Bellingham, the ugly truth.... (Seattle, Roy: movers, subdivision, things to do)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

Tough reality is, it's too far gone. The housing market has been starved so many years that I'm confident we could put 25,000 "affordable" homes on the market and they'd be vacuumed up, flipped, etc. I see an Aspen or White Rock BC type future for us with only the rich in $3million homes and service people working two "fine dining" jobs to live in squalor.
According to a study just released, Washington's top 5% income earners made 40.1% more money in the last 5 years. As housing has escalated to where it is now, the middle class in many area's actually went backwards.

That's not how "affordable housing" developments work. For one thing, there'd be nothing to flip until they'd been lived in for a few decades, but even so, they don't acquire a dated or shabby look. But also, there probably are some stipulations against taking the value way outside of "affordable housing" parameters.

For one thing, typically, certain building codes are waived, in order to make them affordable to lower-income people. Flippers wouldn't be able to sell them for top dollar with them having been built below code. People aren't going to pay top dollar for slab floors, electrical systems that cut corners, and other cheapskate features.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by jerzdevil

Some of the issues are country wide and some are indeed unique to Bellingham, such as the 3 month encampment where the city hall/ library lawns were settled. The outrage is in the details. It started with 5 tents, then grew to 100 tents with trashcan fires and harassment, explosions going on right under the mayors nose. He's an enabler and makes bad decisions, which in this case, had an obvious solution. No national guard was needed to break up the camp. When he appeared on the public scene with BLM or antifa, then got attacked by them, it becomes obvious that he's dealing with a devil he helped to build up. This isn't the first time either. He grew up in Bellingham, probably lived here his whole life (probably a closet xenophobe), so there aren't many excuses for the negligence, it's characterized by his ideology. He still brags about learning from Al Gore, who claimed to have invented the internet. He's a naïve mainstream yes-man politician. There is something from this past week. Him and Police Chief Flo have now urged everyone to report "asian hate crime and bias incidents"..... ok so I'm alright with reporting hate crimes, people should. But like I said, the devil is in the details. They also said to report "bias incidents". I can just see the phone ringing with deranged individuals who label everything as racist. Oh, a white man gave me an angry look. Oh, the white bread is shelved in the front of the store. Oh, she charged me 50 for a bag of weed but he got it for 40. They want to police our opinions and control our lives.

If people can describe Lynden as a conservative Dutch town, I can describe Bellingham as a Marxist city. Water fountains are something we pay for in parks, but like everything else they were shut off for covid. Has anyone received a refund on their tax bill for all the public services that were closed for so long? It's flu season so all the water fountains were closed, as were the businesses. Your defense is many cities are doing it. That doesn't make it right. My point with water fountains is more to commend Lynden for using common sense than to single out Bellingham as a blind follower of bureaucrats.

It comes down to more than rural vs urban or personal preference. Some places just seem more corrupt than others.

People were dining on sidewalks because indoor dining was banned. It would seem more bustling that people are dining in freezing temperatures, but it wasn't because of something great the city did. This credit goes to the business owner trying to survive. Another lockdown will come though, so we will see more of that.

Got it. Like the other negative commenters here, your gripe is mostly about political leanings.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

That's not how "affordable housing" developments work. For one thing, there'd be nothing to flip until they'd been lived in for a few decades, but even so, they don't acquire a dated or shabby look. But also, there probably are some stipulations against taking the value way outside of "affordable housing" parameters.

For one thing, typically, certain building codes are waived, in order to make them affordable to lower-income people. Flippers wouldn't be able to sell them for top dollar with them having been built below code. People aren't going to pay top dollar for slab floors, electrical systems that cut corners, and other cheapskate features.

Worry not, because the waived building codes and affordable housing build won't happen. The last development here that included a certain % of homes affordable to the median family income earners (There is federal incentives and tax breaks to the developer for this) was in 2013 I believe. And those % of units changed hands several times with the prices going up up and up ultimately to market price. I know this because it was right down the street from a relatives, and the smallest homes of this new development were closest to the street and the drainage basin and sold/resold repeatedly.

[jerzdevil]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

Got it. Like the other negative commenters here, your gripe is mostly about political leanings.

If marxism could stay out of our everyday life we wouldn't have to talk about it. This isn't a marxist country. Never will be, sorry.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by jerzdevil

If marxism could stay out of our everyday life we wouldn't have to talk about it. This isn't a marxist country. Never will be, sorry.

Why keep dragging Marxism into it? B'ham isn't a Marxist city; no city in the US is. Hyperbole, much?

[jerzdevil]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Why keep dragging Marxism into it? B'ham isn't a Marxist city; no city in the US is. Hyperbole, much?

There are Marxist cities in the US. Bellingham checks many of the boxes:

No building detached homes in the name of climate change

No freedom of expression with out cops called on you- which I gave a recent example of

Covid restrictions for the flu to eliminate entrepreneurship and implement passports for social control

Schools to replace parents with sex ed for kindergarten

A media that censors conservatives

That all said, I still like Bellingham. But will never move within Bellingham city limits. I see these Marxist traits because I'm a practicing Muslim who has visited communist China, but as time goes on in this direction it'll become obvious to everyone.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by jerzdevil

If marxism could stay out of our everyday life we wouldn't have to talk about it. This isn't a marxist country. Never will be, sorry.

LOL, your criticism applies to myriad places throughout the land, considering that most cities of any significant size in this country tend to be more democratic leaning. So I understand that you don't agree with a number of issues, though calling a city "Marxist" for having city planning rules in place or for following public, and in some cases mandated public health guidelines is a stretch. Again, politics is a clearly large part of your disdain for Bellingham.

[jerzdevil]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

LOL, your criticism applies to myriad places throughout the land, considering that most cities of any significant size in this country tend to be more democratic leaning. So I understand that you don't agree with a number of issues, though calling a city "Marxist" for having city planning rules in place or for following public, and in some cases mandated public health guidelines is a stretch. Again, politics is a clearly large part of your disdain for Bellingham.

Bellingham is the city I personally experience during the past 3 years, so l talk about it. I hear stories all the time, like CPS visiting a Trump supporting parent for their leanings. Family moved to Idaho to escape that treatment. It is a nationwide problem. But it's out of control. The city hall encampment takes the cake and I never heard another city allow that. It shows how delusional the city leaders are and it's getting worse. There are many major issues getting swept under the rug and ignored but they will come back to haunt them.

[E Roy Slade]

Originally Posted by jerzdevil

Bellingham is the city I personally experience during the past 3 years, so l talk about it. I hear stories all the time, like CPS visiting a Trump supporting parent for their leanings. Family moved to Idaho to escape that treatment. It is a nationwide problem. But it's out of control. The city hall encampment takes the cake and I never heard another city allow that. It shows how delusional the city leaders are and it's getting worse. There are many major issues getting swept under the rug and ignored but they will come back to haunt them.

sounds crazy--bellingham sounds fascist

[E Roy Slade]

heres a link i found

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Review of Whatcom, Washington
Public Funding For Private Profit
Star Rating - 12/23/2019
"I think you have to turn in your heart and soul to serve an elected position in the county government. These people lie. Badly. Everyday. They see the public as the enemy as they work with developers, oil and gas, and farmers to extract every ounce of profit and leave the county in ecological ruin. Things here are corrupt to the point of letting citizens die so businesses and corporations can profit. It is like if Big Tobacco ran a county, this is what it would be like. It would not be apparent from the surface, but underneath, it would be rotting away. I moved here without any preconceived notions about farmers, realtors, developers, etc. I sure have some now. The wealth in this county is from the dairy industry. There are almost as many cows in this county as people in Bellingham. And while scientists are telling us to eat less meat and more legumes and produce to survive a future with less land and more people, Whatcom County pretends it is 1950 and places no limits on farmers. They steal water from native tribes and pollute it and have altered water flow so salmon can not spawn and we keep throwing money at the farmers to be part of the solution. Not a successful approach. Now they are trying to squeeze water out of manure and use that to replace the water they take out. I am dead serious. Look up Cold Creek dairy and Regenis LLC. (The chief researcher was fired from the university for fraudulent and fabricated data and failing to disclose his financial connections to the study outcome). It is an ugly morally bankrupt place to live. I regret ever having moved here. That said, it is beautiful, but I get to watch as that beauty is destroyed."