Is downtown Bellingham becoming safer? Here’s the latest update from the city
In recent years, downtown Bellingham has been viewed by many as an unsafe area, known for a variety of safety concerns that have decreased foot traffic and customers for local businesses.
Just in the last month, two businesses in downtown have decided to close. The owner of EverLocal cited a decrease in customers and increasing rent prices in explaining the closure.
These worries are among the reasons Mayor Kim Lund created the “Downtown Forward” initiative, the city’s plan to make Bellingham a safe, welcoming, cultural, walkable, bikeable and affordable city where people want to live.
“Building on a foundation of safety, we are moving downtown forward together, with a vision for the neighborhood we want it to be for everyone,” the city states on its Downtown Forward website.
“We want a downtown that reflects the pride and creativity of our community — a place where people feel welcome, businesses can flourish, and public spaces are vibrant and safe. Downtown Forward remains our commitment to making that real through both immediate, tangible improvements and long-term strategy and vision. We’ve taken many steps to move closer to that shared vision already, and we are confident in downtown’s future,” Mayor Lund told The Bellingham Herald on June 18.
Since the plan was launched in 2024, many changes have already been made in downtown. The city of Bellingham released a new progress report for the plan in May, noting the recent improvements and achievements.
“In April, we conducted our annual survey on how safe and welcome people feel about downtown, and most respondents said they feel about the same as they did a year ago. That makes sense to us. The first year after launching Downtown Forward in 2024 brought a lot of visible changes, and people noticed those improvements right away. Over the past year we’ve continued doing exciting work, especially around arts and events, and remained committed to actions that support a clean, safe and welcoming environment. We also laid the foundation for larger, longer-term changes,” Lund told The Herald.
One way the city has been trying to make downtown safer is through bike patrols and a private security firm to monitor downtown parks and public parking garages.
So far this year, the bike patrol unit has made 691 calls for service, impounded 329 grams of narcotics and handled 147 infractions/citations, according to the report.
In April, the city also closed down a three-block section of downtown alleys that often homed dangerous activities and drug dealing.
“It’s still a bit early to fully assess the impacts of the alley closure, but neighboring businesses have been incredibly grateful for the pause in crime and concentration of disruptive behaviors in this space. This was a big priority for us, as many of our longest-standing businesses felt they were at a tipping point,” Lund said.
The city also recently conducted a vacancy study, addressing Downtown Forward’s goal to make downtown “a top destination to work, shop, invest, and enjoy.”
“Reducing downtown vacancies will increase a community feeling of safety, support the existing businesses, and keep our community feeling vibrant,” Lund said.
About 10% of first-floor properties in the city center are vacant, according to the 29-page “Vacancy & Vibrancy: Examining Occupancy Trends and Potential Strategies to Address Vacancies in Downtown Bellingham” that was prepared as part the Downtown Forward initiative.
That 10% figure is at the high end of the 5%-10% range that’s considered a healthy occupancy rate, the report said.
“So what comes next? The city will be pursuing many strategies in the coming years. These range from investing in business development to lobbying for a vacancy tax at the state level,” the report states.
“Overall, this will be a year of bold action at every level we can influence — from local policy updates and process improvements, to state-level advocacy and strategic community partnerships. We’re confident people will see meaningful impacts from this work throughout the next year,” Lund said.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 12:06 PM.
