A quick look at the South Hill
Neighborhood will tell you a lot about the area. It’s a cluster of old Victorian style homes
mixed with World War II era bungalows accompanied by an uninterrupted view of
Bellingham bay. It’s known for its fantastic schools, scenic parks and historic
homes.
In fact, South Hill is rated the
second best neighborhood in Bellingham, with a crime index 59 percent lower
than the Bellingham average and an income per capita 65.4 percent greater than
the Bellingham average, according to areavibes.com. The South Hill is easily
considered one of the best places to live, but why is that?
Ever since the late 1970’s, the
value of the homes on South Hill has been steadily increasing, says Paul
English of Windermere Real Estate in Bellingham He says that these places are
becoming prime real estate and that the price increase has shifted the
demographic of the neighborhood. “When the price goes up, so does the income
and occupation. In the future these homes will be untouchable.”
Bob Hall, a South Hill resident,
and the owner of one of the most valuable properties in the neighborhood, said
that the prices are starting to mimic cities like Seattle. “It’s all doctors
and lawyers now,” said Hall. “College professors can’t even afford to live on
the South Hill anymore.”
Hall said that he never has to lock
his doors at night, that he’s never seen a robbery in 35 years of living in the
neighborhood. “I don’t even feel compelled to go to the neighborhood meetings,
that’s how safe I am.”
Craig Cooper, a new South Hill
resident, said that he notices the lack of activity within the
neighborhood. “What we’ve noticed is
that it’s very very quiet, almost to a fault at times,” said Cooper. “You look
around the block and no one is really around.” Cooper said what he misses about
his old neighborhood is the families. “I like it so far, we just haven’t really
found any young families to hang out with.” Cooper suspects it could be because
of the price increase - that many families just can’t afford to live in the
South Hill Neighborhood anymore.
Sam Kaas, a South Hill renter, said
that he is fortunate to be renting from someone he knows, because a real estate
company might have increased his rent to compete with the prices. Kaas says he
knows people who have had to move because their rent had been increased. “I know my landlord, so at least my rent
probably wont go up anytime soon.”
Kaas also
says most of his friends and neighbors are pretty quiet. “A lot of my friends
are much like me. We just want to be left alone and have our cups of hot
caffeinated beverages and read our books. We want it to be quiet.”
Kaas works at Village Books and
says he has seen how the South Hill/Fairhaven area has transformed. “When Village
Books opened up in 1980, Fairhaven was an absolute ghost town; everything was
boarded up.”
So what is the future of the South
Hill? As the years go on, more and more of the houses are either being
renovated or torn down to make room for new homes. “There’s a squeeze on the middle class,” said
English. All the lesser homes will be torn down and everything will be much
less affordable for the average buyer.
“It’s just going to continue,” said
Hall. “If you have the money, you want to live here.” There’s no doubt the
increase of value has created one of the nicest neighborhoods in town, but it
has also created a homogenous environment.
“It’s the nicest neighborhood in
the nicest city in the nicest country in the world,” said Hall.
