Thoughts on Bellingham

I am currently living outside of Boulder Co and my girl and I are thinking about moving to Bellingham. I was wondering what the communities thoughts are on Bellingham and the access to the mountains for backcountry/ski mountaineering? Any thoughts on somewhere more conducive to what I am looking for? I am an HVAC technician, so I do need to be somewhere that will allow me to pay the bills.

Really excited about this site and fantastic stoke. It seems like you all have a great community of folks and I would greatly appreciate any advice that you all can offer. Thank you.

Bellingham is the only place my wife and would move to if we had the opprotunity. Great community vibe all around. Baker is about 90 mins away and has a vibe equal to Bellingham with easy access to surrounding mtns. Cant say enough great things about B-ham. One thing to keep in mind, you may not see the sun for 4 months. Like anywhere in Washington, greybird and straight rainy weather is common throughout the winter. Good luck to you guys!

Gotta agree - Hamsterville is a great place – I kinda want to live there again and have thought about it a lot. I went to college at Western way back when, meet my wife there, have many fond memories. Bellingham is close to lots of outdoor options, Mt. Baker and the North Cascades, great northern Puget Sound access, the San Juan’s are not to far away, Canada – almost to many options to list, pretty much everything with really really big mountain options. North Cascades highway is supposed to open up later this week which means lots of really big backcountry skiing options for a long time still this year again. B’ham is a college town with lots of activities….Not the weather that Boulder has (wife went to the Rolf Institute and really liked being there – I’ve like visiting). Bellingham is still a relatively small community for the Puget metropolis

The locals will try and steal your girl friend are are very secretive about their backcountry stashes and dismissive of Seattle skiers ...they even call one of the standard backcountry runs the Seattle Chutes because it's full of visiting Seattleites that mob it while they are skiing untracked powder in their secret locations.

But seriously...great town and my son is at college there and loves it, both the town and easy access to magnificent skiing and mountain biking. If I didn't need to make big bucks to pay for my expensive habits...I'd move there as well.

However...the economy can be tough and Bhmam like a lot of places had suffered its share of economic woes. HVAC technician sounds like a pretty good gig so you may be alright.... I'd call a few potential employers( google!) and ask them what the prospects are for a person with your skills.

I moved here 10 years ago from Santa Fe and consider the PNW the best place on earth despite the repressed and passive/aggressive natives.

Good luck.

worth 2 cents.

My wife and I are currently happy in Bellevue / Seattle and would not want to move to B-ham, despite all the good ski and other outdoor potential. On the other hand, if we were still in FL, we'd move there asap

Don't know too much about Boulder but from what I've heard, it's a really cool place. Visiting B-ham a couple of times, I don't know why you'd want to go there from Boulder. Also, a friend lived in Boulder and moved to B-ham for work. He bikes but doesn's ski, and I don't think he liked it. Now he's in Issaquah.

Guess it depends.

Like Boulder, B-ham is a school town, and has pretty quick access to a lot of different things to do. Outdoors, Skiing, water sports (for the boaters) climbing, cycling (mountain, freeride/DH and road). I think it's less pretentious than Boulder and perhaps a little more balanced?

I lived in the Boulder area twice.
I worked in Boulder but chose to live in Nederland instead.
Restaurants and brew houses aside, I didn't actually care for Boulder all that much, but that's just me.

As an alternative suggestion, and possibly better for employment (that said, I have no clue what the market is here for an HVAC tech) maybe take a look at Issuaquah? On Seattle's East side, there is quick access to daily riding, and you are right off I-90 which will have you in the mountains in under an hours drive. From a lift access point of view, it's a reasonable drive to Steven's and Crystal, and a short drive to the Summit/Alpental. These same zones offer a lot of options for ski touring as well. Also access to climbing, rivers, etc... Probably not as progressive as Bellingham, it does offer good access to the mountains with a lot of options.