918 Billy Frank Jr St

A former mayor once dubbed Bellingham the “City of Subdued Excitement,” an oddly perfect nickname for this delightful and unique community. Ninety minutes north of Seattle on Interstate 5, Bellingham is a charming small city positioned about twenty miles from the Canadian border. Western Washington University enrolls around 16,000 students, many of whom chose to live in the coastal Sehome area near campus.

Locals are quite enthusiastic about beer, books, and bicycles, and you’ll spot many businesses around town specializing in any and all of those Pacific Northwest staples. Bellingham hosts numerous community events throughout the year, covering everything from music to athletics; perhaps the most unique is the annual Ski to Sea race, a seven-leg relay in which teams compete to get from Mount Baker Ski Area to Bellingham Bay via skis, bikes, boats, and by foot.