any ballet in the country, and is regarded as one of the top neo-classical ballet companies in the world. Gramophone chose the Seattle Symphony as the best in the world for 2018. The symphony has won a Pulitzer Prize in music as well as Grammy awards for best contemporary composition. Seattle has several excellent repertory theaters, and of course, Seattle is on the A-list circuit for traveling music, comedy and theater acts.

If that doesn't hit the right note, Vancouver, an hour north of Bellingham, has both a fabulous symphony and more than one ballet company, as well as a plethora of theater arts.

And, even in humble Bellingham, the Mount Baker Theater gets a steady stream of plays, musical and comedy acts. If you like acoustic music, jazz, etc., there are at least a dozen venues around town with live performers on a regular basis.

[Stonepa]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

That's not entertainment, though. That's outdoor recreation. Going out in nature is just enjoying nature. It's not entertainment. You're doing all the work yourself. Entertainment is something that's provided for you, presented to you by others. The fact that people in the Northwest don't know the difference between entertainment and outdoor recreation indicates that there isn't much entertainment available there.

Sorry - but no, entertainment is whatever you want it to be. I've lived all over the world - London, Paris, Moscow, Los Angeles, Kaula Lampur, Reykjavik, Beijing, NYC, San Francisco, and Minneapolis over the last 30 years. Every place is different. But just because the PNW doesn't have your idea of entertainment doesn't mean it doesn't have plenty of entertainment.

[rkcarguy]

Entertainment can be whatever someone finds entertaining. We've had the same ole boat launches since the 80's and obviously a lot more boaters....taking the kids to the touch tank and watching the boat launch on a weekend or holiday at ~triple it's capacity is "entertainment".

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

Sorry - but no, entertainment is whatever you want it to be. I've lived all over the world - London, Paris, Moscow, Los Angeles, Kaula Lampur, Reykjavik, Beijing, NYC, San Francisco, and Minneapolis over the last 30 years. Every place is different. But just because the PNW doesn't have your idea of entertainment doesn't mean it doesn't have plenty of entertainment.

The definition of "entertainment" is a service that's provided to you by others. Words have set meanings; you can't change the meaning of words at will, to suit an agenda. Outdoor recreation is something you do for yourself. If that's what some people prefer, that's fine, but it's not entertainment, unless there's a competition, like boating races, that draws spectators. Then the boaters are providing entertainment, as well as participating in outdoor recreation.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is interesting. (Please use paragraphs run the future; a wall of text is hard to read.). The lack of entertainment, even in Seattle, was something I never got used to, compared to the SF Bay Area. I never had to choose my words carefully, living in Seattle. Politics never came up as a topic, in any context ever.

B'ham does seem to have more organic grocers per capita than anyplace I've every been on the West Coast! But people eat organic in order to avoid the chemicals used in conventional farming. It was routine in the 60's, before organic farming became a big thing, for there to be warnings to thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables before eating, due to unsafe chemical residue on them. People became concerned for their own health (some of those chemicals were later banned, as toxic), and especially--afraid for their children's health. And now there are GMO foods (also used as feed to cows, so it's in the dairy products), which have the pesticides bred into them.

There are more organic stores, breweries and pot shops in Bellingham, yes. The reason is that WWU graduates discover that the real world is not full of liberal hippies willing to put up with their antics, so what happens? Helicopter parents move to Bellingham, buy a bigger house, move their 30-something children into the recently remodeled downstairs MIL suite and set the kids up in a business suited for their liberal education. Namely, organic stores, breweries, and restaurants that fail within a few years.

The other big thing for recent WWU grads is Personal Trainer jobs. My local gym has more Personal Trainers hanging around than gym members. To-a-one, the trainers are from somewhere else and yes, parents are supporting them.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

I guess entertainment is different for different folks. If you like to ski, mountain bike, fish, hike, kayak, sail, or climb, B'ham is where it's at! If not, you're in the wrong place.

Pardon me? Everyone I know has to work for a living, so those entertainments are too costly and time consuming.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Baldy

There are more organic stores, breweries and pot shops in Bellingham, yes. The reason is that WWU graduates discover that the real world is not full of liberal hippies willing to put up with their antics, so what happens? Helicopter parents move to Bellingham, buy a bigger house, move their 30-something children into the recently remodeled downstairs MIL suite and set the kids up in a business suited for their liberal education. Namely, organic stores, breweries, and restaurants that fail within a few years.

The other big thing for recent WWU grads is Personal Trainer jobs. My local gym has more Personal Trainers hanging around than gym members. To-a-one, the trainers are from somewhere else and yes, parents are supporting them.

Now I've heard everything! Helicopter parenting doesn't stop, when the kids reach well into adulthood, even if you count the 20's as an extended adolescence? That is some extreme helicoptering!

And expensive! Who are all these people, who can afford to capitalize their kids' businesses (for which the kids aren't qualified, having never taken business management courses), and continue supporting their kids into their 30's? It's unusual for a public college to have so many wealthy parents of grads. This sounds like a wild exaggeration. And how can so many parents just pick up and relocate, like that? Presumably, they're tied to jobs, elsewhere.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Now I've heard everything! Helicopter parenting doesn't stop, when the kids reach well into adulthood, even if you count the 20's as an extended adolescence? That is some extreme helicoptering!

And expensive! Who are all these people, who can afford to capitalize their kids' businesses (for which the kids aren't qualified, having never taken business management courses), and continue supporting their kids into their 30's? It's unusual for a public college to have so many wealthy parents of grads. This sounds like a wild exaggeration. And how can so many parents just pick up and relocate, like that? Presumably, they're tied to jobs, elsewhere.

It is happening all over here. On my block alone, there are four houses like that.

Some people have more money than you, ya know? Retiring early, telecommuting and I know one older pilot who commutes to California on rotation, just so he can give his 30-something son and daughter-in-law a place to live.

When you read the residents of Bellingham whine like 30-something hippies, we aren't being overly dramatic. I'm retiring soon and I'm out of here, just as fast as I can.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Baldy

It is happening all over here. On my block alone, there are four houses like that.

Some people have more money than you, ya know? Retiring early, telecommuting and I know one older pilot who commutes to California on rotation, just so he can give his 30-something son and daughter-in-law a place to live.

When you read the residents of Bellingham whine like 30-something hippies, we aren't being overly dramatic. I'm retiring soon and I'm out of here, just as fast as I can.

This isn't about me, lol. Having worked at the UW for years, it's my observation that few students have parents who could pay for their schooling. State schools tend to have a low percentage of students from wealthy backgrounds, though there are always a few. But "wealthy" is also relative. People with the kind of wealth to have money to throw at a start-up business, while fully supporting an adult child, are rare, and those willing to volunteer that kind of money for their kids' unrealistic business ventures are even rarer.

But I've definitely read about the new trend for parents to build themselves a retirement home with a kiddie-apartment in it. Those used to be called Mother-In-Law apartments. Now, I guess, they're called Failure-To-Launch Offspring apartments? It's the latest trend in residential architecture.