Don't let anti-Bellingham/Whatcom County threads and posts fool you. Bellingham/Whatcom County is AWESOME!! (Seattle: crime, schools)

[xPlorer48]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

Just because so many seem to have such short term memories. You don't have to take my word for it, see for yourself and scroll through the pages of theft, car theft, assault, robbery, burglary, and more. And, this is only 1 weeks worth.

https://cob.org/gov/dept/police/news...daily-activity

I see at least one mention of a residential theft in my daily Next Door feed. The latest incident was of two mountain bikes from a locked shed. Someone mentioned that they saw the frame of one near a homeless encampment along with 25 other mountain bikes. I believe the locals are beginning to rumble about being robbed but there is always the apologist who says that they must need to steal to survive.

[CoastieTX]

Still think we’re not on the same trajectory as Seattle, Portland, or Olympia?

I’ve been visiting Bellingham since the mid 90s, and moved here in 2007. It turns my stomach seeing what’s happening to this city which was once such a magical place. Change is hard, and I don’t know where I’m going to end up, but I know deep down that a change is indeed coming.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkdFnaA35k0&t=10s

[mayfair]

The Maritime waterfront park has a skate area with kids riding bikes, and lots of great new bike lanes but up the hill is the stretch of homeless RVs on both sides of the road (the edge of them is visible from the park). It's kind of sad since the waterfront is much nicer now with the new park and bike lanes, too bad about the homeless situation.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by xPlorer48

I see at least one mention of a residential theft in my daily Next Door feed. The latest incident was of two mountain bikes from a locked shed. Someone mentioned that they saw the frame of one near a homeless encampment along with 25 other mountain bikes. I believe the locals are beginning to rumble about being robbed but there is always the apologist who says that they must need to steal to survive.

This is a several times daily issue, the pages of the police reports are full of stolen bicycles. Every time the police finally clean out a camp there are truckloads of bicycle "skeletons" being taken away. Heck, our "nice" city hall/library homeless camp had a huge pile of half gutted bicycles right in the open.
The homeless ARE smart enough to visit horrible freight for crowbars and cordless cutting tools. Don't think that because your items are locked up inside a shed, car, or your home that this will stop them. Some students that live nearby had their Kia Sportage broken into. The thief used a prybar between the rear quarter panel(part of the unibody of the car) and rear door, prying it wide open until the latch released, causing over $6000 in damage for less than $1 in loose change and an iphone charge cord. This is so they can continue to support their habits, not simply survive.

[Scrat335]

Guess the OP has lost this fight.

A great beautiful wishful premise brutally murdered by the facts of a sick society.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Scrat335

Guess the OP has lost this fight.

A great beautiful wishful premise brutally murdered by the facts of a sick society.

Nah, it's still a great place to live, despite the four or five regulars on here that relentlessly harp about issues that are also occurring nearly everywhere else in the country.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by CoastieTX

Still think we’re not on the same trajectory as Seattle, Portland, or Olympia?

I’ve been visiting Bellingham since the mid 90s, and moved here in 2007. It turns my stomach seeing what’s happening to this city which was once such a magical place. Change is hard, and I don’t know where I’m going to end up, but I know deep down that a change is indeed coming.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkdFnaA35k0&t=10s

There is a lot more than 4-5 of us that share the views in this Video. I actually get a lot of PM's saying thank you for the information and reality check about this area. But don't worry, I'm sure for each of those, another 1000 people move here that think because we're only waist deep in BS that it's great because it's better then being neck deep like where they came from.

The "change" (beginning the downward slide into a Detroit like reality) is already here, "we" seem to want to be like a mini-Sleazeattle. The "change" continuing is what concerns me. While my time here will soon come to an end, I'll continue to exercise my freedom of speech, keep people informed, and have popcorn ready to see how far down this area can slide.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

There is a lot more than 4-5 of us that share the views in this Video. I actually get a lot of PM's saying thank you for the information and reality check about this area. But don't worry, I'm sure for each of those, another 1000 people move here that think because we're only waist deep in BS that it's great because it's better then being neck deep like where they came from.

The "change" (beginning the downward slide into a Detroit like reality) is already here, "we" seem to want to be like a mini-Sleazeattle. The "change" continuing is what concerns me. While my time here will soon come to an end, I'll continue to exercise my freedom of speech, keep people informed, and have popcorn ready to see how far down this area can slide.

Yeah, well I constantly get PM's telling me that they love my posts, and there are far more of us in Bellingham that like it here than do not. The funny thing is that I agree with you about many of the things you complain about. I mean, who likes traffic, or having a homeless issue? Who doesn't want the price of homes to be affordable?

Thing is, those are only a minor part of what's here, and it's often much worse where many other people have come from. I mean, literally everything you say about the town you claim to love is negative. And there are a lot of positives. So, you keep informing people about random issues and I'll keep exercising my freedom of speech, as well (not sure why you felt the need to mention that), and I'll occasionally chime in with a correction or comment. And again, if someone wants to visit to see what it's like, they should actually check this place out during several seasons for themselves. After all, we both agree that it's not for everyone, and that someone shouldn't just take one of our words for it.

For some reason, you just don't think anyone should be allowed to say anything positive about Bellingham. Give me a break.

You've literally spent about 1/3 of your life dedicated to complaining the place you claim to have loved. You're just torturing yourself by being here, apparently. At what point will you finally move on and call it a day, rather than insulting the people who enjoy living here?

[JackieLovesSun]

For some reason, you just don't think anyone should be allowed to say anything positive about Bellingham. Give me a break.

rather than sending you a PM, let me just say I love your positive posts.

I recently moved to WA but still work in OR so I read both states' forums. OR threads, too, have certain posters who HATE where they are and want to talk about nothing else. so those who like where they live MUST be wrong.

such nonesense!

[rkcarguy]

It was about 15 years ago when my "love" ended for Bellingham. The sad part is, it's fixable, but we go in the opposite direction instead. We have traffic issues as we are second to Everett in volume, yet REMOVE lanes from busy roads for bicycle lanes in the one of the wettest places in the country where I may see 2-3 bicycles a day on them. WSDOT's plan for the accident prone and heavily traveled I-5 corridor through town is actually to CLOSE one of the onramps and stoplight meter the other one so traffic will back up into town worse than it already is. We have a homeless issue and all the drugs/crime/violence that come with it, yet continue to be lax on them and expand freebie services which only attract more of them. We have fewer stores and restaurants here for the population, and when the border opens again you can once again experience a 3rd world shopping experience as 1,000's of Canadians strip our shelves and line up at the pumps 30 minutes deep with their SUV's and their gas cans. We have nearly a 30% student population amongst WWU, BTC, and WCC, and they keep expanding their campuses only compounding the issues of already tight availability and record high rents/housing in the area that have driven much of the working class away. Don't be surprised when you need anything from auto body/mechanical work to landscaping to handyman work done and its super expensive and still booked out weeks or months in advance.
There are MANY other places in Washington that have wonderful things to offer and aren't nearly as bad as they aren't affected by the cross border consumers and large student population. I even recommend many of them to many posters based on what they are looking for....you too JackieLovesSun (However your user name hints you would only like Bellingham's weather about 3-4 months/year like me lol). For example, even just a 20 minute trip to Skagit county offers much more shopping and dining experiences, shorter lines, better service, and many more goods actually on the shelves from the hardware store to the super centers. It's a breath of fresh air for us, spending an afternoon there, instead of circling a parking lot waiting for someone to leave so you can get a spot, waiting 15-22 minutes in a drive through for food or 45 minutes+ to be seated in a restaurant, and have to visit 3-4 different stores to check off the things on your shopping list.