City of Bellingham, Washington

What a beautiful city!
This place has such great waterfront areas and so much to offer. I love all the streets and the beautiful houses they have to offer.
I am so excited that they make everyone fee so welcomed here.

My hometown!
Although I was born in the midwest, from age 11 till 26, with a stint in Europe in there, I resided in the ham. I moved to California and have been away for years now… but when I head North to visit the folks I get the nostalgic feelings in a wave and can’t wait to be back in the PNW.
Things I love:
All the great local businesses like Avenue Bread, Mallards, Boundary Bay, the hog, Temple Bar, etc.
The produce and food products — from oysters and berries to squash and apples, honey, dairy products and more. It’s all regional and the residents really support small farms and places serving Whatcom County grown or made items
Fairhaven, and all the shops and festivals there like Ski to Sea
The waterfront and hanging at the Woods Coffee at Boulevard
Downtown, and how it’s been revitalized in the last decade
Whatcom Falls and the lake
All the hikes! All the boats! All the coffees!
All the Mi Shoes and Village Books, Bella Floral, the list goes on.
Decently priced housing — although they may feel it’s getting outrageous, compared to SD, it looks delightful and sometimes — just sometimes — the lower costs of living tempts me to move back. (Then I eat carne asada fries and a margarita and and shake that feeling off).
The population is about 85,000 in Bellingham proper as of 2014 (All of Whatcom County has about 208,000 as of spring 2014) It’s green, and the city it trying to keep it’s small town charm. In recent year I’ve noticed the crime levels going up, the homeless population increasing, and other negative signs of growth — but it still manages to maintain it’s clear identity. I hope the proactive and motivated residents keep it up.

Bellingham is the northermost real city, or big town, along I-​5, which is the main artery up the West Coast from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.
Western Washington University, or simply «Western,» is what seems to have put Bellingham on the map. From that, you can start making some inferences … small, collegiate, Northwestern, scenic, lots professors, lots of faculty brats, lots of bureaucrats, liberal, and lots of Subarus here, there, and everywhere. However, it is also a very useful place to overnight and make a dash for the Canadian border in the early morning rather than getting tangled up with the critical mass of folks from the Seattle metro area who leisurely get up to the border crossing at late morning and thereafter. Bellingham has about three flavors — the downtown /​waterfront area and the older homes in the inner core, the areas around and above water with great scenery, and the outlying areas with strip malls, chain hotels, and newer housing.
On the positive side, Bellingham is scenic and has varied topography, it has a small port, it has a downtown with some personality, it has all the shops and services one would need, it has a fair variety of places to eat, and it is almost too laid back and polite. It is also a base for exploring beautiful areas round Mt. Baker and in the Cascades to the east of it and the San Juan Islands to the west of it.
On the negative side, it has many folks who want to «hang on» here, either after graduating from Western Washington or just by arbitrarily settling up here, and some are definitely stuck in a time warp of sorts. They can be annoying … at least to me. Also, it is now an expensive place to live, based on looking at those housing brochures, which is sort of surprising given that economic opportunities seem limited.
Bellingham is ok. I’m taking off one star because the feel of it, with the college and the «hang on» types can be packaged and predictable. I’m also taking off another star because, while Vancouver, Canada is about an hour away (not counting the wait at the border), I think that if I HAD to live in Bellingham, I’d be spending more of my spare time in Vancouver than in and around Bellingham.

Outdoor enthusiasts flock to Bellingham, for it’s beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, and bay that lend themselves to great kayaking, biking, climbing, sailing, and more!