Bellingham Washington?

[vash]

What it like living there? Asking for a friend.

[island911]

You get to be a Bellinghamster

So there's that.

[LWJ]

KILLER mountain bike town. Transition and Evil both based there.

Never been personally but I see people riding there almost daily.

[2.7RS]

Subarus and Volvos???

[pavulon]

Be sure to understand their winter climate and duration.

[Ayles]

Take the feedback above with a grain of salt. If you like biking, hiking, skiing, fishing etc... then this place cant be beat. You are literally minutes away from all of those activities at an enormous scale. Real estate is less expensive, save for a couple pockets of huge victorian homes in Fairhaven and parts of Bham. The downtown area is great too, lots of great restaurants and breweries.

You are also pretty much equidistant from Van BC and Seattle. When I lived there it was a toss upon which city we would hit.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Take the feedback above with a grain of salt. If you like biking, hiking, skiing, fishing etc... then this place cant be beat. You are literally minutes away from all of those activities at an enormous scale. Real estate is less expensive, save for a couple pockets of huge victorian homes in Fairhaven and parts of Bham. The downtown area is great too, lots of great restaurants and breweries.

You are also pretty much equidistant from Van BC and Seattle. When I lived there it was a toss upon which city we would hit.

Exactly. B'ham is a beautiful town, with very much a "small town" atmosphere. Yes, it is a college town, so there are college kids around. So what? We were all there once as well. Just living there, recreating near there, or driving through there doesn't mean you're going to be affected in any way by these scary creatures and their youthful politics or ideals. Some folks just need to give it a rest... life is not always about politics.

I've actually considered moving up into that area in my retirement. It's just far enough from the Puget Sound megalopolis of Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia to be mostly free of that area's crazy traffic, although it can get busy on weekends as folks from that megalopolis flock up there to get away. It's near Mt. Baker, which has wonderful skiing (so I'm told, I don't ski), it's right on Puget Sound, and it has some of the best driving roads in Western Washington, for those Porschephiles among us... Some of my most memorable backpacking trips have been in the mountains just east of there, there is great fly fishing, lots of off roading in Jeeps or on dirt bikes, mountain biking, great road cycling roads - it goes on and on. If you enjoy any form of outdoor recreation, it would be a wonderful place to live.

So, yeah, there is a lot to recommend it. I think it's one of the nicer areas in Western Washington. I wouldn't hesitate to move there - like I said, I've even considered it. A good buddy in the R Gruppe built a beautiful home on Lake Samish, which isn't really "in" B'ham, but it's very close. He loves it up there. I love going to his place up there...

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Exactly. B'ham is a beautiful town, with very much a "small town" atmosphere. Yes, it is a college town, so there are college kids around. So what? We were all there once as well. Just living there, recreating near there, or driving through there doesn't mean you're going to be affected in any way by these scary creatures and their youthful politics or ideals. Some folks just need to give it a rest... life is not always about politics.

I've actually considered moving up into that area in my retirement. It's just far enough from the Puget Sound megalopolis of Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia to be mostly free of that area's crazy traffic, although it can get busy on weekends as folks from that megalopolis flock up there to get away. It's near Mt. Baker, which has wonderful skiing (so I'm told, I don't ski), it's right on Puget Sound, and it has some of the best driving roads in Western Washington, for those Porschephiles among us... Some of my most memorable backpacking trips have been in the mountains just east of there, there is great fly fishing, lots of off roading in Jeeps or on dirt bikes, mountain biking, great road cycling roads - it goes on and on. If you enjoy any form of outdoor recreation, it would be a wonderful place to live.

So, yeah, there is a lot to recommend it. I think it's one of the nicer areas in Western Washington. I wouldn't hesitate to move there - like I said, I've even considered it. A good buddy in the R Gruppe built a beautiful home on Lake Samish, which isn't really "in" B'ham, but it's very close. He loves it up there. I love going to his place up there...

+1 on all the above. I really liked skiing Mt. Baker; one year in the late 90's (I think) they got nearly 100 feet of snowfall. 100 feet.

[LakeCleElum]

South of town - Chuckanut drive:



Edison Tavern - Bayview State Park - LaConner - Mt. Erie - Deception Pass - Whidbey Island. Heaven. From LaConner, head thru Conway and over to Hwy 9 to come back north. Heaven X 2.

[LakeCleElum]

View from Mt. Erie:

[LakeCleElum]

The world record for the most snow in one year is now held by Mount Baker (elevation: 10,775 feet / 3,285 meters) in Washington State, USA. The Mount Baker Ski Area reported 1,140 inches (95 feet) / 2,896 cm (29 meters) of snowfall for the 1998-99 season.

Don't ever let anyone tell you it doesn't rain in Bellingham.

[vash]

Winters are brutal?

Summers mild?

Crap load of rain?

[vash]

Real estate looks reasonable. Plenty of outdoor stuff. Man biking. Fishing.

No state income tax...

[Ayles]

Winters are not brutal. Mt Baker is an hr to the East. Bellingham is pretty moderate weatherwise but will sometimes get some cooler air from the North we dont really see in Seattle.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Winters are not brutal. Mt Baker is an hr to the East. Bellingham is pretty moderate weatherwise but will sometimes get some cooler air from the North we dont really see in Seattle.

thanks.

time to start saving moving boxes

[gtc]

Not sure what all these people are talking about, it is really ugly and nobody likes living there.

2/10 stars.
Would not recommend.

[vash]

Originally Posted by gtc

Not sure what all these people are talking about, it is really ugly and nobody likes living there.

2/10 stars.
Would not recommend.

i'll improve it. plant stuff..clean up.

[biosurfer1]

I agree with most comments except the typical political over-reaction BS.

My sister just moved back to California after living there for a couple years. Pretty scenic, laid back vibe and close to lots of outdoor activities.

Cold and long winters, but not brutal. As for real estate, that depends on where you are coming from. Compared to California it's about average, but things have been sky rocketing lately. My sister was able to sell her house, for $20k over asking within a week of listing right in the middle of COVID, so definitely a sellers market right now.

[jyl]

Intriguing . . . sounds like a nice place to retire.

[arcsine]

Been living here for most of my adult life. My take home messages:

1. Really great mountain biking, skiing, hiking, kayaking, boating, etc. No reason to be here unless you take advantage of at least some of these.

2. Lots of breweries. Last I looked there are 14 micros.

3. Stupid overpriced real estate. Bordering on the 'locals cannot afford to live here'.

4. Little industry or any form of economic base beyond the University and Canadian shoppers.

5. Getting bigger and with the influx of newbies B'ham is loosing some of its charm.

6. July, August and Sept are the 'nice' months. The other 9 you can expect rain and overcast skies. If you want green trees, you gotta live with the rain. Snow may or may not happen.

7. Access to big cities is pretty easy. Seattle is 90 mins south and Vancouver about 60 min north.

In short its a nice place to live but because of that lots of people want to live here. Kind of a Catch 22.