Fried_Catfishies
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

I’m 36 and moved here in December with my partner. She’s originally from the PNW (not bham) but had been gone for over a decade. I grew up in Florida with no connection to the area. We absolutely love it here. I think it’s hard anywhere to make friends as you age but hobbies help a ton - for example we both climb and have met some great folks through Vital. Persistence is key and it takes some effort, but it’s worth it.

I read a lot on this sub that folks are pretty unhappy that Bellingham is getting more expensive and has changed, but as a newcomer I think this place is magic - I love the people I’m meeting (even the college kids in the gym) and the access to the outdoors. I only wish we had better restaurants.

Anonymous
4mo ago
🦉🦉🦉

I grew up there but haven't lived there since 2022 so YMMV. Great place to grow up. Perfect weather and limitless outdoor activities in the summer, pretty shitty weather in the winter UNLESS you enjoy and can afford snow sports, in which case Mt. Baker is a national treasure.

Economy low key sucks. A lot of my friends' dads worked in the oil refineries just outside town and made good money, but those jobs are highly sought after and not readily available. Housing is incredibly expensive, especially relative to the median wage.

It is essentially a college town, but the college isn't big or important enough to drive the economy. Most students leave during the summer and don't stick around after they graduate because there aren't enough jobs.

Bottom line I think it's a great place to grow up and go to college, a great place to raise a family if you can afford it. Otherwise, unless you really dig the small town vibes and like living with roommates, I would just live in Seattle, Vancouver, or Portland, where there's more entertainment options and economic opportunity with pretty much the same mild climate and access to the outdoors.

TheEmperorsNewHose
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Just wanna throw in a slightly opposing viewpoint - I’m lucky, I grew up here and still have several close friends here, but they’ve almost all coupled up and started families, and I haven’t yet, so I have to fend for myself if I want to have a social life. I don’t actually think it’s that hard to find new friends in your 30s, if you go about it the right way.

• Trivia nights. Nearly every bar/brewery has one, and there’s one nearly every night of the week. If you go by yourself and sit at the bar, there are usually a couple other singles up there who form a group with the bartender, or you could be asked if you’d like to join someone else’s group. Be a regular, you’ll start seeing the same faces and you’ve already got something in common. Speaking of…
• Become a regular somewhere. Coffee shop, sandwich place, brewery, bar, wherever. Find a place where you’re comfortable, where the vibe is casual, and is staffed with people you think you’d like to be friends with. I was on vacation last week and went to the same brewery four times over the course of a week - by the third visit two of the waitresses knew me and my buddy by name, and one of them met up after her shift to show us a couple cool locals-only type bars. Don’t be creepy, don’t overstay your welcome, read the room, don’t talk at them while they work, etc etc etc, but if you tip well and talk to them like a human being rather than a server, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you become a friendly face.
• Hinge/Bumble/etc. I haven’t found a serious relationship on any of the dating apps in a while but I have formed some real close and genuine friendships with girls whose company I enjoyed but where the spark just wasn’t there. There are a ton of single women (and presumably men) in their thirties and forties who were drawn here for the outdoorsy shit and are just as lonely as you.
• Part-time job. There are always plenty of openings for part-time restaurant work - I know, work sucks, but by far the easiest way to port into a new social group is through work, if you pick up a shift a week it’ll give you a little extra spending money and a huge leg-up in the friend-making game

If you’re not someone comfortable striking up a conversation with a stranger, it will be harder, and it’s important to be self-aware, too - there’s a fine line between chatting and bothering someone - but if you put yourself out there and you’re a chill enough bloke who people enjoy being around, sooner or later you’re gonna look up and realize you’ve got friends all of a sudden. Anyway - good luck!

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10 Realities of Living in Bellingham, WA (What No One Tells You)