Moving to Bellingham, what's the lo down there (Seattle, Vancouver: to rent, how much)

[Ozzy1234]

My fiance and I are making the trek north to Bellingham. We're interested in knowing how the job market is right now, what parts of town we should avoid finding a place in and overall what the scene is like. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers~

[allforcats]

Hi. If you're "making a trek" to Bellingham, does that mean you plan to be there for a little while or to relocate?

The job market in Washington is pretty healthy because it's so diverse. Here's the local newspaper and the classifieds should give you an idea:
The Bellingham Herald: Your Local News Source for Bellingham, Lynden, Ferndale and Whatcom County Washington

Are you planning to rent or buy?
What type of "scene" are you asking about?

Here are some City-Data threads with lots of info from contributors:

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...m-good-me.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ellingham.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...gly-truth.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ellingham.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ellingham.html

[PeterNorth]

As I've stated before.....I had the misfortune of being transferred to hippyville, AKA Bellingham, and I absolutely HATE it here. My work contract is over in 2 more years, then I can transfer out, but I'm seriously considering giving up a 100K a year job so I can get out now. This place is like being stuck in bizarro world. No good restaurants, no night life (unless you want to hang out in bars packed with 21yr old college punks wearing their best "who farted?" t-shirt), nowhere to ride dirt bikes or quads legally, within 3 hours. In addition, I've lived in big cities on the east coast, west coast, and in the South, and I've never come across a place with more wannabe tough guys than here in Bham. Where I'm from, if you acted like these kids, you'd get smacked in about 10 seconds. Or worse. It's weirder than hell.


I wish someone would've told me how bad this place sucks before I moved here. But instead I was only able to talk to a bunch of the "Stepford Hippies" that live here and and have been brain-washed into thinking this is the best place on Earth, for some unexplained reason.

[E Roy Slade]

Originally Posted by PeterNorth

As I've stated before.....I had the misfortune of being transferred to hippyville, AKA Bellingham, and I absolutely HATE it here. My work contract is over in 2 more years, then I can transfer out, but I'm seriously considering giving up a 100K a year job so I can get out now. This place is like being stuck in bizarro world. No good restaurants, no night life (unless you want to hang out in bars packed with 21yr old college punks wearing their best "who farted?" t-shirt), nowhere to ride dirt bikes or quads legally, within 3 hours. In addition, I've lived in big cities on the east coast, west coast, and in the South, and I've never come across a place with more wannabe tough guys than here in Bham. Where I'm from, if you acted like these kids, you'd get smacked in about 10 seconds. Or worse. It's weirder than hell.


I wish someone would've told me how bad this place sucks before I moved here. But instead I was only able to talk to a bunch of the "Stepford Hippies" that live here and and have been brain-washed into thinking this is the best place on Earth, for some unexplained reason.

thats funny
you still here?

[PeterNorth]

Originally Posted by E Roy Slade

thats funny
you still here?

Unfortunately, yes.

[rferrisx]

Bellingham has pluses and minuses. Among the pluses are beautiful scenery, limited density, lots of hiking space, nice parks, access to Seattle, Vancouver (B.C.), San Juans, British Columbia, etc. Minuses include some serious small town mentality, six months minimum rainy season, a nearly guaranteed Vitamin D deficiency, lots of icy wind in November, December, January. The weather in Bellinhgam is ...well...beautiful in the summer months and very...um...active....the rest of the year. I use three layers of synthetics quite a bit both hiking in the mountains and bumming around town. The toxic history of Bellingham is not discussed much now. The quality of the water is very much open to debate. I like to think of high air quality instead. Whatcom County has fairly high cancer rates, like the rest of Washington. There is a lot of money in the banking system in Whatcom County and there are oil refineries and Investment Capital funds in Whatcom County. However, there aren't as many "middle income" jobs as their are in Seattle and Vancouver and both those places are long commutes. However, if you are an petroleum geologist, health worker (BIG medical scene here), or coming to work at WWU...your job options are plentiful. There is a useful smattering of high tech firms here. Downtown is very cute, but the businesses suffer during hard times (like now). I would attend the "Ski to Sea" to view Bellingham at its best. We have been here six years. Seems to be a good place to raise a child.

[SemiahmooDude]

Originally Posted by rferrisx

Bellingham has pluses and minuses. Among the pluses are beautiful scenery, limited density, lots of hiking space, nice parks, access to Seattle, Vancouver (B.C.), San Juans, British Columbia, etc. Minuses include some serious small town mentality, six months minimum rainy season, a nearly guaranteed Vitamin D deficiency, lots of icy wind in November, December, January. The weather in Bellinhgam is ...well...beautiful in the summer months and very...um...active....the rest of the year. I use three layers of synthetics quite a bit both hiking in the mountains and bumming around town. The toxic history of Bellingham is not discussed much now. The quality of the water is very much open to debate. I like to think of high air quality instead. Whatcom County has fairly high cancer rates, like the rest of Washington. There is a lot of money in the banking system in Whatcom County and there are oil refineries and Investment Capital funds in Whatcom County. However, there aren't as many "middle income" jobs as their are in Seattle and Vancouver and both those places are long commutes. However, if you are an petroleum geologist, health worker (BIG medical scene here), or coming to work at WWU...your job options are plentiful. There is a useful smattering of high tech firms here. Downtown is very cute, but the businesses suffer during hard times (like now). I would attend the "Ski to Sea" to view Bellingham at its best. We have been here six years. Seems to be a good place to raise a child.

Well said. Bellingham's water quality, namely Bellingham Bay, has seen much improvement over the last decade, though more improvement is needed. The work the city has done along its waterway is top notch, and I was very pleased to hear that the city of Blaine has contracted with the same planner that Bellingham used in implementing the improvements to its own marina/park area.

North Whatcom County is really a unique and overall positive place to call home.

[rkcarguy]

I think that Bellingham has some issues regarding water quality. The sole water source is lake whatcom, which is dealing with an ever growing density of homes surrounding it followed by more population and more pollution to match. The scary part is that 2 relatives, a friend, and a co-worker have all come up with cancer in the past 10 months and it's starting to make me wonder....
I've been scolded for being so negative about bellingham on this forum, but alot of it is true. There is always an element of balance missing here unless you're rich. If there's some affordable homes, it's because theres no jobs(like now), when there's jobs, all the homes are thru the roof. The carrot is always dangling just out of reach...The sad truth is this state is promoting tourism, and they have slapped a fancy label on our city, doubled the price, and continue to advertise in everything from television to sunset magazine.
Along with this they have chased out alot of business and industry, and then wonder why we're sinking into a ~$8 Billion state deficit....
On a larger scale, bay cleanup is somewhat pointless when our neighboring country to north continues to dump raw sewage into the ocean
We had a little girl in January and I have to dissagree with this place being good to raise a family. We both have to work to make the mortgage, and this leaves our little girl in the hands of relatives, the babysitter, or whoever....instead of her mother, which is how I grew up and how much things have changed here.
It's not going to stop, they keep advertising and people keep coming, and I feel it's important to cut the crap so people can read between the lines and save themselves....
My time to leave this place has to wait because I have family here that require and deserve my assistance, it's the only reason I haven't moved to greener pastures.

[rpstumpf]

Bellingham in particular is pretty expensive (food, gas, housing costs) and jobs generally don't pay well. It has a lot of appeal in the summer, winter not so much. And the comment about hippie-ville-- very funny, very apt! I've lived in the area over 20 years and still get a chuckle at all of the wanna-be hippies; it's very "in" to wear tie-dye, long skirts, dread locks, bandanas, whatever. It's a very upscale flavor of hippie-dom, though; for most if they are raggedy it's by design, not because they're really not into money.

[kiki2]

i am still considering moving to bellingham with my 13 year old son... i am ready for the change and excited about the adventure... most of the things being said both good and bad can be said about almost anywhere... everyone experiences things in their own way(obviously)... i will push forward and do my best with as positive an attitude as i can muster up and head on in... a single mom with alot of life behind me... wish me and my son luck!!!