Bellingham, WA

[xxxxxxtacky]

Does anyone have any info? Coming from Florida so I'm clueless. 

[Sarochan]

What are you interested in knowing? I attended WWU for a few years as an undergrad, and I might have some answers for you!

[xxxxxxtacky]

I'll most likely be moving there in late July-August for graduate school and I don't really know what to expect. I'm coming from a large college town in FL (~50,000 students), so I'm pretty sure it'll be quite different. 

 

What's the town like? Also, the campus. Is it easy to find housing near campus? Are there certain areas/complexes to stay away from? 

 

Basically, any information would be helpful!

 

[Sarochan]

I really loved Bellingham, although yeah, it's going to be quite a bit smaller than a place that can support 50,000 students. (WWU has about 15,000 students, I think, so that gives you some idea of the size difference.) The town is nice, and there's a variety of things to do (various bars/clubs, lots of outdoor activities in the area, places with small/independently-owned stores, mall + usual mall features).... Although some people I went to school with complained about the lack of a nightlife/activities. However, Bellingham is relatively close to some other, bigger cities (Seattle and Vancouver being the most notable), so there's the potential for a short(ish) travel to more exciting places. The public transit system is quite good, both for getting around the city and connecting to other counties, so you can get to Everett or Seattle or Anacortes or Oak Harbor by bus.

 

The WWU campus is very long! At the south end, there's a couple of dorm areas (Buchanan Towers, Fairhaven); then the gym facility and some of the newer buildings, such as the Communications building; continuing north, there's kind of the "main drag", with a variety of science lecture halls (Arntzen Hall, Environmental Studies, the Biology and Chemistry buildings) on either side; finally you get to the campus center area, which has Old Main (lots of things like financial aid, student accounts, that sort of thing), the two libraries, Red Square, and a lot of other lecture halls (social studies, math, language, things like that), as well as most of the student residence areas. The campus has a variety of sculptures and art pieces, some of which you can use as seating. I really liked the campus, although some of the buildings were definitely dated. Lots of grassy areas, trees, flowerbeds, and of course the Sehome Hill Arboretum is right next to the campus, so there's a good amount of vegetation around.

 

Unfortunately, I can't offer much help with the housing question; I only ever lived on campus before I moved to CNY. But! I know a lot of people did rent places (both apartments and houses) near the school, and there were usually signs up for people looking for roommates/housemates. Most of the people I knew living off campus were either near the south end (lots of apartment buildings down there). I don't know much about certain places to stay away from, either, but in terms of general safety Bellingham is a pretty good place.

 

The weather will probably be quite different from Florida! I really like the Pacific Northwest climate, but it will be rainy in the fall. And winter. (Much less so in the warmer months, but yeah.) Generally the temperature doesn't go above 100, and the average high in the summer is 71 F. The winters are normally pretty mild; the average low is about 32 F, and there's not usually much snow. Raincoats and boots are recommended, especially if you'll be walking a lot. Parts of the campus are paved with brick, and there's a lot of ups and downs where puddles can form.

 

I hope that this helps somewhat!

[jnah]

Very helpful, Sarochan—thanks! I too will (very likely) be attending WWU in the fall, so if anyone else has experience with life in Bellingham and can offer their perspective, that would be great!

[meaghanmac91]

I did my undergraduate degree and am seemingly the opposite of you as I am now living in florida near FSU. I LOVED Bellingham and I don't have enough nice things to say about it. I lived off campus for 3/4 years and it was great.

 

I lived off of 32nd Street for a year on the South Campus side of things and then lived in the "Sehome" neighborhood just North of campus on the other side of the Arboretum. Most places to live are nice and the bus system is great. I would avoid living directly off of Samish Way or living a few blocks from it as there is a tiiiinnyy bit of crime/sketchy people that hangout on that road. My best suggestion is to live between 21st and 32nd street on south campus (that's where most apartments are located) or if you wanted to live near downtown between Garden and Indian there are some cool places. The lettered district is nice but you would have to take two buses to get to campus and most people bus as parking is limited. Same with Fairhaven, it's a really cool part of town (my favorite part), and the houses are great, but the buses don't run as often over there.

 

The town is really nice, there are a few breweries (including a couple that have opened since I graduated). My favorite places to hangout at night were the Up and Up which is a beer-only bar attached to a pizzeria (Rudy's), Boundary Bay Brewery (they are a restaurant/brewery and have live music and an outdoor area for the summer). There is also a nice bar called McKays taphouse kind of NE of campus, which I luckily lived right up the street from my junior/senior years.

 

As for outdoor activities, prepare to be overwhelmed! Chuckanut state park is amazing and a 15ish minute drive south of campus. There is hiking, the beach, rock climbing, kayaking in the ocean. Pretty much everything. Mt. Baker is an hour and a half away I believe and there is some great skiing in the winter. WWU has a boathouse on Lake Whatcom and students can rent sailboats/ kite boards/ kayaks for 3 dollars for the whole day, it's wonderful. This list doesn't include the wealth of outdoor recreational areas further outside of Bellingham. Aka Ross Lake/Diablo Lake, Deception Pass, etc.

 

Anyhow, I would be happy to answer more specific questions about where to live and the like.

[Meghanlodon]

Sorry to necro this thread, but it makes more sense than starting a new one...

Anyways, can anyone tell me about living in Bham as a grad student? Or more specifically, living off campus? When would be a good time to move in? I'm living in state right now so getting up there to look around won't be as bad as it could be, but I also want to make sure I still have some time to make some extra cash before I have to go up north.

Thanks!

[Glasperlenspieler]

Didn't live in Bham as a grad student, but did live there off campus for three years, so I know the area pretty well. If you're looking for housing near campus, things tend to open up with the school schedule. So there's a fair amount available at the beginning of July, but also beginning of August and September. The further away from campus you are, the less the rental market revolves around students, so there's probably a little more freedom in timing.

 

If you have any specific questions about the city, let me know. It's truly a wonderful part of the country to live in.

 

[Meghanlodon]

On 4/17/2016 at 5:36 AM, DerPhilosoph said:

Didn't live in Bham as a grad student, but did live there off campus for three years, so I know the area pretty well. If you're looking for housing near campus, things tend to open up with the school schedule. So there's a fair amount available at the beginning of July, but also beginning of August and September. The further away from campus you are, the less the rental market revolves around students, so there's probably a little more freedom in timing.

 

If you have any specific questions about the city, let me know. It's truly a wonderful part of the country to live in.

 

Thanks for the reply! I was thinking about moving up in early sept, closer to when classes start (I'm trying to work and save money down here in snohomish during the summer.) Is there a particular real estate group students work with regularly? Chuckanut Property Management. was recommended to me, but my friend wasn't a student so I don't know how well they'd work with WWU's quarter system.

[Glasperlenspieler]

On 4/20/2016 at 9:04 AM, Meghanlodon said:

Thanks for the reply! I was thinking about moving up in early sept, closer to when classes start (I'm trying to work and save money down here in snohomish during the summer.) Is there a particular real estate group students work with regularly? Chuckanut Property Management. was recommended to me, but my friend wasn't a student so I don't know how well they'd work with WWU's quarter system.

An early September move-in should be very doable, although I would recommend starting to look right now since many students will already be trying to figure out there living situations for next year. 

 

There's a number of different rental agencies and pretty much all of them work with students regularly. I don't know much about Chuckanut, but I think some friends of mine rented from them and I didn't hear any complaints. Apex probably owns the most properties around campus. Unless things have changed substantially, I'd probably avoid Landmark. I've heard of a number of bad experiences with them. You can probably find a number of other agencies online, but since you're not that far away, I'd recommend taking a day trip up there, driving around to get a feel for the area, and grabbing any flyers/noting any for signs advertising pre-leasing. 

 

If you're looking to live with others you could also check the WWU message boards (Viking Village, I think) and/or craigslist.

[Meghanlodon]

9 hours ago, DerPhilosoph said:

An early September move-in should be very doable, although I would recommend starting to look right now since many students will already be trying to figure out there living situations for next year. 

 

There's a number of different rental agencies and pretty much all of them work with students regularly. I don't know much about Chuckanut, but I think some friends of mine rented from them and I didn't hear any complaints. Apex probably owns the most properties around campus. Unless things have changed substantially, I'd probably avoid Landmark. I've heard of a number of bad experiences with them. You can probably find a number of other agencies online, but since you're not that far away, I'd recommend taking a day trip up there, driving around to get a feel for the area, and grabbing any flyers/noting any for signs advertising pre-leasing. 

 

If you're looking to live with others you could also check the WWU message boards (Viking Village, I think) and/or craigslist.

Thanks for pointing me to the WWU message board, there's a ton of personals on there offering/looking for just what I need!

Slightly off topic of housing, how is the public bus system in Bham? I've heard both good and bad things (like it doesn't cross the highway?) I've used public buses pretty much all of undergrad so I can handle an 1hr+ commute.

[Glasperlenspieler]

9 hours ago, Meghanlodon said:

Slightly off topic of housing, how is the public bus system in Bham? I've heard both good and bad things (like it doesn't cross the highway?) I've used public buses pretty much all of undergrad so I can handle an 1hr+ commute.

I actually had really good experiences with the bus system. When I lived off campus I lived just south of campus and could easily get to campus, downtown, fairhaven, lakeway, and sehome (typically without changing buses as long as I was careful). And most everything I needed for day-to-day life was in this area. It's a little harder to get to north Bellingham with the buses, but I rarely needed to do that unless I had to go shopping at the mall, big box chain stores, or costco, and even then I'd say you can probably get there with one change (maybe two) and less than an hour. I had a friend that actually worked out that way as a student and commuted with the bus. I don't think I'd want to do that, but it's definitely feasible. 

 

There are fewer bus routes east of I-5 but there are still some, and honestly unless you end up living out that way, there's not a lot of reason to be on that side of town as a student or at least not on a regular basis. I lived in Bellingham for five years without a car and it wasn't a problem at all. That being said, it can be nice to have a friend with a car when you do need to get outside of the neighborhoods surrounding campus.