Last updated: October 2026
Bellingham WA runs from historic Fairhaven and the bayfront hills in the south to Cordata and Meridian near the north city limits. Each guide below covers one Bellingham neighborhood: its homes, parks, schools and how residents get around. Pick a neighborhood to read the full guide.
On this page:
Bellingham neighborhood guides
Cordata
Cordata has been its own north-end neighborhood since 2010, with Cordata Parkway as its spine. Most of its 3,798 homes are apartments and condos, and Whatcom Community College, a PeaceHealth clinic and Cordata Park’s spray park and pump track are all inside it. Read our Cordata neighborhood guide.
Edgemoor
Edgemoor sits in southwest Bellingham between Fairhaven and Chuckanut Bay. It is almost entirely detached houses, 877 of its 893 homes by the city’s count, many on large lots with mature trees and views of the bay and the San Juan Islands. Read our Edgemoor neighborhood guide.
Fairhaven
Fairhaven is the historic brick village at the south end of Bellingham, with blocks built around 1890 in a National Register district listed in 1977. Most of its 901 homes are condos, townhomes and apartments, and the train station and Alaska ferry terminal are a walk from the village. Read our Fairhaven neighborhood guide.
Happy Valley
Happy Valley runs south from Western Washington University, with apartments packed into the north end and mostly single-family houses to the south. Its 3,801 homes are the most of any Bellingham neighborhood, and the Connelly Creek Trail passes some of the city’s largest Sitka spruce. Read our Happy Valley neighborhood guide.
Lettered Streets
The Lettered Streets grid is where the town of Whatcom began in the 1850s, and the 1856 Pickett House still stands there. Detached houses make up only about a third of the homes, mixed with duplexes and small apartment buildings right at the edge of downtown. Read our Lettered Streets neighborhood guide.
Meridian
Meridian is home to the regional retail area around Bellis Fair, with State Route 539 heading north through it toward Lynden. Most of its 2,324 homes are apartments and condos, including 129 manufactured homes and only 171 single-family houses. Read our Meridian neighborhood guide.
Sehome
Sehome is the steep, dense hillside between downtown and Western Washington University, topped by the Sehome Hill Arboretum. Victorian and Craftsman houses fill its historic district, and about 61% of its 2,574 homes are in multifamily buildings. Read our Sehome neighborhood guide.
South Hill
South Hill climbs from Boulevard Park toward Western Washington University, with views of the bay, the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Coast Mountains. Many homes below 17th Street date to the early 1900s, and about 56% are single-family houses. Read our South Hill neighborhood guide.
York
York is one of Bellingham’s oldest neighborhoods, wedged between downtown and I-5. Most of its houses went up between 1890 and 1910, many on lots of about 4,480 square feet, and part of the neighborhood is a National Register historic district. Read our York neighborhood guide.
More Bellingham neighborhoods
We also have pages for these Bellingham neighborhoods:
- Alabama Hill neighborhood
- Barkley neighborhood
- Birchwood neighborhood
- Cornwall Park neighborhood
- Geneva neighborhood
- Puget neighborhood
- Roosevelt neighborhood
- Silver Beach neighborhood
- South Bellingham neighborhood
- Sunnyland neighborhood
Talk to our team
Not sure which Bellingham neighborhood fits? Contact our team and tell us what matters most to you.