So far in Bellingham, low overhead plans seem to work better in the Central Waterfront Redevelopment District.

Some recent pictures of Bellingham's central waterfront redevelopment area.

The informal Container Village seems to be working well. Drawing people and activity. Low overhead and flexible. Small businesses in the container buildings seem to be thriving, during the warmer months at least. I think most of them close down for the winter, however.

Second story rooftop space on several businesses. Digester tanks from old pulp mill are now part of the artistic cityscape.

Other plans for higher end developments have proceeded much more slowly than expected, from what I gather. The flexibility of containers and lower overhead planning is a benefit.

2nd of 3 planned condo buildings. For sale signs in many windows.

3rd of 3 condo buildings.

It may be a long while before the 3rd building proceeds farther, as the second one still has lots of units for sale.

I sometimes jokingly say I hope there is reincarnation so I can see how this neighborhood turns out as it's been a decades long transition.

First of the 3 planned condo buildings looks more occupied.

Doing some AI research and my own memory of local news, I think the plans for larger projects, to help pay off costs of bringing the central waterfront into public use, have not panned out as soon as hoped. Much of the work, so far, has been paid for by environmental cleanup grants and government capital projects.

Still, there are long term plans for larger capital developments, but this may be much slower in coming than originally thought. Meanwhile the more informal, lower overhead flexible plans have proceeded bringing activity to the waterfront; the former site of Georgia Pacific Pulp Mill.

Many popular concerts and events around the container village.

A recreational bike track called the Pump Track. Tiled pulp storage tanks in the background left over from the pulp mill days.

An affordable housing project has been built in connection with a local nonprofit. There are plans for phase two.

Heat and hot water for major projects, including the condo buildings, comes from the waste heat of a small power plant. Encogen was first built when the pulp mill was running. It's natural gas turbines need cooling so it was originally planned as a cogeneration plant for electric power and to provide steam for the pulp mill. This could save fuel that GP normally burned in its boilers.

When the pulp and paper operations closed, the power plant was sort of left high and dry, so to speak. No one needed the excess steam, so they added some steam turbine technology for more electricity and to use waste heat off the gas (jet engine style) turbines. Still much of the heat is dumped out to the cooling fans.

Some of that heat is now used in the new waterfront buildings. When the power plant isn't running, I assume there is some gas boiler in the system to continue providing heat.

A major railroad track runs through the district. The sound of trains may bring pause to purchasers of high end residential. Relocating the track to the perimeter of the district would be expensive, plus there are many residential developments on the bluff above the perimeter.

Toward the end of the pulp mill's time on the waterfront, the railroad was working on a plan to relocate the line around the mill to reduce possible conflict between trains and factory vehicles, such as forklifts. Those plans were dropped, I guess, when the mill closed.

When the mill closed, a friend of mind said, "no point going around a ghost town."

As with all neighborhoods, they are always in a state of becoming. Some cathedrals, in Europe, were under construction for over a century.