Thoughts on Bellingham

Washington State seems to have some of the highest priced gas in the nation with Bellingham having even higher prices than major nearby cities. I think there is a huge refinery in Birch Bay just north of Bellingham too. Not sure why the significant price increase. I'm sure someone on this site may know why. Again, good luck with everything! BTW, after my first post last night about your Bellingham questions I told my wife about your questions. She graduated from Western, lived there for 4 years and had good times in B-ham. We sat around talking about all the cool things in that town and surrounding area. I think you started something in my household. I also just heard the other day that Bellingham airport has the lowest airline prices in the country.

Not sure why the significant price increase. I'm sure someone on this site may know why.

Taxes, mostly.

Proximity to the BC border gives a fine reason to adjust gas prices upward...

Hmmm......

I've lived in Bellingham for 20 years now. Maybe I'm jaded but it's really not that great.

The weather blows a majority of the time (supposedly it's ranked as the cloudiest city in the US)
Skiing and climbing are not close by at all.
The job market is and always has been mediocre
Culture is lacking and social networks are reticent (blame the weather and google "Seattle Freeze")

The North Cascades in mid or late summer are amazing but damn the summer can be short!

The Front Range weather, combined with a seemingly better economy and ridiculous access to all sorts of outdoor activites seems like a shangrila in comparison. I'd go in a heartbeat if I could convince my wife to move away from family. If all that matters is faceshots on storm days make the move but if you're balancing or planning on balancing family, career and other interests stay put, you got it pretty damn good.

The things that can make Bellingham great are situational.  If you are all out for mountains and want to live right in them and ski out the door after breakfast into sunshine, there will be better places.  If you like all of: the ocean, the mountains, and a right-size town for raising kids, I think it's hard to beat.

The compression of the distance from the ocean to real mountains is pretty great if you value it.  We have 15 minutes to the bay going west, and 75 minutes to a Baker trailhead to the east, with numerous parks in between.

Yes, employment is pretty tough around here especially compared to cost of living.

14 years ago it came down to Boulder or Bellingham for me; I've never regretted my decision as I think Bellingham is the best small city for people with our/these interests to live in if you need to work and raise a family. If you have a better job market, you get more urban congestion. Surprisingly, no one has yet espoused the stability of the maritime snowpack, a factor not to be ignored.