PSA: If you're thinking of moving to Bellingham, don't! (Seattle: mortgage, houses)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by jskiing

Not much good to say about the little isolated connection of small towns. Desperate job market. Recreation is far from city, and most people claim to be active, but a bunch of lazy people. The worst of Washington. Have lived all around the state. Though, Washington has become a selfish, overly competitive, place allowing capitalism and scarcity to make people desperate. Washington is mostly populated in the western part of the state. Mostly around seattle. The economy is garbage in most other parts of the state, and people are scrounging for resources, jobs, housing. Then they realize it promotes depression due to low vitamin D. It is the worst place for vitamin D deficiency in the country.

Really? I bet Maine is worse.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by kynight

Maybe Bellingham will become less liberal after Trump shows them how it's done. Then the Bernie bros can crew back into their basement and off the city council.

Have you ever watched a city council meeting? They put Burnie to shame. And the constant quotes from MLK Jr's written and choreographed speeches are pretentious. None of the members have passed through a ghetto, much less lived in one.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by kynight

Maybe Bellingham will become less liberal after Trump shows them how it's done. Then the Bernie bros can crew back into their basement and off the city council.

After T shows them how what is done? Incompetence? Corruption? Nepotism? Toadying to a certain foreign government that doesn't have our best interests at heart? I could go on.

(disclaimer: this is not a screed in favor of The Burned.)

[jertheber]

Wow, after reading through this thread I see that the fact of a two class America as a new norm isn't sitting well with most of Bellingham's population. Of course the entire nation is becoming divided along wealth/class lines, but here in the NW the natives don't get out much and see this as a kind of local thing, "damn Californians," ex Seattle-retirees, etc. Most every American city of any size has seen growth on a disturbing scale, but again, in the NW, the unenlightened are seeing it as a local "problem."

Longer-hotter summers in the southern states are one aspect of the new migration to cooler climes, the other is the presence of the huge, high paying, tech companies that are growing and need more and more employees. After all, not too many are moving to the likes of West Virginia, Kentucky, or Kansas. To those who are pissed off at the new arrivals with money in their pockets, I say, you never "owned" the town you live in, not individually nor collectively, and the same freedom that the newcomers are exercising by moving to Bham is the same freedom that will allow you to move on to wherever you want. Love it or leave it..

[kynight]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

After T shows them how what is done? Incompetence? Corruption? Nepotism? Toadying to a certain foreign government that doesn't have our best interests at heart? I could go on.

(disclaimer: this is not a screed in favor of The Burned.)

B doesn't have our interests as he idolizes Russia, even had his honeymoon there. The dem party is the truly racist one and anti-working class.

[kynight]

Originally Posted by Baldy

Have you ever watched a city council meeting? They put Burnie to shame. And the constant quotes from MLK Jr's written and choreographed speeches are pretentious. None of the members have passed through a ghetto, much less lived in one.

They need to take a field trip to Baltimore and bring lgbt and antigun slogans with them, they will get robbed.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by jertheber

Wow, after reading through this thread I see that the fact of a two class America as a new norm isn't sitting well with most of Bellingham's population. Of course the entire nation is becoming divided along wealth/class lines, but here in the NW the natives don't get out much and see this as a kind of local thing, "damn Californians," ex Seattle-retirees, etc. Most every American city of any size has seen growth on a disturbing scale, but again, in the NW, the unenlightened are seeing it as a local "problem."

Longer-hotter summers in the southern states are one aspect of the new migration to cooler climes, the other is the presence of the huge, high paying, tech companies that are growing and need more and more employees. After all, not too many are moving to the likes of West Virginia, Kentucky, or Kansas. To those who are pissed off at the new arrivals with money in their pockets, I say, you never "owned" the town you live in, not individually nor collectively, and the same freedom that the newcomers are exercising by moving to Bham is the same freedom that will allow you to move on to wherever you want. Love it or leave it..

Fair enough.

I've lived all over the States and been overseas. I've been an outsider, carpetbagger, and insider. I know this nation well.

Moving to an area for work is a time honored thing and it's welcome. The problem Bellingham is having is different. There's no work up here. People come up here for "a better life" after letting their states turn into garbage. They expect to find jobs that don't exist. Then they turn into five hour a day commuters, just like what they left.

Many have extreme liberal views and are insisting that we have them, too. I actually saw a group of protesters at Barkley Village protesting Bellingham racism. The ultra-liberal city council promptly removed a sign that commemorated one of the city founders who ended up fighting on the losing side in the Civil War. To be honest, I lived near that sign as a youth and then as an adult and never really noticed it. It was part of town history, is all.

Hey, I'm outta here soon, as is most of my neighbors. 50% of my block is now officially rentals and boarding houses. California should be empty by now and I'd dig some good sets and riding my motorcycles in June without freezing.

[elijah210]

I enjoyed reading through this thread. I lived in Bellingham as a WWU student for 3 years from 2015 to 2018. I grew up in San Jose, CA and went to WWU on the Western Undergraduate Exchange scholarship which made it more affordable than attending a UC school down in California. Compared to the CA Bay Area, Bellingham seemed like a very low-cost place to live. I assume many other people (students, retirees, middle-class) hailing from the likes of California and Seattle saw it the same way I did.



But I feel like in just the past couple of years the cost-of-living has skyrocketed. It wasn't long ago I was renting a room for $350 or a studio apartment in Happy Valley for $650. I just found out that the same apartment less than 2 years later rents for almost $1,000. The local wages just aren't keeping pace with that drastic of an increase and it's going to leave many people (students as well as the middle class) far behind...



Bellingham was a great place to live for a college town experience but I'm glad I didn't try to stay there after graduation, it's lacking as far as well-paying jobs go. I liked all the local cultural and recreational opportunities (Lake Padden, Pickford Film center), loved walking down to Fairhaven and the Bay from Happy Valley each evening, those aspects of the city can't be beat. Ever since graduating, I've lived in the Twin Cities in Minnesota for a year, then San Jose for 6 months, then most recently moving to Oregon and getting a job in the mid/south Willamette Valley region which is *currently* much more affordable for me. I can rent a 2-bedroom apartment here for half the cost of what my brother pays for a studio in San Jose. The income-to-COL ratio here seems like it'll actually be realistic.



Each of these places I've lived has had a different sort of culture-- I've found people to be much friendlier in Minnesota with a lot more diversity than in Bellingham. Then moving back to San Jose I thought I'd like living in the place I grew up but quickly realized, looking at it as an adult, it's transformed into a more high-tech, competitive and materialist culture that is too split between the "have's" and "have-not's"... not for me! Especially since I could be fairly certain I'd be in the "have-not's" category since I work in the public sector. This is the direction I see NW Washington going in the next few years, following along with Seattle and SF Bay Area's trajectory.



Now living in the Willamette Valley where the population is economically and politically mixed more so than somewhere like Portland or Bellingham. 10 years from now, Eugene and Salem might go the way of Bellingham... if and when that happens it may be time for me to move on (likely away from the coastal corridor). Or I might find myself lucky to be well-established enough to stay put.



Places like Bellingham are unfortunately becoming somewhat of a "bubble"-- not quite sure what it is, maybe the extreme liberalism, high taxes, gentrification, university in town. I'm curious to learn more about the possible links between liberal vs. conservative politics, and how that relates to an area's Cost-of-Living. I just know Bellingham is not a practical place for the middle and working class to live anymore, and that's a shame. I would love to go back for a weekend visit to Bellingham but have no regrets not attempting to stay there after college.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by elijah210

I'm curious to learn more about the possible links between liberal vs. conservative politics, and how that relates to an area's Cost-of-Living. I just know Bellingham is not a practical place for the middle and working class to live anymore, and that's a shame. I would love to go back for a weekend visit to Bellingham but have no regrets not attempting to stay there after college.

Well the liberal areas tend to be more financially successful. And as a result, places like King County are forced to send $3 BILLION (!) to 33 other counties (typically conservative) in the state. Bellingham may be (somewhat) liberal but it's not like the more conservative counties can pay for themselves.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...eattles-money/

[elijah210]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Well the liberal areas tend to be more financially successful. And as a result, places like King County are forced to send $3 BILLION (!) to 33 other counties (typically conservative) in the state. Bellingham may be (somewhat) liberal but it's not like the more conservative counties can pay for themselves.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...eattles-money/

Wow, that's crazy. But I wonder if it's a matter of urban versus rural, not liberal vs. conservative. A liberal area can be financially successful so-to-speak but still not be providing a very good quality of life for many of its residents. And a remote rural area while having a lower cost-of-living might provide a poor quality of life for an entirely different set of reasons. I'm convinced that finding the perfect place is impossible. You just need to weigh the pros and cons and make the most liveable choice for you in the end