Fairhaven Neighbors

Historic Fairhaven Village sits on the southern side of Bellingham Bay. It is the commercial and community hub for the souther neighborhoods of Bellingham – Edgemoor, Fairhaven, Happy Valley, South Hill and South Bellingham.

Fairhaven Village is the commercial center for the southern neighborhoods of Bellingham.

Each of the neighborhoods holds their own unique character and they each value community and connection.

​Fairhaven was one of three pioneer settlements on Bellingham Bay that merged to become the City of Bellingham in 1904. Fairhaven’s 600 residents live in single-family homes, apartment buildings, and condominium complexes. They can walk to many services, including a grocery store, bookstore, shops, the Fairhaven Village Green, and the Fairhaven Public Library.

South Hill is a unique, pleasant neighborhood with several interrelated design characteristics that are appealing to its more than 3,000 residents. The neighborhood has a number of areas with distinguishing characteristics. The Ridgeway area, south of the university on the highest elevations of the hill, has been developed since World War II. In the area below 17th Street, many of the homes were built in the early 1900’s. Homes vary widely in size, architectural detail, and finish materials, and nearly all are very well kept. 

Early residents in Happy Valley settled on small platted lots near Fairhaven and larger “garden tracts” throughout the rest of the valley. A streetcar line connected Happy Valley to Fairhaven’s waterfront along Harris Avenue. By the year 2000, just fewer than 6,000 people called the Happy Valley Neighborhood home, second only to Roosevelt Neighborhood. With continued growth of Western Washington University (WWU), Happy Valley became a popular location for student housing. Since the late 1960’s, increasing numbers of apartments directed toward student housing have been built, infilling amongst and replacing single family housing. The highest densities of apartments have been built in the north end of the neighborhood, closest to WWU. Much of the southern section of the neighborhood is zoned and developed with single family residences. Happy Valley Elementary and Sehome High School are located in the neighborhood.

The Edgemoor Neighborhood, located in southwest Bellingham, is generally bounded by Cowgill Road on the north, Chuckanut Drive on the east, Briza Court on the south, and Bellingham Bay on the west. The large lots, mature landscaping and quiet residential character of the Edgemoor Neighborhood are valued assets for its 2,000 residents. The area also has magnificent views of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands. The entire southern one-third of the Edgemoor Neighborhood has some of the most magnificent property in the city.

The South Neighborhood, located west of Interstate 5 at the southern edge of the city, is home to over 1,500 Bellingham residents. The large areas of undeveloped property and significant natural features help define the character of the neighborhood. Chuckanut Mountain rises steeply from Chuckanut Creek in the southernmost part of the neighborhood. Chuckanut Bay is another resource within the neighborhood, which is an historic site as well as a unique natural recreational resource of city wide significance. There are also several water bodies within the neighborhood, which are used and valued by residents.  These include Hoag’s Pond, Chuckanut Creek, and the marsh area along the interurban right-of-way. Development in the South Neighborhood has been limited by these physical restrictions and has occurred in small residential pockets, primarily in the more developable parts of the neighborhood.

 

To learn more about our surrounding neighborhoods and their associations: