Bellingham area advice (Vancouver, Starbuck: apartments, rental, violent crime)

[NurseGuy]

Hi all,

I am moving to Bellingham as a travel nurse. I am looking at places to rent. I will be at St Joseph hospital. So far I have found a couple places and would like local residents opinions. The first is studio for rent in the Happy Valley highland drive area and the other is studio apartment in the Telegraph Road at Primrose area. The telegraph road one looks close to work with highland drive being a few more miles out. Ideally would like a safe area to bike to things to do or work.

Thanks for any local insight!

[waviking24]

Bellingham is a hole these days man and St. Joes doesn't help.

[blktoptrvl]

I lived in BHam in 2008-9. My only advice would be to be sure to get a place on or close to a bus route. It doesn't really snow too much. But when it does you could find yourself stuck.

I lived in McKenzie Apts (in Fairhaven) place and found it to be so-so for the money. If I had it to do again, I would rent a home in Bham in one of the better neighborhoods.

[bartonizer]

My wife and I moved to Bellingham last fall from Colorado and we love it. I'm not sure why the poster above called it a hole unless he's trying to dissuade prospective residents from moving here. In terms of places to live- we're in Fairhaven/Happy Valley and it's about as cute and quaint as you could get. It's not all that close to the hospital, though. Ideally you could find a place closer to downtown and have the option of an easy bike ride or a quick bus ride- the bus system is quite effective. Personally, though, I'd take the 10 minute drive from Fairhaven over a generic apartment in a generic part of town (Meridian/Telegraph retail hell area) any day of the week.

[waviking24]

Of course new people think Bham is pleasantville. Those of us who have been here forever know otherwise.

[Lamplight]

Well I've been here almost four years and I still feel that moving here was the best decision I've ever made, for whatever that's worth. Of course it's not perfect, but it's about a thousand times better than where I moved from.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by waviking24

Of course new people think Bham is pleasantville. Those of us who have been here forever know otherwise.

Well, I am new to the area, but I'm comparing it to several other places that I've lived recently. What's so bad about it? And when's the last time you lived somewhere other than Bellingham? Not jabbing, but maybe you've been in the same place too long and need a change of scenery.

[CrazyDonkey]

Bellingham's fine (I was actually born there, at St. Jo's), can be great for many, but is not for everyone.

The biggest issue is that wages significantly lag cost-of-living. Population has basically doubled in the last 25 years, while I doubt the housing stock has come anywhere close to that kind of increase.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Bellingham's fine (I was actually born there, at St. Jo's), can be great for many, but is not for everyone.

The biggest issue is that wages significantly lag cost-of-living. Population has basically doubled in the last 25 years, while I doubt the housing stock has come anywhere close to that kind of increase.

Yes, I understand that, and that everything is relative (obviously) to where people have been and where they are in life. But to someone that's interested in moving here, it's a little deceptive. Yes, wage lag/job situation/housing cost are a very real issue, but that is a common problem in most desirable, popular small to medium sized cities- like Bend, Asheville, Missoula, Bozeman, Flagstaff- and I'd place Bham in that company of cities, even if it doesn't have the exposure yet. And to this thread, it shouldn't be as big on an issue because he will have reasonable employment when he moves here.

We love the size, community, access to outdoors, general lack of traffic, etc. here. But the problems that you listed don't have anything to do with whether Belligham is nice or not, rather it's kind of the opposite- it's in demand but unfortunately not more affordable.

I always hear WWU students lament that they hate having to leave, and I've met numerous people that tried to do whatever they could to make ends meet and move back. That's generally a good sign, compared to some of the places I've lived before, where people couldn't wait to leave and never looked back!

From what we've experienced so far, the ones that are most negative about the city are those that have just been here too long. That's normal and happens everywhere. I was just asking waviking if he's been lived out of the area in recent years. It sounds like he just needs a fresh start somewhere else, which I would totally understand....

[profnot]

Avoid neighborhoods around the airport and the neighborhood including the streets named after states between Ohio and Alabama. Poor areas. With poverty, you get crime.

The poster who wrote that wages lag behind COL is absolutely right. There is a huge medical complex in Bham so you should fare better.

Another poster mentioned Fairhaven. That's a lovely and expensive part of town.

Try apartments.com and rent something monthly until you get a feel for the neighborhoods and know where you want to lease/buy.

Don't live in a large apt complex if you like quiet or need to sleep odd hours due to shift work. They usually have tons of kids and people paying music loudly in their cars while driving through the parking lot and getting in/out of their cars.

Don't get a weekly rental at an inexpensive motel. That's where the almost-homeless ppl live, god bless them. Usually single parents working too hard for minimum wage and the kids run rampant. Very noisy. Drugs are common.

It's hard to make friends in Bham. You are in the medical community with lots of people from out of state so you should have an easier time making friends via work.


I posted the below in another thread but you might find it useful so here goes -

Vancouver, BC is 55 miles NW of Bellingham. So if you choose a small rural town in between you have the best of both worlds. YVR Vancouver airport is terrific for travel abroad. Bellingham airport has cheap flights to Las Vegas, California, and Hawaii.

Because of Canadians coming down to Bellingham for shopping and medical care, there are lots of resources in town. Bham has 1 university, 1 community college, and 1 technical college. Between the colleges and medical community, you have a lot of educated people and events open to the public.

Public transportation is cheap and easy in Bham. Cheap in the county too, but infrequent stops.

Bellingham is liberal but the rest of the county is conservative. (Sarah Palin signs all over the county during her campaign.)

Only a few areas are known for violent crime. Just ask the police for info. Otherwise, just lock up and use common sense.

I moved to WA from Calif. I've always made friends through volunteer work. It's much harder to make friends in WA - native Washingtonians tend to stick to family. WA ppl seem friendly but they are not. They have a friendly-casual type of manners that make you feel more welcome than you really are. My friends are all from other states (OH, NY, CA, CO mostly) where making friends is easier. We invite each other over for dinner (locals don't - they meet at Starbucks). A friend in OR says the same thing about Ashland where she retired.

Lots of organized volunteerism here (Red Cross, autumn food bank donation campaigns, etc) but little casual sharing such as asking someone to help change my tire - someone I helped with his taxes earlier in the year.

Long summer days and short winter ones. Winter daylight 7:30am - 4:30pm. Summer 4:30am - 9pm. Summers are glorious. Winters are mild but try to go somewhere sunny in Jan or Feb.

WA has no state income tax. That's why WA rather than OR.

Overall, I'm a city girl so I don't like it here. Vancouver is a great city but I love art museums and ballet and there is little of those. So I'm moving out of state to a city with lots of what I love. Also, I'm not outdoorsy. Sounds like you, OP, are. You'll probably love it here. Mountains, glaciers, salt water views, islands - absolutely gorgeous.