Welcome to Bellingham, Washington State, U.S.A.:
Some problems from a visitor's perspective.

Bellingham: What's great. What's great. Improvements Needed. Improvements Needed.
As Bellingham has a great Dharma Center shared by four lineages, see: * Basic Buddhism
* Harry Potter: the books, the DVDs, the magic.

* Our log of recent books read and recommended. * Our disclaimer.

Note: Before posting this, I sent the following information to the Bellingham Mayor's Office (mayorsoffice@cob.org) on July 10, 2003 and (receiving no reply) sent a followup e-mail on July 22.
That garnered the following e-mail (which addresses none of my concerns) from that office on July 22, 2003, sent by J. Lynne Walker, Executive Assistant to Mayor Mark Asmundson, telling me:

"Non-citizens of Bellingham fall lower on my priority list and, your letter in particular, addresses multiple issues that require research to answer properly."
I have received no further response.

Praise, however, to Washington Senator Dale Brandland for his reply:
"I frequently see many of the City Council members so I will pass on your comments.. I can tell you that they are dedicated to many of the same things that you talked about. They are in fact attempting to deal with Lake Whatcom water issues and waterfront issues right now."

What is great about Bellingham.

There is much attractive about Bellingham. In particular, it is surrounded by great physical beauty: ocean, forests, lakes. For example, Boulevard Park, though small is a charming park by the ocean.

The people are friendly and helpful. And, like elsewhere in Washington State, there are the wonderful cherries in season!

But Bellingham has some big challenges if it is to become attractive to a tourist economy.

Challenges Facing Bellingham and Improvements Needed.

Many tasks face Bellingham if it is to become the tourist destination that it desires to be, and a place that attracts people to live there. Note the following in particular.
1. Public access to the ocean water-front in Bellingham.
Make your beauty available to the public.

Bellingham's town council should take a leadership role
in creating significantly higher public access to ocean water-front
than is done elsewhere in Washington State.

Bellingham should not make the mistake of allowing ocean-front property to go to private developers - rows of water front condominiums and private offices will NOT make Bellingham a great tourist destination, nor a more attractive city to live or move to.

2. Pollution of the water supply for Bellingham in Lake Whatcom
City of Bellingham, protect your water supply.
This may require you to curtail building in the Lake Whatcom watershed
and to prevent power boats on Lake Whatcom.

In July 2003, signs posted on trails by South Lake Whatcom advised that pregnant women and small children should not eat some of Lake Watcom's fish due to the high levels of mercury in the fish.

Other sign forbid any fishing in portions of Lake Watcom.

One homeowner in Sudden Valley told me that for several days last summer she had been advised to boil all drinking water.

Huge homes develop apace, replacing much of the forest in the watershed of Lake Whatcom. Many of these homes use septic tanks, whose discharge, filtered through the earth, flows lakeward.

On the several days that I visited Lake Watcom, I could always hear and see power boats and jet skis, whose discharges (whether deliberate or accidental) add to the pollution in the Lake.

3. Noise pollution at Lake Whatcom
City of Bellingham, prohibit jet skis on Lake Whatcom.

In July 2003, on the several days that I visited Lake Watcom, I could always hear and see power boats and jet skis, whose discharges (whether deliberate or accidental) add to the pollution in the Lake.

If I were interested in buying property near the lake, that loud disruptive noise would prevent me from doing so.

4. Dog shit all over Bellingham.
Dog owners of Bellingham, PLEASE clean up after your animals.

In walking for a half hour in Whatcom Falls Park we saw several dog owners with their dogs unleashed. Coming from a town where people are required by law to leash their dogs in parks, this was offensive.

Even more offensive was that one of our party accidentally stepped in dog shit. One of the ten worst smells in the world is dog shit on a shoe. Again, in other towns people are required to clean up their dog's shit.

Despite our horror and our subsequent care, in another brief walk in Boulevard Park, another of our group received the dreaded dog-shit-on-the-shoe.

This is, of course, a health hazard as well as being an offense to the visitor and the citizen.

This corresponds to more than one dog-shit-on-the-shoe for every 3 person-hours of walking in Bellingham City parks.

* Basic Buddhism * or best books read.
* Harry Potter: Reviews of the Potter books, the DVDs, the magic.

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