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Anybody know Bellingham,WA area or from there? |
Travel Info I am thinking to move there, but I need to know how's employment there, education and other things. I also have a family too, so is it good for a family? Travel Tips I currently live in Bellingham, WA (last 5 years) and attended school here (graduated from WWU in 06'). I would say Bellingham is a very nice city for someone who likes outdoor recreation, a medium size city (around 70k people), liberal atmosphere, clean air, and a close proximity to water and the mountains. The weather is usually colder than Seattle, and the highest temps you will find might be 85 for a few days in August. Summer is beautiful with farmers markets, Ski to Sea, endless hiking and biking trails, and mostly lush greenery all summer. Bellingham however has limited options for employment and a high cost of living. We constantly have the most expensive gas prices in the nation (often higher than Hawaii) with the cheapest price for fuel currently at $3.37/gallon. $3 a gallon has been around here for quite a while and expect to pay more around $3.80 for premium at a Chevron right off the freeway. Almost everything costs more than it does in comparable sized WA cities. There are a lot of college graduates who tend to stay in town after graduation because they enjoy the city, but often find themselves working service jobs as waitresses, receptionists, baristas, bookstore clerks and so on. Unless you have a job offer waiting for you here it might be hard to find well paying employment upon arrival. A lot of money comes into the city from out of the area retirees, and this also helps drive up costs. Although there is some property crime I have felt this to be a very safe city overall. Unlike bigger cities there is rarely if ever a murder in the news (maybe once every few years) and in my previous neighborhood I would rarely if ever even bother to lock my doors. Even downtown at night feels safe, and because the police have nothing much to do they tend to show up wherever there is a party or social gathering to "investigate" it. Overall id say it鈥檚 a safe, clean, misty, cool, cloudy, expensive city that has a lot to offer the right person. I plan on moving to Seattle to start my career, but I could see myself coming back to Bellingham someday when I have the money to enjoy it. Others My friends in Bellingham really like it. We almost moved there, and honestly, in terms of family, I wish we had. It has a large university, it's close to both Vancouver BC and Seattle, and it's absolutely beautiful. Ive been to bellevue, seattle, poulsbo, bremerton, tracyton, silverdale and tacoma and they all seem to be nice areas. My best friend lives in that area and enjoys it. As far as the employment goes it depends on what your looking for but you shouldnt have any problem finding a job. Good luck to you in your move! Hi there. Bellingham is a great small city with quite a lot to offer. The town is strongly influenced by the presence of Western Washington University with crowns the top of Sehome hill and overlooks Bellingham Bay. For a small city it has a very active arts program with two local theater groups. The local school district still benefits from the long history of WWU's education program, having originally been the State Normal School, a teachers school. There are three different high schools, each reflecting a different socio-economic group. Sehome students have historically come from more affluent homes and have scored better on standardized tests. The downside is a pervasive feeling of entitlement by many of the students. If you like outdoor recreation for your family, its a wonderful place to live. In winter Mount Baker is a snowboarders mecca, and in the summer the waters of Puget Sound beckon. Each Wednesday night there are sailboat races on the bay. Employment has changed quite a bit in the last few years. The pulp and paper industry used to be the driving economic force in the community, but that has now closed down. There are an abundant number of low paying service industry jobs, but few industrial jobs. There is a small pleasure boat building factory and some light manufacturing, but not an awful lot. Whatcom county still has quite a bit of affordable land. Much of it is pretty tacky looking with quite a few mobile homes squatting on five acre parcels. The land north of Bellingham, toward Lynden tends to be a bit more tastefully developed, but its only a matter of degree. Summers are mild, with quite a few days into the 80s, and only a handful of days reaching into the 90s. The winter can be nasty at times, especially when their is a cold outflow of air from the Fraser Valley to the north in Canada. I've been colder walking to class at WWU in the winter than I ever was in Alaska. All that being said, on balance its a very favorable place to live. My ownly suggestion would be, spend a little money and take a two week vacation there. You can never get a sense of a community unless you have feet on the ground. nice place! I live in Bellingham and I love it. Unfortunately finding a job here is extremely hard! I had to work retail for over a year before I landed a "real job". As others have mentioned, Bellingham is an incredibly beautiful town with a myriad of outdoor activities - skiing, kayaking, hiking, camping and some of the most scenic roads you could ask for. If I were you I would find a job here (or in Lynden, Ferndale or Blaine) beforehand and then move. If you do things the other way around you may find yourself in a tough situation for a while. Bellingham is very depressing, I guess it must be because bad things happened to me there. |
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