Washington questions: north of Everett to Bellingham (Ferndale: to rent, crime)

[nicole1256]

Hello,

Hoping I can get some help from you nice people. My husband and I and our daughter are wanting to move to the bellingham area or at least north of everett. Were from California and are looking for a nice town to live in. With good schooling and not so much crime with fair market homes for now to rent. Oh and I can't forget good dental jobs

Can anyone help give me an idea. Were planning on a trip next Friday for a week to get the true picture of what were looking for.

[CityGirl72]

What part of CAlif are you coming from? - Bellingham is a nice quaint place to raise a family

[brian_in_Bellingham]

Ferndale is supposed to have great schools, and the town really seems to have community spirit. Everyone I know that lives there really likes it. It is probably cheaper then Bellingham to live in, but it still has basic ammenities (grocery stores, etc.,), so it isn't like you have to travel to Bellingham all the time, but if you do, it is about 10 minutes away. Great views of Mt. Baker there too, depending on where you live.

[Tattoo Guy]

Hi, Brian. My wife and I are thinking of moving to Bellingham and opening a tattoo studio there. Do you think the business would be well received? And we would be looking for a house to rent initially, you mentioned Ferndale, is that kind of a rural area ? Because thats the type of place we are looking to live, and then have the business in a more populated area like Bellingham within a half hour's distance from where we live. Any information would be helpful. I'm in Mississippi now. I have a friend named Nick from Bellingham who I did a great deal of work on. I havent been able to find his information so I found this forum. mod cut: link removed
Thank you very much...Blane

[Bill Loney]

Originally Posted by Tattoo Guy

Hi, Brian. My wife and I are thinking of moving to Bellingham and opening a tattoo studio there. Do you think the business would be well received? And we would be looking for a house to rent initially, you mentioned Ferndale, is that kind of a rural area ? Because thats the type of place we are looking to live, and then have the business in a more populated area like Bellingham within a half hour's distance from where we live. Any information would be helpful. I'm in Mississippi now. I have a friend named Nick from Bellingham who I did a great deal of work on. I havent been able to find his information so I found this forum. mod cut: link removed
Thank you very much...Blane

Of the two communities, Bellingham is much larger. 85k to 9k give or take.

So the availability of choices for food, arts,activities etc are far greater in Bellingham. That said, the two are but 7 minutes max apart so in that sense if you live in Ferndale you're only a few minutes from all that Bellingham has to offer. .

However, they are very different. Bellingham is a very liberal college town. WWU is the 3rd largest University in WA state. As such its influence is meaningful and the presence of younger college kids pronounced. The schools in Bham, especially on the southside are very good. Ferndale's schools are for the most part also very good.

Ferndale is far more conservative. It certainly has a strong sense of community as well. But to be fair, Bellingham is pretty strong that way as well.

Really it is a matter of life style preference. But the two towns are different. And both share a slower pace than most of the Bay Area. Excellent places to raise a family.