PSA: If you're thinking of moving to Bellingham, don't! (Seattle: city hall, sex offenders)

[kynight]

Originally Posted by xPlorer48

No, we locals are not thrilled with all the newcomers and population growth. As a fifth generation local, my hometown is growing out of control. What I do not appreciate is all the homeless. One murdered a friend and another charged people with a machete and shot at police with a crossbow. He was also camping out in a local park illegally. And, I also do not like the SJWs who tell us we are priveleged to be SFH owners and that we need to embrace “diversity” whatever that is. One told me I needed to “own” it. ?

When I first came here from the southeast I was under the impression that Bellingham was always full of SJWs and pot advocates, LGBT with dreadlocks, etc.

[Swampoid13]

Originally Posted by kynight

When I first came here from the southeast I was under the impression that Bellingham was always full of SJWs and pot advocates, LGBT with dreadlocks, etc.

No, not even close.

[FJhg]

Bellingham and is not bad at all. The amount of good restaurants is amazing. Yes it's expensive though. There are areas nearby in the country cheaper if you want to commute a bit, homes in the upper or even mid 200's can still be had out in the country with a 30 min commute. I've been living in South King County for the last 6 years and find Whatcom county a lot more appealing in many ways. Nowhere is perfect, unless you're rich. I get the feeling this place will continue to economically expand at a very health rate. It boils down to capitalism, with higher paying jobs comes higher cost homes, some homeless, taxes, growth, traffic. You either take that or a rural area with no jobs and cheap housing and socially backwards people, or I suppose somewhere in between but I'm sure those areas are disappearing.

[xPlorer48]

Originally Posted by kynight

When I first came here from the southeast I was under the impression that Bellingham was always full of SJWs and pot advocates, LGBT with dreadlocks, etc.

Nope, not when I was growing up or even as a twenty something. Maybe in the last ten years, five years fir sure and within the last two years it is out of control.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by kynight

When I first came here from the southeast I was under the impression that Bellingham was always full of SJWs and pot advocates, LGBT with dreadlocks, etc.

B'ham isn't Berkeley. It was always more conservative, though the student population did tend to balance that out, but still--a long way from 1960's/70's Berkeley.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

B'ham isn't Berkeley. It was always more conservative, though the student population did tend to balance that out, but still--a long way from 1960's/70's Berkeley.

It's not Berkeley, but Bellingham has much more of a counterculture past than people are clearly aware of. In the 70's, the town- especially the south side, including Fairhaven and Happy Valley, was known to be a welcoming place for hippies around the NW, and the city became a safe haven of sorts for Vietnam dissenters headed to Canada.

The hippie/new age element has always been there, and still is, though it's not overwhelming or in your face. But compared to many other areas of the country, the city is definitely still by and large a very progressive place, a safe haven for alternative thinking, concepts, and expression.

https://www.fairhavenhistory.com/con...0s_and_70s.asp

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/new...e77581207.html

https://lookoutarts.com/

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

It's not Berkeley, but Bellingham has much more of a counterculture past than people are clearly aware of. In the 70's, the town- especially the south side, including Fairhaven and Happy Valley, was known to be a welcoming place for hippies around the NW, and the city became a safe haven of sorts for Vietnam dissenters headed to Canada.

The hippie/new age element has always been there, and still is, though it's not overwhelming or in your face. But compared to many other areas of the country, the city is definitely still by and large a very progressive place, a safe haven for alternative thinking, concepts, and expression.

https://www.fairhavenhistory.com/con...0s_and_70s.asp

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/new...e77581207.html

https://lookoutarts.com/

Thanks for this background info.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Thanks for this background info.

Sure! Again, sometimes I feel the need to chime into this and other threads because facts and opinions about this place are all over the map. Bellingham must be hard to read from a distance!

Also, I've been meaning to share with you an article from last month in the Seattle Times. It's about the waterfront development, but it really goes further in explaining Bellingham, the ongoing battle between new and old, the conflicting perspectives- nostalgia for the past vs.visions of the future, etc. Anyway I think you'll find it an interesting read. https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific...ally-underway/.

There is, in fact, a common denominator with much of the sentiment on these threads, whether positive of negative- and that's actually somewhat of a unified defensiveness over Bellingham. Some like it so much that they never want another person to move here call it home, Some people here arguing clearly preferred living in "rancid-tuna-smelling industrial-fart clouds that wafted across the city" - though it was substantially cheaper. Others are excited about the transformation into a more modern, post-industrial destination and a great, though expensive (relative to the past) place to live. We fall into the latter category.

Unlike some the negative posters who tend to be locals or quasi-locals who've resided here much of their lives, I've actually lived in an area (Western foothills, NC) where I watched firsthand as the local industries and economy cratered, and for the most part has been unable to revive itself to this day. My wife has experienced the same thing, being from NW Pennsylvania, which is rust belt central. Not to trivialize the views of others- growth can be challenging, and significant housing price increases can be hard to experience. But I can tell you and other posters from our experience that it's much better to be on the upswing than having everything close down and fall into disrepair and depression around you.

We personally see Bellingham as a great place, experiencing some typical growing pains that go along with "being discovered." In a very scenic location between two large cities, it was almost certainly inevitable that it would have more appeal at some point. Yes, it does have a problem with too many homeless, not enough high paying jobs and not enough inventory of "affordable" housing, and the population growth is brisk, though often overstated by people complaining. But in our opinion, that's even more of a reason why smart, well thought-out planning and growth is even more important- to properly accommodate the new people in a way that also doesn't allow this place to lose its character. And those are that are absolutely not unique to Bellingham.

Again, I mention these things because I think that it's unfair to paint Bellingham as some awful place to outsiders, especially people pondering a move. And it's disingenuous to act like a boom cycle is unprecedented, as boom and bust cycles are a hallmark of this city. Anyway....again, both the negative commenters and positive commenters love it here, they just clearly have different views of what it should look and feel like going forward.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

Sure! Again, sometimes I feel the need to chime into this and other threads because facts and opinions about this place are all over the map. Bellingham must be hard to read from a distance!

Also, I've been meaning to share with you an article from last month in the Seattle Times. It's about the waterfront development, but it really goes further in explaining Bellingham, the ongoing battle between new and old, the conflicting perspectives- nostalgia for the past vs.visions of the future, etc. Anyway I think you'll find it an interesting read. https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific...ally-underway/.

There is, in fact, a common denominator with much of the sentiment on these threads, whether positive of negative- and that's actually somewhat of a unified defensiveness over Bellingham. Some like it so much that they never want another person to move here call it home, Some people here arguing clearly preferred living in "rancid-tuna-smelling industrial-fart clouds that wafted across the city" - though it was substantially cheaper. Others are excited about the transformation into a more modern, post-industrial destination and a great, though expensive (relative to the past) place to live. We fall into the latter category.

Unlike some the negative posters who tend to be locals or quasi-locals who've resided here much of their lives, I've actually lived in an area (Western foothills, NC) where I watched firsthand as the local industries and economy cratered, and for the most part has been unable to revive itself to this day. My wife has experienced the same thing, being from NW Pennsylvania, which is rust belt central. Not to trivialize the views of others- growth can be challenging, and significant housing price increases can be hard to experience. But I can tell you and other posters from our experience that it's much better to be on the upswing than having everything close down and fall into disrepair and depression around you.

We personally see Bellingham as a great place, experiencing some typical growing pains that go along with "being discovered." In a very scenic location between two large cities, it was almost certainly inevitable that it would have more appeal at some point. Yes, it does have a problem with too many homeless, not enough high paying jobs and not enough inventory of "affordable" housing, and the population growth is brisk, though often overstated by people complaining. But in our opinion, that's even more of a reason why smart, well thought-out planning and growth is even more important- to properly accommodate the new people in a way that also doesn't allow this place to lose its character. And those are that are absolutely not unique to Bellingham.

Again, I mention these things because I think that it's unfair to paint Bellingham as some awful place to outsiders, especially people pondering a move. And it's disingenuous to act like a boom cycle is unprecedented, as boom and bust cycles are a hallmark of this city. Anyway....again, both the negative commenters and positive commenters love it here, they just clearly have different views of what it should look and feel like going forward.

Very interesting, thanks. What were past boom/bust cycles based on? Other than logging, I assume?

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Very interesting, thanks. What were past boom/bust cycles based on? Other than logging, I assume?

Well, yes forestry....but beyond that, anything from a stop on the trail to the BC gold rush in the late 1850's, to several huge land speculation efforts (Bellingham pinned much of its late 19th/early 20th century hopes to becoming the western terminus of Canadian and American transcontinental railroads) to coal mining to being the salmon cannery capitol of the world, to WWII and post WWII shipbuilding and associated manufacturing industries to massive chemical laden wood product and tissue processing. After a huge gas pipeline explosion in 1999, the city has taken a much more green trajectory, trying to figure out her identity as a post-industrial city. Turns out, the city is quite an appealing place when not smelling like a pulp mill, belching out tons of smoke, or dumping chemicals in the bay!

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/new...e22196535.html