Vacant lot in Fountain District on Meridian.

Bellingham is still quite spread out with quite a bit of vacant land. Still, the land is very expensive these days.

I remember, when I was in college, I did a project where I ranked cities and towns in Washington State by size of land area versus population. Bellingham had a lot of land compared to its number of people while Pullman, where I grew up, was a lot more compact. That was in the 1970s.

Bellingham is infilling more now. Pullman is compact due to it being a university town with lots of dorms and apartments.

Bicycling on sidewalk is sometimes safer. There are often more pedestrians on the street than on the sidewalk in our car dominated culture.

In some places it seems safer to bike carefully on the sidewalk. I prefer the street, if there is a space for bikes, but sometimes the sidewalk is safer.

I prefer the street, or road if it has a shoulder.

There's often more pedestrians in the street by parked cars than on the sidewalk. It can be easier to see a pedestrian on the sidewalk than when they are darting out between parked cars on the street, not to mention sudden door openings. I tend to go slow in this type of area.

It seems like almost one out of every 4 cars is backing out when there is nose in parking. Bikes can be squished between backing cars and moving traffic.

Often one has to go to the sidewalk to push the walk button for activating the stoplight. It can be hard for the system to detect a bike on the street.

When making a 90 degree turn, I prefer not using turn lanes, but crossing, one street at a time, to each corner. I'm not in a hurry.

A new bike idea for crossing the bulge in a sidewalk. On F street in Bellingham. I sometimes ride across the sidewalk bulges instead of going around the bulge which pushes me into traffic. This new sidewalk bulge accommodates that.

Should there be a curb cut here?

At this place in the west part of Longview, Washington the sign recommended riding on the sidewalk. Image taken 2011.

Lots of people walk on trails that are for mixed use. Not that much different than sidewalks. A speedlimit is the best way to keep things safe (if it's followed). This is also the best way to regulate electric bicycles. It's easier to have a speedlimit than to try and figure out what type of motor qualifies for trail use. Motorized wheelchair? How about handicap access? Skateboard? What type of motor does the bike have? How much of it is pedal assist.

I'm in favor of motorized bikes, though I don't yet feel I need one myself. They increase use of bicycling due to their extreme popularity. Almost half the bikes I see, these days, are the motor assisted pedal bikes. Much of US culture is too fast. I prefer life in the slow lane; the name of my blog.

Sign I saw a few years back in downtown Moscow, Idaho.

Shop online or shop local through Bellingham traffic trying stores that all sell the same thing, not what you need if it's too specialized.

Crazy map of my errands today. I was enjoying it anyway. I was looking for a new kind of battery, but ended up ordering it from Amazon. Local stores don't have it.

Going by bicycle. Bellingham is mostly bicycle friendly, but some retail areas are more car-centric. Riding on sidewalk to avoid traffic in some areas. Beautiful day.

There's plenty of stores sprawling out in different areas and lots of traffic. No wonder people shop on Amazon. I tried to shop local, but eventually let my fingers do the walking, as the old ad for the Yellow Pages went; fingers on my computer keyboard.

Nice day to be out riding around the city. Some of this map shows other errands, but most is the battery search.

This new type of battery is a standard AA rechargeable battery, but it turns out it has to be a new kind of battery; lithium ion rechargeables with their own special charger.

Most rechargeable batteries are metal hydride and it turns out they provide lower than 1.5 volts. I have a new HD radio that needs the steady 1.5 volt current from each of it's 3 batteries. Not 1.2 volts, which most standard rechargeable batteries provide. The radio turns off in protest if the voltage is too low.

The new type of battery offers a more reliable 1.5 volts till it shuts off and asks for a recharge. It's the digital age.

HD radios can pick up the digital signals from some stations that offer more than one program on their signal; like CBU HD 1, Vancouver, BC or CBU HD 2.

Radio interests me and isn't that expensive. Most people just rely on their phones now for all of this, but I still use radios. It can give the phone battery a rest.

As Google traced my routes. I forgot to turn on Bikeometer app, but Google's got me covered. Lower GPS sampling rate, however.

Hardware Sales is a good store, but they don't have it, yet at least.

I also tried Best Buy, at north end. Bought some because I forgot my glasses to see the fine print. They were the wrong kind so I took them back adding to my miles. No wonder I seldom use a gym.

Then tried a specialty battery store in a different area before going back home and ordering online.

Clear cool day with view of Mount Baker over retail parking lots. We haven't yet been hit with hot weather or wildfire smoke. - yet at least.

Learning more about the development of Salish Landing Park than just peeking past the trees along South Bay Trail.

Progress is being made turning an old landfill into Salish Landing Park. It will take 3 years as a lot of work has to be done. The process was being explained during a kayak tour. I didn't kayak, but met them at a their rest stop in Boulevard Park. There was a discussion about what steps are being taken to develop the new park. The process is interesting.

From South Bay Trail, one can see lots of work being done. the view is through the trees.

Eventually the city plans to put up a sign explaining things and possibly trim some trees for a better view.

Like a vapor barrier, the toxic landfill is being covered in a thick permanent cap. More rocks and soil will be put on top with the park built above that.

Thousands of pages of documents explains things. Lots of agencies are working on this, including the State Department of Ecology.

I read about the kayak trip and ask AI if there was any way to learn from the trip without a kayak. AI explained that a rest stop and information session was planned on shore at Boulevard Park along the way.

Kayakers on their way along the shore from the Boating Center in Fairhaven District past Boulevard Park and then up to the new Salish Landing site.

Passing Bellingham's famous little island made out of tin flakes tossed out from a cannery that was there long ago.

On way back to boating Center the kayakers stopped at Boulevard Park for a lunch break and information session.

Lots of questions were answered.

Here is the containment cap seen from the railroad crossing at Warf Street and the end of Corwall Avenue. I went there later in the day.

View from the north entrance. Site is not open to public. It will take nearly 3 years to build, monitor and open as a park. The park will be larger than Boulevard Park.

It takes patience to wait through this long process. It might be like the building of a cathedral in the Middle Ages, only not as long. Some Cathedrals took hundreds of years to build.

Detached homes bring detached cars.

It seems like the biggest hurdle, for electric vehicles, is the battery. It's still better than gasoline, but it has its problems of cost, chemicals, weight and so forth.

Battery technology can improve, but in the meantime I still like Seattle's electric buses that run from overhead wires connected to the power grid. No need for the battery. Yes, the bus has to be attached to a wire system. Eventually, private cars could be attached to a road based charging system, so I read.

Still, I got to thinking about the concept of attached, versus detached. Attached trolly buses are more economically viable in areas where there are less detached single family homes. This relates to density.

Detached homes are usually less efficient for heating and cooling as well. Detached homes lead to more detached vehicles. I connect the dots.

North side of I-5 in Bellingham where the boxstores are is like a trip in itself.

One slightly arthritic ankle has bothered me for years while dancing and walking, but not while biking. A doctor recommended remidy is new shoes, better arch support and so forth.

Bike traveling to the north side of I-5 in Bellingham where the boxstores are is like a trip in itself. Improving bike access has allowed me to avoid the rat race.

Selfi at Big 5 where I noticed floor tile almost looks like the official colors of WWU. "Back the blue."

Freshly painted bike lanes along James Street north of I-5.

A bike / pedestrian path being built on north into the King Mountain Neighborhood pushing improvements farther north.

To go between sprawling parking lots, one often has to improvise, but look at the flowers in the vacant lot accoss the street!

Amazing, this field of flowers.

Looking east.

It's near a bike path by Whatcom Community College.

I ate at the northside branch of Bellingham Food Coop.

Showing off the meal I had.

Artistic bike racks at the Coops in Cordata and Downtown were made by the HUB bicycle Collective.

What much of the boxstore neighborhood looks like.

The fast lane versus the slow lane.

I call my online presence theslowlane. Here's the fast lane.

From an Idaho Department of Transportation Facebook post.

New law alert

Heavy trucks can now travel up to 80 mph on Idaho highways, matching the speed limit for passenger vehicles where posted. The goal of the change is to reduce crashes caused by speed differences between passenger vehicles and large commercial trucks.

Even with the updated speed limit, safety still comes down to drivers making smart decisions behind the wheel:

. Don’t linger in truck blind spots

. Give large vehicles extra space

. Allow more stopping distance

. Be patient when passing

Big trucks need more time and space to react and small decisions can make a big difference on the road. Some trucks, RVs, and people pulling trailers can't go 80, so continue to watch out for slower moving vehicles.

Years ago, Montana used to have no posted speed limit for cars on certain highways. I biked through that state several times during cross country bike tours and survived thanks to wide shoulders and light traffic volumes. Trucks still had to go slower.

Image from 1997

I think they now have a speed limit again.

Back then, the speed limit was "reasonable and prudent." This was determined by law enforcement at the scean when someone was pulled over for speeding.

I remember talking to a waitress, while eating in a Bellingham restaurant, who said she was given a ticket for speeding in montana when she was driving at 100 mph.

Yes, I prefer the slower pace, but most Americans value speed. It may make sense to have the same speed limit as cars. Slow trucks mixed in with fast cars might create more hazards due to impatience when passing. Also Americans do like quick service in the flow of products.

At the same time, trucks tend to be unpopular among the general public. This unpopularity is another case of people "wanting their cake and eating it too." As long as automobiles and highways remain our main transportation system, trucks are part of the mix.

Someone jokingly wrote this in chalk on a Bellingham bike path.

I've been doing some AI research about the neighborhood I grew up in.

Picture my brother Bill took during my grade school years from the end of our driveway. Streit-Perham (back then) a new dorm complex at the the east border of our neighborhood.

When Washington State College (now WSU in Pullman) rapidly expanded after WWII to accommodate the influx of G.I. Bill students, the university desperately needed to attract and house top-tier researchers and professors. The Turner-Wexler Addition was platted on the northeast edges of College Hill to create a quiet, prestigious residential enclave tailored specifically for WSU faculty families.

Now, in my own words. 3 dead end streets constituted the addition. It is a small piece of private land, wedged between what eventually became two large dormitory projects.

While I'm normally not a fan of dead end streets, the little streets in that neighborhood had no place go, by car at least. They led to the property line of big dorms.

Through traffic continued, around a bend and into the university, farther to the east.

Pedestrians could take an easy walk from that neighborhood to the campus. Dad often walked over the hill and through the dorm complex at the end of our street on his way to work.

At the south border, Regent's Hill dining complex and dorms with other university buildings beyond. My photo.

The neighborhood was originally part of a farm that was later subdivided into both university and private properties. There was an apple orchard, among other things on that farm.

A little stream ran through the farm which was covered over by placing it into a large culvert. When the university built dorms, parking lots and playfields, the land was reshaped.

It wasn't until I got to Bellingham that I made a connection in my mind. One day, while I was sweeping stairs at my custodial job, my mind made a connection between two streams in childhood memories. One was out by the university golf course and the other was through the back yards of folks on my paper route. Those are the same creek separated by the large underground culvert.

My old picture.

Willow trees, but actually the branches of one willow tree. Buried under regrading to build the culvert and the dorms. Branches pointing toward a common trunk.

This little grove is now gone as yet another new dorm has been built.

The original Wexler farmhouse is still in that area. It's life story used to interest me, during childhood. It went from being out on a farm to being in an urban setting, surrounded by other homes and large buildings.

Google Streetview image.

Today, the houses in that neighborhood, are mostly student rentals as faculty tend to live in other parts of town these days.

During my childhood, most of the houses were occupied by faculty families with some rental apartments for students in a few homes.

At one end of our street was a small house rented to a grad student. This many years later, I met someone at a discussion group here in Bellingham who lived in that small house. I met her here in Bellingham, where I now live; some 400 road miles from Pullman. Another one of those small world experiences.

Regents hill at the other end of our dead end streets. This photo I took in 2022 after most of the apple trees were gone.

Regents Hill is university property, but basically it was our neighborhood park. We had Fourth of July picnics there. It served as an ampatheater for folks watching kids set off little fire works. I remembr many neighbohood kid slumber parties, in sleeping bags, up on that hill.

The interplay of grounds and buildings of Regent's Hill. My picture.

Picture my brother Bill took in the 1960s out over the neighborhood from a balcony of Striet Perham Dorms.

Redefining progress and the American Dream.

Hearing a radio interview about career opportunities for today's young people brings me back to my first years out of college as if nothing ever changes.

It's said that this generation may be the first to have lower standards of living and smaller homes than their parents. I heard that before and I keep thinking, smaller homes, but maybe better social lives?

Since my college days, I've been thinking that we are running out of room on planet Earth. If not actually running out of room, at least economic development has been constrained by more and more regulations. These regulations are attempting to protect the environment, such as farmland preservation, wetland rules, zoning and so forth.

If not actual limits to growth, we have imposed red tape limits which is basically what people, on the right, keep harping on. I still think most of these limits are there for good reasons. Yes, we do need to protect the environment. Still, this does have an effect on the ease of attaining economic growth and prosperity.

For years, I've kept thinking it's a tradeoff. We can live better without necessarily consuming more space on the planet.

Examples of this come from social progress in personal fulfilment and community life. Progress in gay rights is one example. More use of public transit, versus the space hogging private automobile, is another example.

For the entirety of my adult life, at least, cities, such as Seattle, have delt with traffic congestion. I keep thinking we could solve that, but people have just acquiesced to it instead; for the most part.

Back in my days right out of college, the big issue was lack of job creation. Industry faced red tape limits. Mining was going overseas and so forth. We faced the energy crisis with gas rationing during my college years. Since then, new technologies have brought more fossil fuel energy from fracking and so forth. Innovation and substitution has brought new wealth around the limits. We've had the tech boom.

Lack of affordable housing is a big issue now, whereas back in my past, it was more the lack of jobs. Today, there are more jobs, but they don't pay enough to afford the same space in housing.

Somehow, I still keep thinking we need to make fundamental changes in the way we define as the American Dream. I still think life can be better now than in (for instance) the 1950s. "Better" can be defined in different ways. Information and personal choices can be seen as wealth. Free time can be seen as wealth.

We need to think differently about the definition of the American Dream. Just taxing the super wealthy isn't going to solve this problem. Yes, I'm for taxing the rich, but even just taxing the super rich still has consequences for all consumers. Today, people are worried about Washington State's wealth tax chasing away the super rich and businesses with them. Will this impoverish our state?

We may need to learn to redefine what wealth means. Can one have a happy life while not necessarily living in a bigger house than their grandparents lived in?

Will a greener China be the adult in the room during Trump's visit?

China's government may look like the adults in the room when Trump visits China. They are quickly transitioning toward green energy while the US government is rededicating its efforts to fossil fuels. China still does burn lots of coal, but it has over 1 billion people to serve. While China progresses past that, the Trump Administration seems to want to go back to the past.

Coal trains do travel through Bellingham on their way to ships, waiting in Canada, for Asian ports, but China is making progress with solar, railroads and so forth. Their system may be more authoritarian than ours, but it's less likely that populism will push China erratically. As for war in the Middle East, China seems well prepared for oil shortages in the long run. Less reckless in its foreign relations.

If gerrymandering voting districts for race is illegal, it should also be illegal to do it by political party.

I think computers would be better at fairness in drawing district lines than politicians that are biased toward their own party. Voting districts should be based on criteria like equal population and compactness of district.

Maybe they should not pave a potentially temporary parking lot. Now I realize it will be gravel.

More parking is being added to Bellingham waterfront redevelopment. It's likely temporary. I think they should leave it gravel, rather than spending more money for pavement to a temporary lot. The existing lot, just south of it, is gravel. Now I learn the new lot will be gravel also.

Being a bicyclist, I don't need parking though I realize that car addiction is rampant in USA. Businesses, in that area, will likely benefit from the boost that more parking could bring. There is also a bus route that serves that area. One of the biggest draws to that area, now, is a beer garden. Hope people don't drive drunk.

This is at the redevelopment area where Georgia Pacific Pulp and Paper Mill once stood.

It looked like they were getting ready for pavement, but now I learn, from comments and my own AI search, that it will be gravel.

The Port of Bellingham plans to use gravel for the new 109-space parking lot in the Central Waterfront redevelopment district. This lot, located along Granary Avenue just north of the existing parking area, is being constructed as a temporary improvement to provide public access until permanent development occurs.

Parking Lot Specifications,
Surface Material: The project scope specifically calls for a gravel surface consisting of approximately 18 inches of gravel borrow and 6 inches of permeable ballast.

Environmental Protection:
The gravel serves as part of an environmental cap (layered over geotextile fabric) to prevent public contact with potentially contaminated industrial soil from the site's former use as a pulp mill.

Key Features:
Capacity: 109 new parking spaces.
Accessibility: Includes ADA-accessible parking spaces with painted symbols and concrete sidewalks for access.

Stormwater:
The design includes specialized stormwater treatment to manage runoff through the permeable gravel layers. Future Connectivity: The site will feature temporary access points to a planned waterfront skate park.

While the new lot is gravel, some adjacent permanent infrastructure, such as the main entrance path from The Portal to Kulshan Trackside, has recently been paved to improve overall accessibility.

Information gathered by AI from Port of Bellingham documents and posts on Facebook.

Some effects of culvert removal for salmon enhancement.

I-5 Salmon crossing work near Lake Sammish

Washington State is spending lots of highway money for culvert removal and salmon enhancement due to court order related to tribal treaty rights.

I've often thought that a few of these expensive crossings could also create opportunities for pedestrian and bike crossings as well. One expample would be the planned culvert work at I-5 and Meridian here in Bellingham.

A stretch of Old Samish Highway southwest of I-5 will soon be closed for many months for culvert work along the road and adjacent I-5. There are alternative routes like Samish Way north of I-5.

A few days before this road was to close, I decided to take a last bike ride out there for a while. Turns out the road was already closed to bikes. Seeing the sign, I tuned around and had a better trip anyway.

The detour is 32nd street which is horrible so I went back the way I came. I came back into town by way of some real nice trails in an area called 100 Acre Woods.

There is some interesting history about the 100 Acre Woods area. In the early 2000s, there was plans for a large development called Chuckanut Ridge. It would have preserved some forest, but also find room for around 700 homes and townhouses. Some folks in the community wanted the area preserved, versus any development.

My picture from 2005

I'm not anti housing so I had my own ideas about it back then. Clustered development in one part and preservation in the rest. My clustering is a bit less "family oriented" and more like high rises for singles without cars on one corner of the land. Most of the world isn't that way.

Maybe the development wouldn't have been the end of the world, but folks were quite concerned about increased traffic on the old bridge into Fairhaven District. It would have cost a fortune towiden that.

Traffic on 12th street Bridge

Turns out the Chuckanut Ridge Development ran afoul from the 2007 mortgage crisis so the market value plummeted. The city was able to buy it for a good price by borrowing from its Greenways Fund.

Then the plan was to sell some of the land for development to pay back the Greenway Fund. South side of Bellingham does have quite a bit of open space while the fast growing north side needed more parklands.

Quite a few neighbors on the southside still wanted the whole thing preserved so they formed an LID (local improvement tax district) to fund it. This means the majority of voters within the LID district voted to tax themselves a bit more to pay back the Greenways Fund. The entire 100 Acre Woods remains forest.

Since then, some trails have been built. I haven't been back there that often, but it was a nice treat to go through there as I came back into town.