Bellingham, the ugly truth.... (Seattle, Vancouver: homeowners association, purchase, college)

[mikyxmikyx]

Would there be a need for a bookkeeping, copy shop in Custer?

[StealthRabbit]

Our WA volcano's are not too frequent either, but can do some damage, earthquakes seem to be more frequent. I would keep an eye out for potential future mudslides, "upriver". I live 1200' above the river, and 1000' above my ins agent's office, but they require me to have flood insurance... they will need some significant scuba gear before I get wet. I don't think we will have a Missoula Flood anytime too soon. (need another ice age)

[ElphinKnight]

My wife and I considered moving to Bellingham from Michigan, so we just made a trip out there last week. Here's our outsider's view.
The positives: It is GORGEOUS there. For a really stunning drive, take Lakeway Dr (becomes Lake Whatcom Blvd) out past Lake Whatcom out to Sudden Valley and back. There are some fantastic restaurants in town; I recommend trying the Colophone Cafe' in the Fairhaven District. Fairhaven is quite cool, with lots of shops and is easily walkable. Downtown Bellingham is also pretty nice with quite a few stores. Down by the marina is nice. The people we met were all very friendly.
The negatives: Some of the downtown is still cleaning up and redeveloping, and the waterfront away from the marina is industrial and UGLY. Now that the Georgia Pacific plant has closed, the city is planning to clean it up and turn it into more marina space and another shopping district. This, however, isn't good for well-paying jobs, which is clearly a real problem in Bellingham. I don't know how many store clerks and waitresses we talked to who had Bachelor degrees. Several worked 2 jobs to make ends meet. A decent 3 bdr house is going to run you $275,000+, and that's just not affordable with the types of jobs available. The exception might be if you land a job with the university or hospital, but our reviews of their hiring suggest that those jobs are too few and far between.

Verdict? If you have an outside source of income, or enough money to invest in starting a business in Bellingham (probably would need to be a retail-type shop), it's probably one of the best places in the world to live. If you don't, I would suggest living someplace with solid jobs and more reasonable housing costs, and take regular vacations in Bellingham!

[dcgirl]

Originally Posted by stingray427

The property taxes in Washington are grave. Maybe Idaho would be a better choice

I had recently read that the voters passed a tax initiative that would limit the property tax increase to 1% per year? True or did I misread?

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by racechick73

I was born & raised in Whatcom County. So were my parents, 2 sets of grandparents, & 4 sets of great-grandparents. The rest of my relatives have neen here nearly forty years. You can see why I'm a little disgruntled.

My folks were here before the white man came, and took our lands.

I'm sorry, what were you saying?

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by 70Ford

My folks were here before the white man came, and took our lands.

I'm sorry, what were you saying?

I'm sorry you feel that way. But let's take it to dm and discuss it. We don't need to argue and belittle on the site. Let's talk about what has happened before "we" had control of the situation.

[EASYRIDER007]

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I m not white and not rich, but seeing so called rich people around with their hiking stick and big houses should not offend nobody as long as they are friendly (not a snob) and treat others with respect, i wont be paranoid about it. All people have the right to co exist regardless of status, race, or origin.

Originally Posted by beanpod

Hi. Since we are looking to relocate to WA, we are all over the place today on this forum. Apologies but it is helpful.

We agree with rkcarguy and to people who say "gee you are SO negative" for God's sake, do you want real and honest information or do you want to feel good? If you want to feel good, maybe go pop a beer or something but we want honest, real and truthful information because these are major decisions
we are making here. BIG decisions and we need all the REAL and HONEST
information we can get. Comments like you are "so negative" irk the bejeezies out of us. Who cares. Get over it. No one has the responsibility to make you feel good. Sorry.

Ok. Off our chests. Anyway, we agree with RKcarguy after spending a few weeks in BHAM. Folks that live there are topped out with the growth and rightfully so. I live in a place that the Bay Area aggrandizes and they all move here causing increases in housing and taxes. It IS irritating. People with tons of $$$ they made somewhere else move INTO an community and take it over. It is, in fact, a type of colonialism, granted on a smaller scale, but it is still colonialism and is just human nature that the people that live there already will not like it. This is a NORMAL response. We have decided against BHAM for alot of reasons but if nothing else, to give the folks that live there a breather! We can say we were nearly horrified by what we saw in
Blaine. Blaine used to be a "sleepy little fishing town." We saw the biggest new mansions (not mini mansions) we have ever seen in our lives there. Rows and rows and rows of these new enormous homes, of course, gated. It was
disgusting. Then, we see packs of these noveau riche white people all walking together with their alumnium pole "hiking sticks"...ugh.

Thanks for all the candid responses. We want the TRUTH. If we want to feel
good, we'll watch reruns of Sleepless in Seattle!

Beanpod/FBean

[heldon125]

At 46 years old we are looking to relocate from NJ. in 5 years. Anyone who has lived here that reads this, my appologies for stating the obvious. For all the rest--
If was not for the fact that we have to wait 5 years for my wife to be 100% vested in Med Ben., we would be gone tommorow. 4000 per year Car Insurance. Highest in US. More people per Sq ml than anyware in US. Property taxes that make dogs blush. Christ at least if we had a beach or Mts to look at! Way back in Jan 07 there is a post about how bad Bell is or has gotten. Yep, we read money mags top places to retire. Bellingham showed up on the radar.(By the way its off now and we like you hope it stays that way)We also knew that because it had ranked, bad things could happen. I'm truly sorry to all the natives. We visited 2 years ago. What a lovely place. How lucky to have grown up around such beauty and friendly people--by the way us from the New York area were voted some of the friendliest folks in the US and NY city one of the safest large citys in America. We ski and ride mt bikes. 3600 vert-highest in east. Poor us! Hello Casades! We are looking into Portland and Eugene OR. as well as Seattle and possibly Northern CA. Although after all the negs about Californians and there attitudes, maybe we should forget CA. Its tuff to find an area in the US thats not freezing in winter and so hot and humid during the summer because of high dew points Unless you are a millionare. Our area has become an Asian and Indian(SW Asia) settlement. Half the people do not speak English, the southwest a Spanish settlement, the southeast is a retirement wasteland. Want attitude? Try Florida or Georgia. Say what you will about whats happened to Bellingham. At its worst it is still a beautiful haven with overall low crime, lower taxes, friendly folks, and as of today still a 1st world country. So once again I'm sorry to you natives who feel we outsiders have/may ruin your city. It is not my families intent but please check out the rest of the country if you want someting to moan about. We pay 7500 anually for a 1 acre property 1600 SQ home on a well and septic. No side walks. We pay for trash PU and have to take our own recycling. And we have fairly low property taxes. Thanks for your time.

[E Roy Slade]

m being smothered and drowned by rain and clouds and cold here

i think i want out of here but ill be stuck here i bet

once you get here its hard to leave

[LiveGoodBeHappy]

Bellingham is AWESOME!! It is the very things that make it a little difficult for you that have kept us from experiencing the ugly economic mess the rest of the country is in.
We are anti-sprawl (hence, higher home prices...heck, there are simply fewer homes to buy here) Gotta love a place that values it's NATURAL LANDSCAPE over the greed that consumed so much of the nation during the housing boom a few years ago.

We ARE more expensive, sure, but our quality of life is worth EVERY PENNY.
Hooray for Bellingham!
-Mimi