Bellingham, the ugly truth.... (Seattle: zip codes, assess, agriculture)

[rkcarguy]

^Bellingham and Ferndale already have in several areas. Along I-5 there isn't much space left and it's closing in on being fully developed with a simple sign separating one from another.
I share Leftforgood's opinion, why get bend out of shape about this thread? People continue to pour in like lemmings regardless, so it's not like this thread is deferring any growth and shorting our realtors and landlords their commissions and profits. If anything, it's shedding some light on how things really are and hopefully helping some people/families avoid making a mistake moving here...or not....just depends on what they are looking for.

Traffic is getting bad, for the relatively small size of town. There is just so much volume moving through on I-5 that ONE HICCUP makes it backup for miles in a pretty short time, which of course stuffs all the alternate route side roads in town.
WSDOT's "mobility assessment for segment of corridor 287" admits that "demand exceeds capacity in multiple locations along this segment of I-5", with a long list of contributing factors. In peak times/days we see in excess of 100,000 trips per day, making our area second in traffic volume to the Everett area.
Unfortunately little positive relief is planned, strategies being looked at include onramp metering and outright closing some of the problem onramps, and transfer much of the responsibility to the city for providing better traffic flow through town arterials (there is limited north south arterials across Whatcom creek-therefore most people traveling from north to south or vice versa end up taking I-5 for short trips). This means our future is going to be sitting in traffic backed up well into town as drivers are forced to enter I-5 through fewer metered onramps....not good.

[kynight]

Does metered ramp mean there is a traffic light that allows one vehicle per 7 seconds or whatever time? I don't even take I5 to bellingham, even though I live in Ferndale. I drive an extra mile or 2 but I don't have to speed and mess up my relaxing drive down there. NW road goes to 258.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

^Bellingham and Ferndale already have in several areas. Along I-5 there isn't much space left and it's closing in on being fully developed with a simple sign separating one from another.
I share Leftforgood's opinion, why get bend out of shape about this thread? People continue to pour in like lemmings regardless, so it's not like this thread is deferring any growth and shorting our realtors and landlords their commissions and profits. If anything, it's shedding some light on how things really are and hopefully helping some people/families avoid making a mistake moving here...or not....just depends on what they are looking for.

Traffic is getting bad, for the relatively small size of town. There is just so much volume moving through on I-5 that ONE HICCUP makes it backup for miles in a pretty short time, which of course stuffs all the alternate route side roads in town.
WSDOT's "mobility assessment for segment of corridor 287" admits that "demand exceeds capacity in multiple locations along this segment of I-5", with a long list of contributing factors. In peak times/days we see in excess of 100,000 trips per day, making our area second in traffic volume to the Everett area.
Unfortunately little positive relief is planned, strategies being looked at include onramp metering and outright closing some of the problem onramps, and transfer much of the responsibility to the city for providing better traffic flow through town arterials (there is limited north south arterials across Whatcom creek-therefore most people traveling from north to south or vice versa end up taking I-5 for short trips). This means our future is going to be sitting in traffic backed up well into town as drivers are forced to enter I-5 through fewer metered onramps....not good.

The traffic situation is worrisome. If there were a forest fire in the area, would the population be able to vacate, or would gridlock result in people dying on the roads? You'd better pray that the rains keep coming! The climate has been drying since the summer drought years of the 80's.

[kynight]

This summer I havent seen any threat of fires. I think the area is fairly country and the towns dont hesitate to remove hazardous trees or rubbish etc. We have a nice long thanksgiving week coming up with no rain, or under 20% chance. I dont see natural disasters hurting this area like it would FL or Cali.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by kynight

Does metered ramp mean there is a traffic light that allows one vehicle per 7 seconds or whatever time? I don't even take I5 to bellingham, even though I live in Ferndale. I drive an extra mile or 2 but I don't have to speed and mess up my relaxing drive down there. NW road goes to 258.

Yes, like onramps in Seattle or Everett, everyone waits at a stop light on the onramp and it releases one car every so many seconds based on traffic on the highway. The heavier it is, the longer you wait....and the further the onramp backs up.
The only bright spot of hope was there was plans to add a NB I-5 onramp to the EAST side of the freeway, but I bet that's been nixed with the amount of spite coming from Olympia even though only 80 some % of our area's collected transportation taxes were actually spent here.

[rkcarguy]

I'm hearing from many people that their property tax assessments have increased greatly, in the area of 15-25%? Feel free to comment here if you want.
I know my grandmothers went up over 6 figures, now costing her nearly $700/month in property taxes and "impervious area fees", 3.3 times the homes original evaluation, which has now surpassed her grocery budget and utility costs by far.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

I'm hearing from many people that their property tax assessments have increased greatly, in the area of 15-25%? Feel free to comment here if you want.
I know my grandmothers went up over 6 figures, now costing her nearly $700/month in property taxes and "impervious area fees", 3.3 times the homes original evaluation, which has now surpassed her grocery budget and utility costs by far.

I knew someone in Seattle with a double lot, and he wasn't paying that much, I don't think, though it was edging upward toward that. Does. your gran have a space she could convert to a separate apartment, even a studio? It's the only way to deal with the problem, especially for the elderly.

[kynight]

Was 2019 a year when Bellingham reevaluated property tax? 700/month is near as high as I have known anyone's. As a medium size and growing city I expect it to be high. I wouldn't own a property that's likely to cost more than 250/month in tax.

Some real estate people believe there could be real estate crash causing the bubble to pop and prices dropping 40%. More moderate forecasters believe there will be a 25% correction in the next year or so. There will be many underwater mortgages and will become a buyer's market which I'm hoping to take advantage of. Though I'm not sure how hard this would hit Bellingham. All the people fleeing California are moving into cities like Bellingham, I think Canadians must also be propping the bubble considering how much more expensive BC is. At the moment there are about 500 Canadians at walmart shopping for a black friday sale. I can't help but think they must be buying our real estate.

I hope developers in surrounding areas keep building to help the supply. I think there are good opportunities coming up for those waiting to buy a home. I already see price drops on realtor.com. A family home that was 390 cut down to 330 for example, nearing the 2010 prices.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I knew someone in Seattle with a double lot, and he wasn't paying that much, I don't think, though it was edging upward toward that. Does. your gran have a space she could convert to a separate apartment, even a studio? It's the only way to deal with the problem, especially for the elderly.

It's a single family home, and so far the neighborhood she's in hasn't legally allowed accessory dwellings or anything like that. The surrounding area is slowly being converted from SFR to student flophouses though and no one is doing anything about it, so who knows what the future will hold.
As far as cost, it's just going to accelerate her expenditure of savings such that she's concerned if they'll last through her remaining years.

Prices are dropping, I think due to a bit of realization that "move along there's nothing to see here folks", in that we've more or less "Seattle-ized" on a smaller scale except for income still being a little more than half of Seattle's average. Our recent local elections now have us on a path to eliminating natural gas and outlawing all motorboats from the lakes, so we are quickly become the "city of no".

[scotthomesearch]

The last few weeks I have turned my attention away from Bellingham and started to explore buying in Seattle. Much to dismay I am looking at places in the 650K range and finding bothersome problems attached. I quickly learned in my search that "No Parking" is a serious problem in Seattle that continues all the way through shoreline before it starts to get better.

That said my first target to really drive down and see was a townhome in Licton Springs just north of Green Lake. First place I looked at was 1300 square feet with a roof deck and one car garage for 630K. turned the corner and saw homeless tents, tarp tents, beer bottles and trash littering the street over. Didn't even bother to go in the house. Went to another townhome that was 680K and the windows looked at other town homes. The Rooftop deck on one side looked rite a 5 story building on one side totally negating it's purpose. Ally parking only. 12 ally spots. 12 townhomes. 6 had three bedrooms the other 6 had 2 bedrooms. That is a total of 30 bedrooms and 12 spots. If each bedroom has a person with a car, that means 18 people won't park at their units and have to park who knows where near their home. Awful.

The third place I looked at was straight across the street from the Seattle Power Authority location...Must of had 100 service vehicles and a huge building. Your roof deck looked rite into it. The price was affordable but who the heck wants to pay almost 600K for that situation.....Parking was one spot deeded and the rest was good luck on any given day.

Seattle Prices have fallen 11% over the last year...Can't imagine why....The cost of your average meal out, movie night or whatever rose along with the minimal wage. Daily life costs increase 10% then something else has to come back down with it to compensate for our budgets. For most I would assume the mortgage power to buy a home is where the Cost of living increase crippled them. As for me I had a major "WTF" moment in my brain...Why am I spending more then half a million to live in these situations. Realistically you need at least 750K before your in a good neighborhood far from city specified homeless camps. 800K and up also tends to get you a garage or deeded parking close to Seattle. It's a nightmare.

I left Seattle with an awful taste in my mouth. I feel like I would have to be insane to spend 650K for properties with issues attached and homeless ransacking the neigborhoods. Any single time Seattle wants it's going to announce another service that might possibly run the street you buy into straight into the ground....Stay away from the dumpster fire before your stuck with an unsaleable property.

That said I've been here in Bellingham for 3 monthes and keep saying no to everything. I find myself deeply depressed everyday here and not wanting to get out of bed. I eventually get a fast food meal or whatever then come home and lay in bed and stare off endlessly. Im not sure why. I used to love go to gym, play sports and workout to compliment the heavy winters. In Bellingham I just don't care about any of it anymore. Any reasoning maybe I could use some help.