PSA: If you're thinking of moving to Bellingham, don't! (Seattle: for sale, renters)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not to be rude, but why not move? It sounds like a bad personal fit, and it's clear that you don't like it- though many more people obviously do.
Also, would you mind substantiating your negative comments? How is it not what it's cracked up to be? And when you say "crowds" are you referring to traffic and the amount of people here, or the type of people here?
If you're going to call it a PSA, you should at least explain why there's a problem.
Last edited by bartonizer; 10-17-2018 at 06:08 PM..
I visited just two years ago, and didn't see any crowds. I visited a nice bookstore. I loved Fairhaven, but the old-fashioned pharmacy I went into closed just weeks after I was there, apparently. I was impressed with the several co-ops and organic grocery stores.
The thing is, all people see is the positive online....come wine taste here, oh look at all the pretty scenery, come ski the mountain or go kayak in the lakes or bays.
People see all this online along with a job opportunity and go OMG a dream opportunity in paradise!
Reality is:
-Overpriced homes, such that recently it was estimated that 88% of the working class can't afford a home here. As a result, two thirds of our residents rent and rents have skyrocketed in the last 18 months. Some landlords are cashing in on the higher values and booting their renters out, who then become unable to find another rental they can afford. If you do mange to find and afford a home, then you have to contend with the high property taxes brought on by inflated assessments/prices do to the lack of homes. Be assured, when the next downturn comes, they won't go back down either. My grandparents built a new home in the 90's for $180K furnished, and it was just accessed at over $500k, leaving my widowed grandmother with a property tax bill of over $500/month. Furthermore, Bellingham added a impervious surface area tax to the water and sewer bill, that taxes you on your roof area, driveway, etc....now her water/sewer bill runs $200-$250/month.
-Traffic. While we don't have that much traffic in comparison to large cities, we don't have the infrastructure for what we do have. Once I'm off work it takes at least 20 minutes just to clear town If I'm headed out of town(that's 4 or less miles folks).
-Drivers. We have a horrible mix of the elderly, Canadians, students, and truck traffic which all have their nuances and just don't mix. We've been declared a high risk area by car insurance companies due to the amount of accidents and un-insured drivers....the un-insured motorist portions of insurance premiums have risen 40%.
-Despite a weak Canadian dollar, they are still down getting gas and shopping. Go to Costco at nearly ANY time they are open, it's combat shopping. Due to this extra demand, we pay higher prices for gas, groceries, pretty much anything at the retail and grocery store level. Often stores are just out of some items because the Canadians clean them out. Thank those above for Amazon at least.
-All the activities this area boasts, are just over-stuffed with people. Parks, boat launches, mountain biking and hiking areas, campsites, Bellingham's one indoor pool, heck even the last time I went to take my kids to trampoline zone we had to buy tickets for 90 minutes later and come back.
-We have a recent trend of an increase in the amount of homeless/mentally ill, which has also brought with it increased crime, drugs, and violence. As I stated in another post, a retired city water worker was recently stabbed to death on the Whatcom creek trail while walking in the bright sunshine at 11am on a Saturday by a man with a long criminal history of drugs and violence.
-Medical care and assisted living. We have one hospital in the entire county. Medical billings are some of the highest in the country due to the amount of people they have to provide services to that do not have medical insurance. Despite all the additional people moving here, one of my doctors offices closed and the doctor moved out of state, citing high insurance costs, lack of nurses and staff, high cost of living, and of course, having to provide care for people with no insurance that do not pay. Many of the remaining places aren't taking new patients. My last appointment I made on June 1st couldn't get me in to even see a nursing assistant until July 25th. The wait lists for assisted living and nursing homes for the elderly were in excess of 18 months long, at any of the quality places. My boss just went through this with his Dad and wound up placing him in a home in the Seattle area, as it was all he could find.
I was born here, my family is here, and for now I'm stuck here. I won't be staying here and I won't be retiring here that is for sure.
I would look for the (lack of) the following things in a town I was going to move to:
No college town.
Not a border town.
Less people.
If working, a good job income to cost of living *ratio*. It's all about the ratio.
@rkcarguy, I think you have valuable info to share, but it would really be helpful if you'd divide your long posts with spacing in-between the paragraphs. Just saying. I know you did paragraphs, but they still give the impression of a formidable wall of text. I'm interested in learning as much as possible about B'ham, so I'm truly interested in your posts. Just saying.
The issues of health-care delivery are very concerning. Especially in view of the fact that retirees are choosing B'ham, in part because of the hospital.. Clearly, another hospital is needed.
I'm surprised your doc quit in part because nursing support wasn't available. Some of the people moving into the area are nurses. More clinics are needed. Plenty of people in town would take medical staffing jobs, if they could get a little prior experience. Lots of people in B'ham need jobs.
Do any of the surrounding towns have a hospital? There's plenty of room for a 2nd hospital in town. Especially in the south of town, where there are old farmsteads that occasionally come up for sale. There's cheap land down there. (Shhhhh.....)
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 10-18-2018 at 12:34 PM..
You've brought up reasonable things that could use improvement- like access to affordable housing and a need for more medical care facilities- though many attributes are still better than other places, relatively. I mean, some metro areas don't even have boat launches, excellent mountain biking or even a trampoline zone in town!
I kid, kind of. It does sound like you need to move on from the place that you've always lived in. And I do sympathize with how some of the changes (population increase, housing prices) could be frustrating to watch in front of your eyes. But many people relocating here have lived all over the country and have experiences in other places to compare it to. I'm not saying you don't have valuable observations or things to say, but you may appreciate Bellingham a lot more if you move somewhere else and see what it's like.
You've brought up reasonable things that could use improvement- like access to affordable housing and a need for more medical care facilities- though many attributes are still better than other places, relatively. I mean, some metro areas don't even have boat launches, excellent mountain biking or even a trampoline zone in town!
I kid, kind of. It does sound like you need to move on from the place that you've always lived in. And I do sympathize with how some of the changes (population increase, housing prices) could be frustrating to watch in front of your eyes. But many people relocating here have lived all over the country and have experiences in other places to compare it to. I'm not saying you don't have valuable observations or things to say, but you may appreciate Bellingham a lot more if you move somewhere else and see what it's like.
Right! There was no trampoline zone in my town, when I was a kid or teen. I would have loved that! And there was only a very small marina, mainly for offering sailing lessons. There were no boats docked there, even though this was on San Francisco Bay. The towns with large marinas full of sailing yachts are across the Bay, in more affluent areas. That's one thing I like about Bellingham; the potential for enjoying sailing as a hobby.
OK, B'ham residents, here's a challenging question for you. What's the city doing to minimize the risk of forest fires around its borders? I'm having a very difficult time adjusting to the prospect of annual smoky skies and ash fall every summer, if I move to the Puget Sound area. In fact, for now, my plans are on hold.
And fires aren't the only problem, regarding the forests. Friends in Pt Townsend and Seattle have told me, that the soil is so desiccated in the summers, that when there's a windstorm, big trees, including hundreds of years old cedars, simply fall over. I'm freaked out, both by the prospect of weeks of smoky skies with ash falling as if in a nuclear winter, and also the image of forests simply falling down in the wind.
Bartonizer, I am taking a less "selfish" stance on this to be honest. I do above average myself, and do ok. There are other places though where I could earn the same money and surely afford a lot better lifestyle. I have been many of other places and do have a pretty good idea what its like and that is why I DON'T appreciate Bellingham. My post is more along the lines of seeing people move here and struggle, and seeing my friends and co-workers move away to a much better lifestyle although a downgrade in scenery. Don't forget, those mountains, the bay, the green scenery, doesn't put money in our pockets for the mortgage and inflated cost of living that goes with it.
I'll give a prime example. Former co-worker "C" left earlier this year and took a job in Arizona. His family had pretty average cars, home, and were struggling to figure out how to afford to get their kids into college. They sold their house here that they had bought during the downturn, and were able to buy an air conditioned place with a pool outright because their house got bid up almost $100k over asking when it listed. His kids are off to college, house is paid off, his Mazda got traded in on a new Audi and they picked up a Benz for the Mrs. They enjoy more traveling and vacations with their new financial freedom. Yes, he says it's obviously hot there, but going from an air conditioned house to an air conditioned luxury car to an air conditioned office it's not so bad.
Bartonizer, I am taking a less "selfish" stance on this to be honest. I do above average myself, and do ok. There are other places though where I could earn the same money and surely afford a lot better lifestyle. I have been many of other places and do have a pretty good idea what its like and that is why I DON'T appreciate Bellingham. My post is more along the lines of seeing people move here and struggle, and seeing my friends and co-workers move away to a much better lifestyle although a downgrade in scenery. Don't forget, those mountains, the bay, the green scenery, doesn't put money in our pockets for the mortgage and inflated cost of living that goes with it.
I'll give a prime example. Former co-worker "C" left earlier this year and took a job in Arizona. His family had pretty average cars, home, and were struggling to figure out how to afford to get their kids into college. They sold their house here that they had bought during the downturn, and were able to buy an air conditioned place with a pool outright because their house got bid up almost $100k over asking when it listed. His kids are off to college, house is paid off, his Mazda got traded in on a new Audi and they picked up a Benz for the Mrs. They enjoy more traveling and vacations with their new financial freedom. Yes, he says it's obviously hot there, but going from an air conditioned house to an air conditioned luxury car to an air conditioned office it's not so bad.
RK, you seem like a reasonable person and I understand your selfishness in the post. And I do understand that it's especially frustrating to see changes and inflation right in front of you where you've always lived. I've experienced it in a number of places I've lived, and when places get popular and expensive it tends to really bother longterm residents.
My point is just that it's all relative. What's happening here isn't that unusual, and the "grass is greener" concept often applies. I've experienced what you're complaining about numerous times. When I lived in NC and sold furniture, example, a huge number of our customers cashed out of other, more expensive places around the country and lived like kings in the area. But where we lived in NC was far from perfect, and lacked many of the things that we have in Bellingham. When I lived in Denver, the rent doubled in a three year span it changed our perspective on living there.
Your co-worker's anecdotal example is not remotely specific to Bellingham, it happens anytime someone moves from a more expensive place to a less expensive place. These days, I could afford to drive a nicer car if I lived in NC or PA but choose to forgo that kind of luxury to live in a place I like much more... The truth, good or bad, is that some areas cost more than others. And I'll bet your friend doesn't hate the fact that their Bellingham home was able to fund a more comfortable lifestyle elsewhere!
So, I'll repeat my suggestion, as I'm honestly sympathetic to what you're saying, and not attempting to be mean- try moving to a new place. It's good to do once in a while anyways, it puts things in perspective, and it will save you from just being angry about where you live. Traveling to a lot of other places doesn't substitute for the experience of living in them, BTW. Many of the things you gripe about are accurate, but many are far worse in other places. It just depends on what's important to you at this stage in your life. For a lot of people, Bellingham is very appealing. For you, it sounds like it's time to move on.....
Right! There was no trampoline zone in my town, when I was a kid or teen. I would have loved that! And there was only a very small marina, mainly for offering sailing lessons. There were no boats docked there, even though this was on San Francisco Bay. The towns with large marinas full of sailing yachts are across the Bay, in more affluent areas. That's one thing I like about Bellingham; the potential for enjoying sailing as a hobby.
OK, B'ham residents, here's a challenging question for you. What's the city doing to minimize the risk of forest fires around its borders? I'm having a very difficult time adjusting to the prospect of annual smoky skies and ash fall every summer, if I move to the Puget Sound area. In fact, for now, my plans are on hold.
And fires aren't the only problem, regarding the forests. Friends in Pt Townsend and Seattle have told me, that the soil is so desiccated in the summers, that when there's a windstorm, big trees, including hundreds of years old cedars, simply fall over. I'm freaked out, both by the prospect of weeks of smoky skies with ash falling as if in a nuclear winter, and also the image of forests simply falling down in the wind.
We're heading into some very scary times, people!
Word is from my uncle, who was a timber estimator, that up across the border they don't clear the slash like they do in Washington. So all the dead branches and stuff are simply left when an area is logged and it turns into a giant tinder box. While the PNW does have it's fires, satellite view of the area showed most of the fires and smoke coming from them were from Canada. The last couple years have been really bad, the air made my GF's mom sick, and the sun looked like a dull copper penny one could stare at. We had ash falling in Bellingham from the Hope, BC fire.
Summer drying is an issue, we had some maples that were literally crispy dry and broke off in high winds, more so than ones that fell over and pulled up their roots from dry soil.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was impressed with the several co-ops and organic grocery stores. 
