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

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by xPlorer48

As a born in Bellingham local, I agree with rkcarguy. In our own rural neighborhood, we have slid down the income slide to the bottom three whereas 15 years ago we were among the top three wage earners. It has gone from rural blue collar and middle class white collar to professional class and business owners. We use to have potlucks, share produce, ride horses but that has gone away. Thankfully, our home is paid for but the taxes and insurance continue to escalate. When you are surrounded by new million dollar homes, those expenses increase.

The politics have gone leftward for quite some time. If you voice any opinion contrary to the woke agenda, you are shamed. Some friends live in the Puget neighborhood near the latest lawless encampment. Theft and prowls has increased because of these new neighbors. When they say anything against this group, they are told they lack compassion.

If you check out real estate in Bellingham, most listings are pending. There are too many buyers chasing too few homes. https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...ily-home/sby-1

Insurance is another bi-product of housing inflation for sure. My grandmother is dealing with that. The escalated evaluation requires increased value coverage, which swells insurance rates. Her insured replacement cost for the house only is now over $100k more than what they paid for the whole thing, lot, landscaping, furniture and all.

This morning the homeless camp was full of men in hard hats and yellow vests, looks like they are finally getting moved out. Prowls were up markedly in the area. Apparently the homeless were waiting until people went to work, then would go hit the parked cars and houses mainly east of the camp area.

[xboxmas]

This board is full of NIMBY's so they will discourage you from moving to Bellingham.

[mayfair]

The crime from the homeless encampments is a real issue. A new one appeared near WWU immediately after the sweep: https://www.king5.com/article/news/l...7-822e368d7140

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by mayfair

The crime from the homeless encampments is a real issue. A new one appeared near WWU immediately after the sweep: https://www.king5.com/article/news/l...7-822e368d7140

Who's saying that it's not an issue? My point- as well as others on this thread- is that perspective and context are acceptable things to bring into this conversation. Like several other threads, this is just an ongoing "Bellingham is terrible" thread by the same posters.

I've not seen any actual statistics that show Bellingham is better or worse crime-wise, or homeless-wise, than it was over a decade ago, when it had a substantially lower population. In fact, statistics I've seen and posted show things trending downward. More visible? Maybe, but not new. In fact, I think the most newsworthy part of this whole thing may be the conflict between the city/groups providing legitimate housing solutions and far left activists who think they're helping homeless people in the area. But overall, this is about 25-30 people, some of which are making a mess, causing petty crime, and refusing to accept assistance. That's it. It doesn't negate the appeal of Bellingham, and while it's gotten expensive to live here- contrary to some of your claims in other posts, many people LOVE living here and LOVE the culture here- not just for the natural setting. There are plenty of other places that have natural beauty and no culture if that's what people are looking for.

As others have recently chimed in, these aren't threads that are posting for anyone's benefit, or for any actual discussion. And they're certainly not providing anyone interested in the city any real information- other than the fact that a handful of Bham natives or NIMBY's clearly don't want anyone else moving to the area.

And I respect that they don't like change and some of the things that go along with it-though I don't know anyone who likes traffic, not enough jobs, or high housing prices. And what property owner likes paying more taxes? I sure don't. Anyway, we all likely agree about more than we realize or pretend to on these threads.

But posting about things like individual crimes or low inventory in our housing market and either acting like they don't happen anywhere else or have never happened here in the past is either ridiculously alarmist or misinformed. No comparisons, no information, just people posting about every issue like we live in a total vacuum, or that statistics don't matter.

I'll stick to my assertion that these gripes often have more to do with politics and people not liking the evolution of the city/region's primary industries than it has to do with the objective reality of what it's like to live in Bellingham.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

This board is full of NIMBY's so they will discourage you from moving to Bellingham.

Not true, at least in my case. I only continue to stand on my soap box and post reality so more people aren't sucked into this area (Like most of my friends who have subsequently moved away) by being told its something it isn't.
And I'll tell you something, any discouraging isn't working because the people are still POURING IN.

Simple reality is:

-Very very expensive housing, now averaging almost 13X the average family income for the average listed home price. Many of my friends liked the area, but when you are upper middle class (~$90K a year) and have to resign yourself to living in an apartment, it's kind of a non-starter you know?
-Long lines and full parking, over-full venues at the fun outdoorsy things to do. I.E. boat launches, biking and hiking trails, parks, camping, skiing, etc. All 1980's infrastructure now supporting 35+ years of population growth.
-2nd most rainy and cloudy, least sunny days in the USA, (1st being Everett).
-Total tax load is similar or more than other states due to high property and sales taxes, yet people seem to think there is some big tax savings here because there is no state income tax.
-Low income opportunities. Average family income comes in at almost HALF that of the greater Seattle metro area, yet homes and rents are nearly at par now.
-High crime, especially for the population and small size of Bellingham.
-Lastly, I despise "combat shopping" with 1,000's of Canadians. Thankfully we have enjoyed a reprieve with the border closed to all non-essential travel, but like all good things, it's soon to come to an end.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

This board is full of NIMBY's so they will discourage you from moving to Bellingham.

NIMBYism is a long standing tradition in Western WA. Remember Emmett Watson and Lesser Seattle back in the day? It's part of the traditional local culture.

There has to be a balance pointing out the reality since there are plenty of sunny, summer day scenic pictures of Bellingham minus the homeless camps and depressing winter glum on the internet that paint the city as a waterfront paradise.

The truth is a bit of both.

[jerzdevil]

Today Laurel Park near WWU was cleared after homeless settled it 3 days ago after leaving the athletic field area. Mayor Fleetwood wants a 1% sales tax hike to help fund the growing homeless population, because he said living in parks is unacceptable or something. I wonder where the settlers will settle next. They should settle somewhere out of public sight and annex that area as their own villege, maybe call it Guberville, est 2021. I predict a new anonymous zone for the underprivileged in Bellingham. It will gain wide local support and become a permanent fixture for whatcom. Who knows, one of us may need it one day.

[Gabor25]

Since living in Bellingham just over 2 years these incidents have occurred:

There has been 4 prowlers in our neighborhood of homes valued in the over 6k range.One of them involved a gun and another a direct theft.

I was abused and threatened twice by people in parks.

In our previous neighborhood ,which was a middle class suburb of a major city, we did not encounter any similar events.Not one in 27 years!

We are actively looking to escape this rough town....

[jerzdevil]

Originally Posted by Gabor25

Since living in Bellingham just over 2 years these incidents have occurred:

There has been 4 prowlers in our neighborhood of homes valued in the over 6k range.One of them involved a gun and another a direct theft.

I was abused and threatened twice by people in parks.

In our previous neighborhood ,which was a middle class suburb of a major city, we did not encounter any similar events.Not one in 27 years!

We are actively looking to escape this rough town....

People are losing there minds. Nobody bothers me in the parks, but I'm a big person. Maybe you should look and dress tougher.

I believe the housing bubble will pop when inflation creeps up causing interest rates to rise, so if you want to sell, I recommend looking at that soon.

[rkcarguy]

Haha no, still here. I do have more friends that moved out of here to Cleveland this year though. They told me to thank the implants for their ability to cash out a much nicer home there and get their boys in college.
I do feel for you guys though, I've been seeing where Idaho has become the new hottest "infestation location".