Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-01-2009, 03:54 PM
 
Location: Lynden
54 posts, read 228,545 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

Hi I am in Phoenix, AZ and I am moving to Bellingham Washington with my family in a couple of months. Anyone who lives there, if you can give me some info on how it is there, I would appreciate it. How are the schools, weather, what things are there to do out there. Ect...thanks.

Last edited by jac0978; 01-01-2009 at 04:40 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-02-2009, 08:15 AM
 
616 posts, read 1,161,968 times
Reputation: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by jac0978 View Post
Hi I am in Phoenix, AZ and I am moving to Bellingham Washington with my family in a couple of months. Anyone who lives there, if you can give me some info on how it is there, I would appreciate it. How are the schools, weather, what things are there to do out there. Ect...thanks.

I have lived in Bellingham several times in the past 23 years. Great city for raising kids recreation-wise. Aim for the Sehome High School District. Bellingham High is a good enough (recently remodeled) school but the surrounding neighborhoods are near high crime areas unfortunately!

Take advantage of Mount Baker!! And enjoy what Boulevard Park has to offer. You will be happy in Bellingham if you can handle the annual rainfall. You are coming from a state with a lot of sunshine so be prepared to deal with possible side effects from the weather. Best of luck to ya!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2009, 08:35 AM
 
Location: Lynden
54 posts, read 228,545 times
Reputation: 22
Thank you. Would you be able to recommend good elementary schools? My son will be finishing Kindergarten and then off to 1st grade.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2009, 08:39 AM
 
616 posts, read 1,161,968 times
Reputation: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by jac0978 View Post
Thank you. Would you be able to recommend good elementary schools? My son will be finishing Kindergarten and then off to 1st grade.
Larrabee! A friend of mine highly recommends it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2009, 08:47 AM
 
Location: Lynden
54 posts, read 228,545 times
Reputation: 22
Great thank you so much, I appreciate it. Also, what area of Bellingham is really nice to live? I am nervous about the move, I have two children and I just want to give them the best life. Would you recommend a realtor or know of any rental houses by chance? Thanks for your imput.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2009, 09:24 AM
 
616 posts, read 1,161,968 times
Reputation: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by jac0978 View Post
Great thank you so much, I appreciate it. Also, what area of Bellingham is really nice to live? I am nervous about the move, I have two children and I just want to give them the best life. Would you recommend a realtor or know of any rental houses by chance? Thanks for your imput.

Rentals are tough due to Western Washington University. Rents tend to be high even in bad areas. Try Chris Weitzel-with ReMax of Whatcom County?. He is a popular agent because he is very good, and so are the agents that work with him.

Having been an agent myself I will tell you that Chris won't be able to "steer" you to good and bad areas. I, on the otherhand, have and will if you need any advice. My advice is free however-lol.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2009, 01:32 PM
 
Location: GIlbert, AZ
3,032 posts, read 5,262,479 times
Reputation: 2105
Uded to live in Bellingham, Still would if the job market would support me. I tried hard to remain there, VERY VERY hard. Now I live in Gilbert AZ. BH is the most beautiful city in Western Washington. The weather is cloudy, and the rainfall is insane, however I would say that the sunshine is insane here. Right now the Pac NW is getting the most snow they have had in 57 years. I don't miss those snow days. Normally you only get a few a year. If you wanna water ski, snow ski, hike, or just go for a nice drive, you can do all that in the same day in BH. Better wait till spring or fall though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-07-2009, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Bellingham Washington
73 posts, read 172,599 times
Reputation: 81
Default Honest thoughts on Bellingham

First of all, make absolutely sure you can handle day after day, week after week, month after month, of dark, dreary, drizzly or rainy weather. It's oppressive and typically continues from October through June. Seriously. There is also precious little to do in the winter. There is one municipal pool (poorly maintained and crowded) and one indoor ice skating rink, a YMCA downtown (old and run down). The schools are pretty crowded. Lowell and Happy Valley are good elementary schools; Fairhaven is the best middle school, and Bellingham High School is now the best high school.
There is a great trail system (the Interurban Trail) and three beautiful lakes, and a nice waterfront park downtown (Boulevard Park) where they have community sunset concerts during the summer. The farmer's market in the summer is really popular - and it is fun, but the prices are ridiculous; produce there is at least double what you'll pay in the store for the same exact thing (organic, and from the same farm!). And it's the only Farmer's Market I have ever been to that has a "no-dog" policy.
Groceries are ludicrously expensive; thank goodness Trader Joes opened up to give the self-impressed Coop a run for its money.
I'm sorry to sound so negative, but I've gotten very soured on Bellingham over the past few years. It feels to me like it's dying.
Please ask if you want any more information; I promise I'll be honest.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-07-2009, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Lynden
54 posts, read 228,545 times
Reputation: 22
Well we lived in Nashville for 6 years and we got alot of rain, I mean alot. We are use to the 118 degree weather in the summer here so the weather there will be welcoming to us. Sure the rain will probably get old but if you have lived in AZ and had to deal with the summers, you would understand why I want to run from this place LOL...tell me, do you know anything about Ferndale?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-08-2009, 08:47 AM
 
Location: Bellingham Washington
73 posts, read 172,599 times
Reputation: 81
Default Ferndale

Depressed community, overcrowded schools...has a redneck feel to it, extremely high population of migrant workers, lots of gang problems in school. Great high school football team.
(I work with Ferndale kids, middle and high school, so this is all firsthand knowledge. Sorry it's not better news).
As bad as Bellingham is, Ferndale is worse...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:02 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top