Community Wellbeing Chapter

Many of us chose our homes for its neighborhood/location and we have invested heavily in them over the years. So, if a new property owner wants to make changes that will substantially affect all the other neighbors' quality of life (such as by increasing the noise, traffic, parking problems, or by decreasing neighborhood safety, greenspace, etc.) that property owner/developer should be required to *first* get the approval of the neighbors. It is our lives and property values that will pay the price for his changes. The COB must protect our rights to live in the neighborhood that we choose, more than the rights of developers or newcomers. There is enough vacant land, derelict properties, and opportunities to build up that we do not need to destroy established, highly functional neighborhoods.

I think community wellbeing must be founded on frequent interaction between people, and the ability to interact with people who have different backgrounds and beliefs. One thing that I feel is missing are community centers/hubs/neighborhood gathering spaces. There are great small business etc facilitating community building activities but I think Bellingham could use more places like libraries. Places
that are open everyday, to everyone, and offer free programming and activities, and have spaces for community members to use for their own events.

Personally, I moved here because there are forests in and near to the city. But besides personal preference, there are endless studies showing the link between health, both mental and physical and tree canopy. Nature and open space access is equally supported by research, and this should be included in the plan. If we anticipate growing in population and density, we also need to grow in our open space and availability of play areas.

“Art is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity.”
Leo Tolstoy
Thank you for including Cultural Arts in the new Bellingham Comprehensive Plan. Please consider placing Arts and Culture more prominently, consistent with its vital importance.

There seems to be an important omission in the Plan. Rather than having its own Chapter (as does Parks, Recreation, and Open Space), Arts and Culture has been placed in the “Community Wellbeing” Chapter.

The category “Arts and Culture” does not appear to be represented in key places on the Engagement Hub, most importantly, 1) Graphic on the landing page: engagebellingham.org/hub-page/bellinghamplan, 2) Scope of Work, especially in “build upon what is valued today.”

I am always amazed at the variety and talent of the many artists in this area. For its size, Bellingham has an unusually strong cultural center represented by live music, from pop to classical; live theatre of all sorts for all ages; film arts (growing considerably); a wide range of graphic and visual arts; and literature, including novels, non-fiction, film and television.

Bellingham also hosts several unique and nationally known film festivals and music festivals. It is home to a distinguished multi-screen “art house” film theater, film production companies, several small theaters doing original work, an extraordinary local symphony orchestra, and distinguished choral groups.

Our major arts institutions are thriving: Mount Baker Theatre, Whatcom Museum, Allied Arts of Whatcom County, and the arts departments of Western Washington University, to name a few.

There are countless Bellingham citizens who act, direct, produce, write, design, photograph, film, paint, sculpt, and otherwise make art in and for the public, often in public places.

Many local corporations sponsor arts programs and use the vibrant Bellingham scene as part of their recruiting process for new employees. Our rich cultural scene remains a huge attraction for corporations that move here.

Fostering the arts, enabling them to thrive, and promoting individual creativity in our community increases opportunities for artistic expression and for the awareness of our many cultures.

We need the arts for our community’s wellbeing. We need the arts to promote tourism and its economic benefits. We need the arts to help the Downtown thrive and to increase the general pride with which both residents and visitors view our community. This is a continuing challenge for all cities.

We respectfully ask that you to consider moving Arts and Culture further up on the Plan’s priority ladder. Perhaps it needs to be its own Chapter, rather than sitting on one of the shelves of “Community Wellbeing.”

And perhaps the very broad collective efforts of our impressive arts community be an all-encompassing mission and vision of its own.

I can’t really add much more to this conversation other than I agree with McLeod Neighbor, Kees and bjsmart. Bellingham used to have a strong sense of community but with population growth, we are losing that. Maybe, it is already lost. If all people can afford to live in are boxy apartments, they need open spaces and parks. This is especially true for families with children. I have seen the income disparity widen considerably as a life time resident. This is also true of politics. Maybe the last one is a national issue but as an Independent, I don’t feel like my views are accepted.

Don't need this chapter. Relevant items are covered in other areas, the rest isn't the business of government to do but other organizations.
If this chapter is to remain, then I suggest that something should be included relevant to Community Wellbeing that recognizes the damage to "wellbeing" of the citizens is taxes that stress low income citizens, taxes that are too high or new taxes. The city should prioritize spending with low priority items to be deleted from the budget and spending money more economically. Also this should include regulations, new or burdensome regulations that cause citizens much higher levels of stress of the government onerously controlling their lives.

With the impending closure of Boundary Bay brewing, I propose the City offer to purchase that space and turn it into a community brewery and continued public space for music, art, community gatherings, etc. I even have the perfect name: “Bellingham Subrewed Excitement Community Center.” (No, I’m not kidding; the proximity of BB to the farmer’s market space makes it an ideal spot to maintain as a community hub).

Many citizens are stressed out, uneasy and anxious about their housing situation. This has an extremely negative effect on families. A sense of community and well being is hard to maintain if we are all on edge about the household budget day in and day out. Adding more housing overall and ensuring that the housing we add will be affordable to local residents will go a long way toward a more settled, calmer populace. Imagine a city where the children will thank us for a secure sense of home and the opportunity to actually own a home of their own one day.

When my neighbors and I suddenly got a letter notifying us of a planned development in our neighborhood, we were shocked, and then frustrated and angry. The realization that hundreds of households in our area, as well as our lives, investments, and dreams can suddenly be derailed by any developer who buys up a property in an established neighborhood and replaces the home with a motel-like cluster of slapdash housing units has been incredibly stressful, time-consuming, and disturbing. Have we NO say in our own homes and neighborhoods now? The regulations and process need change so that other neighborhoods are not blind-sided with an immutable plan, as we were.

I have trouble understanding some of the comments posted in Slide 3. "I want to gather with my friends in a place that feels authentic to my culture", "We want to foster safe, vibrant, and unique places, especially in our City Center.", "We like learning new things in welcoming spaces". Where in this city can you NOT do those things? We have exceptional parks, civic areas, community uses. While this city is still majority 'white' there is a strong acceptable of different cultures. I see these comments more directed inward from the posters. You want a vibrant, unique, SAFE City Center? Then stop being soft on open drug use and provide the services to help those that want to get off the addiction and the services to help with the mental health crisis. Stop calling it a 'houseless' issue. I cannot fathom why there is a need for a "well being" section in a Comprehensive Plan. Fostering a 'connected' community takes the individuals to CHOOSE to connect. Putting in a written document that will sit on a shelf will not cause that connection. That is a choice that PEOPLE need to make for themselves. Do they want to connect or not? Putting something like this in a public document will do nothing.