Some infilling on its way. Putting Bellingham's former St. Luke's Hospital Campus back into use.

The former St. Luke's and later St. Joe's South Campus hospital site has sat unused for years. It has recently been purchased by WWU with WWU Foundation money. This creates an opportunity for expansion to serve an educational need in the growing healthcare field. It may be a while before much change is made, but the wheels are starting to move in a direction at least.

Photo from WWU News publication.

It's a large area of land centrally located in Bellingham that has sat mostly empty for several years.

When I first came to Bellingham, there were two hospitals, St. Joe's and St. Luke's. During the 1980s, I remember a bit of rivalry between the hospitals that was labeled "Scar Wars" in the media. The 1980s also saw Ronald Regan's Star Wars plan.

I wasn't involved in the politics about this so my memories are only very tangential to the hospital situation.

Back in the early 1980s, Bellis Fair had not yet been built so there was a lot of debate over where expanded retailing should go in Bellingham; downtown or the outlying plans for Bellis Fair Mall. At some point, there was a plan, among many plans, to build a bigger shopping center near the current Fred Myers on Lakeway. Fred Meyers was there, but there was quite a bit of vacant land just south of it where a shopping center could "possibly" go.

In the middle, just west of I-5, was St. Luke's Hospital which, at that time, had some expansion plans, as I remember. It was trying to keep up with St. Joe's.

I wrote a letter to the editor envisioning a mall going in south of Fred Meyers as it was still somewhat close to downtown with Lakeway being just east of I-5 and downtown being west. For some reason I remember having a brain storm about St. Luke's in the middle becoming "St. Luke's University."

I was thinking that the central part of Bellingham could be a focus of growth; more compact growth than the plans to spread out along I-5 and Meridian.

As for a retail core in central Bellingham, I-5 has been like a barrier preventing this core from feeling cohesive. A strong mall, or downtown area, needs cohesiveness to offer the many choices within walking distance. This "core" is still pretty spread out and divided by I-5. Where busy Lakeway goes under I-5, there isn't much room. It's a bottleneck.

Imagine if a much wider connection crossed under I-5 in central Bellingham. Imagine if there was better bicycle and pedestrian connection. Then imagine if some of the commercial development, of the Meridian area, ended up more compact and in central Bellingham on both sides of I-5.

In reality, Bellis Fair eventually arrived much farther north at Meridian and I-5. Downtown has become a multi use area with more residential development. Downtown has evolved beyond just retail to multi use and residential. These days, retail is becoming less important in the era of online shopping anyway.

Fast forward to 2026. At least the old St. Luke's Hospital campus, that sat mostly empty, like a void in the middle of Bellingham, for several years, is now in a position for infill as Western Washington University puts that campus to use.

Underutilized parking lot.

Old hospital.

Chestnut Professional Building also part of the deal.

Things looking up for the Chrysler Building in New York City.

As a child, I used to have a fascination in New York's Rockefeller Center. Now it looks like the company, owning Rockefeller Center, is saving the Chrysler Building from being strangled by rising land lease costs and changing ownerships. They are buying the land lease under the Chrysler Building. Restorations are planned. Better sewardship of assets in the works, I assume. Interesting article in New York Post.

My picture of Chrysler Building from 1993 during the end of my second bicycle trip across USA. Starting that year's Amtrak trip back home.

During 8th grade, I was interested in Rockefellor Center thinking that it's large blocks were connected, below ground, by a "shopping conicourse." This, I thought, created a "super block" that one could walk around in, without crossing the streets that divide blocks in towns and cities.

from 1968 vintage brochures and more related to Rockefeller Center.

During my 8th grade year, Jeff Goebel and me were playing that we had various blocks in Pullman. I took a big block that had everything from farmland, at the edge of town, to the towering Rogers, Orton and Stevenson dorm complexes.

1973 view of Pullman with Rogers, Orton and Stevenson Dorms plus more rural lands to the right. Much of WSU campus to the north. The tallest building Webster Hall was built after my 8th grade year. Built around 1972.

Soon I realized that Jeff's block was (maybe) better than mine. He had the WSU Student Union, the stadium, playfields, gyms and the Holland Library; more diversity of things for people can do. I then deceded to extend the borders of my part of the fantacy to outside of Pullman.

Later in history, Jeff's block has expanded more, as WSU has turned many of its central streets into pedestrian plazas.

Meanwhile, my large block on the edge of town has been split (I think) into two by a new street connecting campus to the the Pullman Moscow Highway. Looking on Google Maps, it's SE Forest Way.

New uses for an old Safeway Building.

In downtown Bellingham, according to the webpage of Whatcom Talk, this underutilized building is planned to become an active event space for a Bellingham organization I didn't know much about. I've heard of Fire and Water Story Festival on the waterfront. Now I'm learning more about their year round activities. This is in my newsfeed read from eclectic sources.

My photo from 2020 just before it served as a larger space for Lighthouse Mission homeless shelter. It had several uses after Safeway and sat empty for some of the time.

The old building was once a downtown Safeway supermarket. I remember when there were 3 supermarkets, for a while (maybe 4) in downtown Bellingham during my college years. This was before automobile dependency and limited space for parking pushed supermarkets closer to the outlying areas along I-5.

In my college years, we had Safeway on Cornwall. We also had Thriftway on Holly (where WECU later had their headquarters).

I think there was also Prairie Market where Grocery Outlet now resides. Then I remember when they first built the building now occupied by Habitat For Humanity. It was a brand new Tradewell that didn't last long.

This old Safeway Building is now owned by the WTA transit agency who is using it to promote downtown transit friendly development, such as housing and retail. It is also future space for transit use.

A solution for trying to buy a remanufactured computer in Bellingham.

My next desktop computer is on its way. Ordered from Amazon. Turns out local businesses use Amazon and other online platforms as their retail outlet. I've been learning about how much of retail business is done in the field of remanufactured computers.

AI suggested I go to IPC, a large electronics recycler who deals in remanufactured products. They look like just a warehouse and loading dock, but, supposedly, they do retail for things they have refurbished. Turns out their retail is on Ebay, a large website for buying and selling.

I rang the doorbell at the loading dock. The door rolled open and I ask a young fellow if they sold computers. He said they sell them over Ebay.

I mentioned that in more chats with AI and the AI I was using thanked me for the correction.

Riding my bicycle, I tried Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. They don't do windows, I mean computers. Habitat for Humanity does have windows.

Office Max only had 3 brand new computers at quite high prices.

Then I decided to try a repair / retail shop across town. At first, the staff person looked like he was asleep, but the sound of the door awakened him.

He was quite friendly as I explained my story. Not a lot of choices there as well, but they service computers. He offered to be the safe place I could have my computer sent to for pickup. Better than my apartment building where it may not get to the right door, or Amazon's often full pickup desk.

Problem solved. I ordered from Amazon.

Chatting more with AI, I discovered that medium sized cities don't have enough resale volume, or choice, to make it worthwhile. It might work in a big place, like Seattle, with businesses like Boeing Surplus.

Many local businesses, in the computer field, have now pivited toward customer service and repair; rather than maintaining large inventories themselves. They tend to use the giant online sellers, like Amazon and Ebay.

Shopping around through traffic is more difficult than shopping online. We do live in a constantly changing world.

Bellingham, like most American cities, has quite a few of these type of choices.

How much do I need to hold up my reputation as a bicycle tourist?

Nice autumn rains are back. I was thinking of doing a several day bike tour, but the long range forecast turned wetter. That trip could have been just to uphold my image as a bike tourist. A rainy forecast is another excuse to cancel that plan. Instead, I did my day trip to Birch Bay as the weather was sunny on Monday.

People keep asking "Do you have any long trips planned this year?"

I keep saying that there are so many social things to do in Bellingham, not to mention all the stuff I want to do online, that holding up my reputation as a bicycle tourist gets more difficult. It's like juggling a lot of things, motel reservations, weather, routes with less traffic and so forth. I still plan to do some long distance trips in beyond my 71st birthday, but doing it just to prove myself isn't that appealing anymore.

It could be old age, but my legs and my lungs are still fine. I am getting tired of riding alongside all that traffic. These days, I plan routes carefully with bike trails and lightly traveled, or better shouldered, roads. I take transit with the easy to use bike racks on buses. This can skip me over less desirable areas. In years past, there were no County Connector buses. We have them in this area now, but they are very rare in areas like Eastern Washington.

In past years, I wanted to prove myself by pedaling the entire way, such as when I took 2 1/2 months off and ended up in Massachusetts. Even with my ability to take a bus, with my bike, to Mount Vernon for just 1 dollar (senior citizen rate, $2 general), I still prefer to bike most of my distances, mostly because I take so many pictures. My trip to Birch Bay was all from pedaling my bicycle and I got over 100 photos. I used to pride myself riding all the way to Seattle, but now I take buses at least as far as Everett. Most roads, in North Snohomish County, are pretty bad.

In the past, there was less traffic, but I also got through North Snohomish County by riding on the wide shoulder of I-5. I could still do that, I guess, but traffic is flying by at over 70 mph. I still remember the days of the 55 mph speed limit due to the 1970-80s energy crisis. Snohomish Centennial Trail is wonderful, but getting to its north trailhead is a bit challenging. I might as well take buses to Everett, in south Snohomish County, and then ride in the more friendly urban areas around Seattle. Those urban areas have bike paths and quiet residential streets galore.

Long trips and leave of absence was great while I was working. My night shift job as a custodian was a bit mundane and the trips were a good excuse to take time off work.

That job was a good job, however. Nice people, low stress and a good cause. I was on the custodial crew of the YMCA.

My avocations of bike travel, writing, and the gay community life were more interesting than just the job, itself. Now that I am retired, I still seem to have a life filled up with gratifying things to do.

I'm glad I did those ambitious trips during my younger, working years. Many people wait till retirement to follow their dreams. I may have been living in my dreamworld all my life.

I may have been in a dreamworld, but I did work. I wasn't in a high end position. Rents were quite affordable back then. Now I am in subsidized housing, but I still pay (I think) around 2/3 market rate for my little studio apartment. My subsidized rent calculated based on my income.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying life in Bellingham.

Don't let the grass grow under your wheels. Rush, rush, rush.

New highway pushing forward. My cartoon idea. Drawing by AI. Yes, I know, many worry about AI, including me. It's a useful tool, but, like the automobile, it could also be a curse. One big problem is our feeling that we have to rush into it to keep up with China. There is also the rush, among companies, to keep up with the Joneses. There is the rush among people just to keep up with the cost of living. It could be driving us over a cliff.

Or maybe feet. Picture I took locally.

Touring the Bellingham sewage disposal plant.

I went to an open house at the Bellingham sewage treatment plant. This was part of a yearly Water Week festival with behind the scenes tours of things that keep our lives going, without making the environment unlivable.

Tour for the water treatment plant was filled, but I signed up just in time for a spot at the sewage plant, a cherished experince.

The week had several educational events, including a self guided tour of local water topics, like storm drains, pump stations and creeks along Bellingham trails, mostly. I am aware of many things anyway, when I ride the trails.

Normally not a tourism destination, this was an open house.

Where solid things that get thrown in, like trash, get screened out. Lots of things, people inadvertently put in the wrong place, can hurt the equipment and the environment.

The tour proceeds. Hardhats and vests required.

You never know. Some people might.

At a settling pond.

It is a complex process beyond just the settling ponds. Bacteria is used in much of the process. Bleach also.

Ironically, near the plant is a blue heron rockery. People don't like living near a sewage plant as there is some smell. This makes it better for blue herons and other wildlife than most neighborhoods.

How biodegradable are various things put down sinks and toilets?

Paper towels and various wipes can remain too intact so the screens have to sift them out to protect machinery and the environment. Toilet paper tends to be the best.

After the process, cleaned water is released back to a lagoon and on out to Bellingham Bay.

There happened to be a truck headed down the railroad track when I took this picture.

Trails around the outside of the plant.

Looking out from another trail above the plant.

My take on a new trend; dopamine websites.

There is a new trend called "dopamine websites;" like one called "Food Never Comes." It's the joy of shopping, without having to buy. I would guess, in the pre internet days, that was called "window shopping." On Windows, how about windows shopping?

In the brick and mortar world, just hanging around a retail space and not buying could be considered loitering. Then came the advent of the shopping mall, popular in the 1980s with loitering teenagers. They figured out how to make money from video game arcades and so forth.

Now malls are passe due to traffic congestion (shame on the automobile) around them. Also internet shopping brings makes shopping malls obsolete. Malls are being repurposed for other dopamine experiences and residential use.

I first heard about this on Joe Teehan's show on KGMI Radio. I call the show often and I suggested my website could be like a dopamine site, since it's not about shopping. My work is more about browsing and learning.

I'm mostly a minimalist so commerce is low on my priority list. Still, I do shop some. Besides food, I buy electronic items. These days, electronics are a bargain, a low income pleasure compared to buying a house. I might have more radios and computers than most people.

One experience that I admittedly enjoy is the smell of a new product coming out of the box. See below.

My nose helping me open a box.

I fondly remember the smell of the box for a company that no longer exists. That company was called "Clear Wire;" a wireless antenna to connect one's computer to the internet without phone or cable. That company was swallowed up into Sprint and the price for the service went so high that I switched back to a wired, cable connection. Now, I see, on AI, that Sprint is part of T-Mobile.

Smell is something that is still not available online. One still goes to the real world for smell; like bicycling or hiking in the forest.

Traffic cams can make an intersection more fair for bicycles, cars and pedestrians.

Some stoplights are on timers, others sense when a car is at the intersection to inform the system that a car is waiting. If no car, the light doesn't change. Problem is, that system often can't detect a bicycle. Pedestrians get the "push to walk" button.

A better technology, to detect both bikes and cars, is cameras. Well, some people worry about privacy issues, including some speeders who worry. I say, "bring on the traffic cameras for safer streets."

This writing is inspired by a conversation I had with AI, another technology that people worry about.

I often come up with innovative ideas that professionals often don't have the time to converse with me about. A recent brainstorm, of mine, was a way to use microelectronics embedded in crosswalk paint to detect bicycles.

Traditional detection for cars, at an intersection, is an electronic loop under the pavement. That has trouble detecting the small magnetic signal of a bike verses a massive car. It has to detect through the pavement. It's also hard to repair or replace requiring city crews to dig up the pavement.

Paint is above ground. My above ground idea would be easier to reach. I wanted to see if it had been thought about. Yes, as I expected, there are plenty of people thinking about this. AI sifted through tons of documents to let me know.

Yes, its being considered, but there are a host of technical problems with it. I can go into that, but this is already a long post. Bottom line is, above ground traffic cams work better.

Some people resist the idea of having cameras as if it's "the surveillance state." I don't think I'd want to live in "surveillance China," but I am for safe streets. Who would be against that, except maybe speeders?

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.

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.

I often prefer the sidewalk to going straight forward down the street in the city's painted bike boxes when cars are wipping across it to make their right hand turns, such as here at Ellis and Lakeway in Bellingham. Still, I'm glad for city painted bike space.

Bulges in sidewalks are good for pedestrians and to calm traffic, but they can push bikes on the street into traffic to get around them. Here on F Street, in Bellingham, a brand new sidewalk bulge with a cut through for bicycles.

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.