Exploring the Neighborhoods in Bellingham, WA
Bellingham is a small city, but people here are loyal to their part of it, and the parts really are different from one another. This is a quick tour of eleven neighborhoods we get asked about often, grouped by where they are. It is one team’s opinion. Where we have a fuller page on a place, we have linked it.
South of downtown
Fairhaven dates to the nineteenth century and still looks like it, with a few blocks of old brick buildings full of shops, galleries and restaurants. Around that core are historic houses and a fair number of newer condos, so it works for people who want an old house and also for people who are finished with yard work. You can walk to nearly everything. Our office is on 12th Street, so we are not neutral about Fairhaven.
Edgemoor is just past Fairhaven, on the bluff above Bellingham Bay. The lots are large, many of the homes were custom built, and a lot of them look west over the water to the San Juan Islands. It is quiet and private and feels further from town than it is, with Fairhaven right next door. These are some of the larger and more expensive homes in the city.
South Hill is the slope between downtown and Fairhaven. It has big older houses, wide views of the bay, Western Washington University at its back and Boulevard Park at its feet. People who want a view and want to walk downtown usually begin here. We cover it, along with Happy Valley, on our Southside Bellingham page.
The old neighborhoods near downtown
The Lettered Streets is one of the oldest residential parts of Bellingham, and the streets really are named for letters. It sits right beside downtown and the Waterfront District, with leafy blocks of old houses in every state of repair, from carefully restored to waiting for somebody. If you like historic houses and want to be able to walk to dinner, look here.
Columbia is next door and has a lot in common with it. There are craftsman houses, big street trees, and a neighborhood that holds together well, with schools, parks and small businesses close by. Elizabeth Park is the center of it, and the summer concerts there pull in families with picnic blankets from all over this side of town. It is an easy place to suggest to families who want an older house.
Sunnyland is flatter, a bit scrappier and more mixed, with houses, small commercial buildings, breweries and coffee shops all on the same blocks. It has been popular with younger buyers and people who want to live near where they go out. A lot of the houses are on the smaller side, which suits people who would rather be out than doing yard work.
North and east
Roosevelt is a big, mixed neighborhood east of downtown. There are older single-family houses, many of them being fixed up, next to newer and more energy-efficient construction. Roosevelt Park is where people gather. Families and younger buyers look here because there is a real range of houses to choose from.
Barkley is the newest of the group. It was planned around Barkley Village, so the shopping, restaurants and entertainment are all in one center, with townhomes and apartments close in and single-family houses on the streets around them. It suits people who want low maintenance and a short errand run, and it is also near the trails on the east side of town.
Lake Whatcom
Three of the places people ask about are on Lake Whatcom, east of town.
Silver Beach is at the north end of the lake and is part of the city. There is a range here, from waterfront homes with docks to ordinary family houses a few streets back that still have the lake and the trails close by. For people who want to paddle before work and still have a job in town, it is a very good answer.
Geneva is further along the shore and leans more toward waterfront and view property, with both contemporary houses and older traditional ones laid out to face the water. It is private, and quiet at night.
Sudden Valley is further out again. It is a planned community set in the forest, with everything from condos to custom homes, along with its own golf course, a marina and a lot of trails. It feels like a retreat, and for many of the people who live there that is exactly why they chose it. Geneva and Sudden Valley are outside the city limits, and Sudden Valley has a community association with dues and rules, so there is more to read before you buy. The lake is also the city’s drinking water, and that brings extra rules for building near it. We go into that in Buying a Home in Bellingham.
The ones that are not on this list
Eleven neighborhoods is a long way from all of them. South of town we also have pages on Chuckanut and Lake Samish, and there is an overview of Bellingham as a whole. If you are trying to narrow things down, these six tips for finding your neighborhood will help, and so will a drive around with one of us. Get in touch and we will set that up.