Where’s the York Neighborhood?

Revised 2022-07-18 2320

 

Whatcom Creek is the York neighborhood’s northern boundary. The I-5 freeway is the eastern boundary, and on the south we’re bordered by Samish Way and Abbott Street. The neighborhood extends westerly toward downtown to State and Holly streets. Main thoroughfares that run through the neighborhood are Lakeway Drive, Ellis Street, and Samish Way.

 

The York neighborhood is served by a surprisingly large number of Whatcom Transit Authority (WTA) bus lines, considering our relatively small size, conveniently connecting us with many other neighborhoods and destinations. As of 2022:

The Blue Line (routes 107, 108, and 190) runs to and from the Western Washington University (WWU) campus, along Samish Way on York’s southwestern edge, with buses every 15 minutes during peak hours. Route 190 also has one end downtown and the other near the Civic Field complex, in the Puget neighborhood just east of York. Routes 196 and 197 connect northern York with WWU via Lincoln Street, with a key stop at the Lincoln Creek Park & Ride, and 32nd Street. At the Park & Ride, riders can also connect with Route 80X for service to Mount Vernon; the 80X also runs along Lakeway to and from downtown. Route 14 connects western York with WWU and the Fairhaven neighborhood in southern Bellingham. The four routes of the Plum Line, which traverses York’s midsection along Lakeway Drive with buses every 15 minutes during peak hours, provide handy transportation to several destinations: Sudden Valley, via Route 512 Silver Beach and Whatcom Falls Park, via Route 525 Lake Padden and the intricate Galbraith trail system via Route 533, along Yew Sunset Square, via Route 540 (via Bayview Cemetery, Woburn Street, Alabama Street, Lake Whatcom, Silver Beach, Squalicum High School, and Sunset Drive)

…and all of these routes originate at the downtown bus station.

Historic landmarks within the neighborhood include the Garden Street United Methodist Church (1330 North Garden Street, built in 1912), Magnolia Court Apartments (510 Magnolia Street, built in 1908), and Nelson’s Market (514 Potter Street, built in 1895). Take a walking tour of the neighborhood by checking out the Historic Map (coming soon).

Maps: (Official maps courtesy of the City of Bellingham website)

York Neighborhood Zoning—2014 (889K PDF)

Incorporation & Annexation History (3.8Mb PDF)

Pre-1955 Structures (2.3Mb PDF)

Historic Trees of the York Neighborhood—February 2019

Trees of Harriet Spanel Park—February 2019

Little Libraries in York—May 2022

Representation

York is in Washington’s 2nd Congressional District. Our US Senators are Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and our US Representative is Rick Larsen.

At the state level, we’re mostly in the 40th Legislative District, represented by State senator Liz Lovelett and state representatives Debra Lekanoff and Jeff R. Morris; the northwest corner of York is in the 42nd Legislative District, represented by State senator Doug Ericksen and State representatives Luanne Van Werven and Sharon Shewmake. At the county level, we’re in County Council District 1, represented by Barry Buchanan.

Locally, York is in the City’s 227th, 228th, and 247th Precincts, which are in Wards 3 and 5, and our representatives on the Bellingham City Council are Daniel Hammill and Terry Bornemann. City Council meetings happen twice a month, at City Hall, on Monday evenings.