possibly moving to Bellingham area

[Screenial]

True, it's not LA, but for a town of it's size, it's not good. In the 20 years I lived in Bellingham, I had:
car broken into : 2 times
house burglary : 1 time, $8000 damage
my business broken into : 5 times , once armed robbery
bikes stolen : 3 times
threatened the be killed by a stranger : 2 times
stuff taken off my porch: too many times to count
purse or wallet taken : 2 times

To top it off, my daughter sat next to a killer in her HS math class ( he killed a 7 year old child, then went to school the next day). She also had the teen that assisted the with the DC shootings in her PE class as a freshman.
And yes, we did live in a middle imcome neighborhood.

I've yet to have anything stolen, vandalized, or been threatened since I moved to S. Calif. in the three years ago. Maybe I've just been lucky.

[rainbird]

Originally Posted by Pickyday

I have been looking at relocating north os Seattle, however I have seen some suggestions that have mentioned Olympia, Montesano and Aberdeen.
Thanks!

My son lives in the Olympia area, he doesn't have kids yet so I can't say much about the schools from personal experience. I would guess though that they are average or better for WA. Housing is less there than say Woodinville and probably less than Cameno Island. Oly is a little over an hour from Seattle (assuming you're driving off peak hours with reasonable levels of traffic) We drove there once on a Friday night....2+ hours! I couldn't belive it.

Aberdeen will add another hour on to that, The closer you get to the Ocean the wetter it gets. Aberdeen used to be kind of a depressed area (logging downturn), it is maybe better now, don't know cause I haven't gone thru there in quite a while. Montesano is smaller, economics similar to Aberdeen.

If you like living in the sticks, there are some small towns south of Oly, like Yelm, Tenanio etc. that may offer good housing value. I think there was a post on the school districts in that area somewhere in this forum.

Good luck

[citydatauser]

Originally Posted by rainbird

Port Angeles is a long way from anywhere, however it is just a ferry ride away from Victoria B.C. which is pretty cool.

it is true, Port Angleles is kinda a long way from anywhere, but it matters what you are looking for. Seattle is 73 miles away and the ocean is about a 1-1/2 hour drive. But as Rainbird said, Victoria, BC. is only a 22 mile ferry ride from Port Angeles. Victoria has many cool museums. another thing that is close to Port Angeles is the Olympic National Park, it is basicly Port Angeles's back yard. Port Angeles has both beautiful water and mountian views. Also, if you like theater or performing arts, PALOA(Port Angeles Light Opera Association) does one play with 7 showings a year in July.

[be4fourty]

Well I live in Bellingham. but only for 9 years. And here is the low down on Bellingham. As I see it.

Crime= In a major town between two large cities (Seattle 80 miles south and Vancouver, BC Canada 60 miles north) and on a major Interstate/International highway I-5. We get our share a crime.

The city has grown quite a bit in the time I have been here. In 97 when I moved here the pop. was about 47,000 (within the city limits) and in the county 130,000. But now it is thought to be about 70K in town and 180K in the county. (as of 9/2006)

Many people from Seattle, Southern Cali, have been moving here by the boat loads it has changed the favor of the town. Prices for house a crazy now compared to before. Example in 2000 I bought a house for 90K and sold in 2005 for 210K. And now it would sale for around 250K compare that to Seattle, or Southern Cali it is still cheap. I know I lived the San Diego before here.

People here a reserved but overall friendly. Meaning if you meet someone a grocery store they will say hello give a warm smile, the end. But if you see that same person over at a mutual friend's place. They treat you as a good friend. At least that is my opinion. There are snob places here in the county also, Lynden-church on every street, think Utah or the Deep South. (In the nice way :-) Fairhaven- Is Artsy but with money, close to the University, so students but also wealth, 5 - 10 million dollar houses walking distance. Downtown-Crime is the worst after dark, but the city is really pushing to get people to live and work down there to help with crime. My guess more people means more eyes to watch. Just think Neighborhood watch in the business/condo area.

Natural Beauty-One of the best places in the world I think (because of the rain) one thing that I will say is if you don't like the outdoors Bellingham might not be for you. This city (as last I checked) has the most city and county parks and trails in the State and 3rd in the nation. Also has some really good sailing too.

People groups-The city and county is mostly white, sometimes a problem for people from Cali. I think last time a looked the census I think (please don't quote me!) It is 80-85% white, 5% Latin, 5% Mixed, 3% Asian, 3% Native America and 1% Black. Being that I am Black I remember the census number in 2000 for my group being 1400 out of 177000 in the county. But people are overall good.

Crime compared to other places Seattle, Southern Cali great. House prices getting out of the grasp for people who grew up here, the local job market it not the greatest due to the number of college kids (low wages), and education level of the population. Meaning tons of education will get you a middle management job verses an upper management job.

Schools-This community has not divorced itself of the public school system yet meaning good and great schools. For all kids that want to learn. And the teachers are not burnt out. Running Start high school program-meaning the state will let those kids that are ready for college go to a community college and pay for it. Just think about it Graduate high school with a diploma and an AA/AS or transfer degree. Where is this when I was a kid?

I hope that helps, I love - and hate Bellingham. But it is a great place to raise a family (i.e. parks, schools). Not a good place to be single I must say, unless you are in college. Not tons of bars, and clubs. If you like the outdoors rain or shine stop by and stay for a while. The extremes in the income scale -lots of people barely getting by and lots of people at the top.

Again I hope that helps

Greg

[mapgirl]

Hi Greg,

Thank you so much for your comments! We're still in the deciding stage; we're coming back up in November to try and get some of that darker, rainier weather. Whenever we've visited before, it's been mostly sunny and dry!
We are concerned about prices since we don't have tons of money and have been renters here in L.A. So we'll be looking into Ferndale and places a bit North of Bellingham (or maybe a bit South too). We want 1/2 to 5 acres of land along with the house. We do love the outdoors and last time we were up a friend took us to some of your fantastic parks. So we're very jazzed by that.
This is a very big move for us, so we're hoping to actually fall in love with the place this time. We've definitely fallen into like , but the passion and commitment hasn't come to us yet. fingers crossed!

[be4fourty]

The weather is strange, the last 4 years have been really weird. It is either really wet or really dry. This year I think it is going to be really dry because the end of Sept beginning of Oct the rains have come. And in the last 2 weeks it has rained once. Weird!!

May I ask want are you looking for out of Bellingham? What type of city are you looking to fall in love with? And what do you do for fun. Maybe I could help?

Greg