Krista Kenner

February 7, 2024

Why Columbia is one of my favorite Bellingham neighborhoods

Krista Kenner

February 7, 2024

Excuse me in advance but I’m going to gush for a minute about one of my favorite neighborhoods in Bellingham: Columbia!

This neighborhood is known for having a super strong sense of community. People who buy in Columbia tend to stay there for a very long time. There are many families in Columbia, but there’s also a ton of people that are retired; many folks have raised their kids in that neighborhood and still own, love and enjoy their homes. There are kids running around everywhere.

Ice cream trucks love to visit the streets of Columbia in the summertime.

People also love their dogs in this neighborhood. After hours, the playground at Columbia Elementary (a stately brick building situated in the middle of the neighborhood) becomes an off-leash dog park. While kids swing and slide on the play equipment, dog parents throw balls for their furry kids, and simultaneously everyone tends to socialize.

Walkability of the Columbia Neighborhood

Depending on where you live in the Columbia neighborhood, you will be walkable to downtown. I’ve walked from Columbia to downtown in about 20 minutes. Get on your bike and it will takes 5 minutes.

Restaurants in the Columbia Neighborhood

Goods Local Brews (a local tap house with a taco food truck reliably parked on-site) is located in the neighborhood, as well as Elizabeth Station (best pizza!) and Narrative Coffee. You’re also walkable to the restaurants and breweries on Meridian Street in the Fountain District, including Zeeks Pizza and Diamond Jim’s (a greasy spoon brunch spot).

Goods, the best place to grab a casual beer and tacos… or in December, buy Christmas trees!

Parks in the Columbia Neighborhood

Elizabeth Park is a large park that sits at the entrance of the Columbia neighborhood. There’s playground equipment, tennis/pickleball courts, and a lot of open space for walking or picnicking while you enjoy a beautiful and charming canopy of mature trees. Other parks include Carl Lobe and Lorraine Ellis.

Home Prices in the Columbia Neighborhood

The desirability of the neighborhood translates into a higher median sales prices than some other neighborhoods in Bellingham. The average sales price in Columbia in 2023 was $758,000, about 20% higher than the average sales price of Bellingham as a whole. Also, while there are some large historic stately homes (especially bordering Elizabeth Park), there’s also a lot of small bungalows. And people will get very creative in how to fit into said tiny bungalows! People sacrifice space (large closets, extra bathrooms, usable garages) for the neighborhood vibes.

A Day in the Life - in the Columbia Neighborhood

Below is a short video that features me and my dog running around some of the aforementioned favorite spots of Columbia… enjoy!

If you want to learn more about some of my favorite neighborhoods in Bellingham, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I love to share my knowledge.

Also, feel free to follow me on Instagram for more Bellingham life and real estate content.

Krista Kenner

December 8, 2019

Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Spotlight: South Hill in Bellingham, WA

Krista Kenner

December 8, 2019

Neighborhoods

I can rattle off a half a dozen favorite neighborhoods in Bellingham but there is none closer to my heart than South Hill. Because it’s where I have chosen to live and raise my family! We love the schools, the proximity both downtown and Fairhaven, the historic homes, and the Bellingham Bay views.

A foggy morning over Bellingham Bay. This photo shows S Garden and S Forest Streets in the South Hill neighborhood.

Pros:

South Hill is exactly that—a large hill. Therefore, bay views abound!
South Hill boasts fantastic schools, including Lowell Elementary, Fairhaven Middle School and Sehome High School.
South Hill has many beautiful historic character homes (I included photos of a couple of my favorites so you can get the vibe.)
Many homes are very walkable to Fairhaven, a thriving retail/shopping district.

Cons:

At an average of $374 per sq ft (in the last year—2019), South Hill is one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Bellingham.
It’s difficult to find a large flat yard (again, the hill situation).
Attached garages are harder to come by than in some neighborhoods.
The condos in the South Hill neighborhood tend to be closer to busy streets.

That said, it’s a very desirable place to live. Homes are mostly owner-occupied and nicely maintained. The population is a healthy mix of busy working professionals, retirees, and families. In the areas that border Western Washington University, there are college students. There is an active neighborhood association.

If you are looking to get a better feel for the South Hill real estate market, I’ve put together a dynamic (automatically updated) collection of South Hill properties that are currently for sale, pending or have sold in the last 6 months. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or to view a home that’s currently for sale!

Krista Kenner

July 23, 2017

Family, Neighborhoods

Best neighborhoods for kids and families in Bellingham

Krista Kenner

July 23, 2017

Family, Neighborhoods

If you’re moving to Bellingham, you are likely wondering where you might want to live. Other questions include:

Where can I get an affordable home in Bellingham?
Should I rent or buy when I move?
Is there crime in Bellingham?
What are the best schools in Bellingham?

Trust me, I’ve been there! The questions are heavy. Moving is hard! Four years ago we packed up and moved our young family to Bellingham from Seattle. It tends to be a bit overwhelming to move to a new community, especially with children, so I’ve compiled some advice – largely informed by my own move.

When we moved to Bellingham, we decided to rent first. Buying and selling homes is a big commitment, so we wanted to “test the waters” with our move first. We wanted to make sure we liked our jobs, and that the move overall seemed right for our family. So we rented our Seattle home for six months and signed a lease for a cute home in the Silver Beach neighborhood, near Lake Whatcom.

The Silver Beach neighborhood was great. Pros: it’s gorgeous and has easy access to Lake Whatcom. (We had a little community beach a walkable distance away that we could go to, but Bloedel Donavan Park was also convenient.) There’s a great, flat trail nearby that’s wonderful for an easy hike or a jog. It only takes 12-15 minutes to get to downtown Bellingham. One of Bellingham’s best restaurants, The Fork at Agate Bay, is nearby. The Silver Beach area is quiet, peaceful, and the community was welcoming and sweet. We could walk to see cows! (No, it's not rural, but we lived near a rare couple-acre parcel where the landowners kept a couple grazing cows.)

Our oldest daughter on a walk to see the cows in the Silver Beach neighborhood near Lake Whatcom.

Silver Beach cons: not many. For us, we missed being super close to a variety of grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops. We realized through living out near Lake Whatcom that we really are city people, and we could get a little bit more of an urban vibe by being closer to downtown.

A little less than a year later, we moved to the South Hill neighborhood of Bellingham. We were lucky to be able to buy a fixer upper with a fantastic view of Bellingham Bay. The view alone was probably enough to woo us, but we were excited about other perks. My husband could get to his work downtown in just a few minutes. There were many great parks for kids nearby (Bellingham’s park game is strong!). The south end schools were known to be fantastic from elementary school all the way up to high school.

Our youngest daughter at Squalicum Park in Bellingham.

I wasn’t sure how many families my age would be nearby in South Hill. Many of the homes are sizeable, and have views. It's desirable, and the prices in the neighborhood reflect that. In the last 12 months, the average annual median sold price in South Hill is over $575,000—not exactly entry level for most young families.

The Columbia neighborhood tempted us because it’s known to be magical for children. Halloween is an epic event in Columbia. The elementary school has a great reputation, and we had good friends that lived there. At times, I second guessed our decision to go south during this super kid-centric phase of our lives, but now I’ve realized that it’s so easy to join the fun family-friendly events in any neighborhood in Bellingham. And once our oldest went to kindergarten, we met a whole bunch of families with young children that reside in the south end.

In fact, there are many great schools and many idyllic places to live with children in Bellingham. Since settling in here, we’ve had our kids enrolled in a few different preschools in a few different areas, so we’ve managed to meet families that live all over town in a variety of neighborhoods.

Like any community, there are pros and cons to each neighborhood and you have to figure out what’s most important to you.

If you can sacrifice on size, and love the charm of older homes, York or Sunnyland neighborhood might be a nice fit for you.

If having a large, flat chunk of land for a garden or swing set is important, the Birchwood neighborhood, known for its large lot sizes, might be a good place to start your search.

Love the lake? Try Geneva, or aforementioned Silver Beach, or head south to the Lake Samish area.

Want an International Baccalaureate program that offers instruction in a second language during your children's primary years? Wade King Elementary has it, so you'll want to focus on sections of Whatcom Falls neighborhood, and/or the Urban Growth Area near Yew Street and Lake Padden.

Want to run out your door to tons of trails? Whatcom Falls and Samish/Lake Padden areas also offer that.

I know—there are a ton of considerations. But I can tell you that you can’t really go wrong here. And that's not just realtor-speak, I promise. Bellingham is an awesome place to raise kids.

Finding a good real estate agent—someone in the same stage of life—is a good first step. Since moving to Bellingham, it has become my passion to help other people—families especially—integrate into this remarkable community that I now call home. Give me a call or send me an email so we can chat more!