Welcome to the York Neighborhood Association Website!
Revised 2026-04-16 1323
The York Neighborhood Association (YNA) exists to preserve and enhance the community and engage citizens in civic affairs. We work to promote a safe, comfortable, and thriving urban neighborhood bordering downtown Bellingham, Washington.
As a neighborhood, we are involved in planning for the future, historic preservation, traffic and pedestrian safety, social events, and park improvements. If you live or work in the York Neighborhood, we hope you’ll get involved!
Membership:Any resident, property owner, or business owner of the York Neighborhood who attends at least one YNA meeting per calendar year is considered a member.
Use our contact page to subscribe to the YNA List and indicate other interests. And, to help us put on community events throughout the year such as the Annual Picnic, the Christmas Caroling Party & Horse Wagon Rides, the York Yard Crawl, and more, please consider making a donation, whether by mailing a check or using our Venmo page!
Upcoming Events
Wine & Roses Event—Yard Analyzing: April 16 | Annual Plant Exchange: April 16–19
Date/Time: Thursday April 16, 2026, 5:30pm
Like to have your yard analyzed? We will gather at your home and talk about your yard. Give you ideas on landscape design and thoughts from everyone there. Please contact us via or on Facebook.
Date/Time: Thursday April 16 to Sunday April 19, 2026, 5:30pm
Location: Nelson’s Market picnic table—514 Potter Street
Recent Events
Date/Time: Fourth Wednesday* Each Month (except August & December), 6:30pm meeting
Next Meeting: Thursday, March 26, 2026
Location - In Person: Nelson’s Market—514 Potter Street
Agenda
Questions? Contact: Colin Beazley.
* Meetings will be shifting to fourth Thursdays this year, starting with March.
Date/Time: Thursday, March 19, 2026, 5:30pm
Location: Plantas Nativa—315 East Champion Street
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 6:00pm—7:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
Location - In Person: Dome Room of the Bellingham Cruise Terminal—355 Harris Street
Want to learn about City priorities or have questions about our work? Join Mayor Kim Lund and her leadership team at their first “Ask Us Anything” event for 2026! Come early to mingle and enjoy refreshments from 5:30–6 p.m.
This event kicks off a new series intended to give community members a chance to learn what’s happening in the City. Additional sessions are planned for May 20 and Aug 19, with more details to be posted on cob.org. At these events, you’ll hear updates from City leaders and have an opportunity to have your questions answered in real time.
Date/Time: Thursday, February 26, 2026, 6:30pm—8:00pm
Location - In Person: Christ the King Church (the former Norway Hall)—1419 North Forest Street
Parking is available, but the meeting will be held downstairs; it’s ADA-accessible, but assistance will be required so please notify us in advance if possible.
You are invited to hear from the YNA and our City Streets team. This is one of 3 York General Meetings and 1 City of Bellingham sponsored meetings that the YNA will hold in 2026, so hope to see you there! Light snacks and beverages provided!
Questions? Contact: Colin Beazley.
Date/Time: Fourth Wednesday Each Month (except August & December), 6:30pm meeting
Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Location - In Person: Aslan Brewing Company—1330 North Forest Street
Agenda TBD
Questions? Contact: Colin Beazley.
Date/Time: Saturday, December 13th, 2025, 5pm to 8pm
Click here for details!
Benefiting Bellingham Food Bank. Sponsored by the York Neighborhood Association, Nelson’s Market, Flow Financial Planning LLC, Edward Jones, and a “Friend of York”.
Thanks to YNA Board member Élan Engel for the 2022 event photos!
Got more for us to post? Please
Date/Time: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:30pm—8:00pm
Location: Aslan Brewing Company—1330 North Forest Street
Agenda TBA, but come meet the YNA’s Board of Directors! We’ll be up on the mezzanine with appetizers, and you can purchase beers and additional food at the bar.
Questions? Contact: Colin Beazley.
Date/Time: Thursday, September 4, 2025, 6pm
Location: 1344 Grant Street (to see Dani’s garden)
Hosted by the . We are excited to meet and to foster dreams and ruminations of tentative gardeners.
Bring:
Please: no pets. Questions? Please contact us via or on Facebook.
Date/Time: Saturday, September 6, 2025, 4pm to 7pm, at Harriet Spanel Park (corner of Whatcom and Grant streets)
Jointly hosted this year by the Sehome Neighborhood Association! All York and Sehome neighbors are invited.
Local organizations and election candidates are welcome to have a presence at the picnic, whether in the form of a table or booth or just socializing.
Also, the York Neighborhood Association will have snazzy York bill caps available for sale at the event, for $25 apiece!
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Date/Time: Saturday, July 26, 2025, 4pm–8pm
Location: all around the neighborhood (and nearby!)
Printed maps of the nearly 50 event locations will be available at Nelson’s Market (514 Potter Street) Saturday morning; toilet and garbage facilities will also be there
Play music, show art, have a dance party or a yard sale—any activity* you’d like to share with the community! Learn more and sign up to host a Yard Thing at yorkyardcrawl.fun
*Just keep it safe and legal.
DETAILS HERE
Date/Time: Saturday, June 28, 2025, 8:30am until filled (and it fills quickly!)
Location: Parking Lot of Nelson’s Market, 514 Potter Street
Sponsored by: Sanitary Services Company, Inc. (SSC), Republic Services, Nelson’s Market, and York Neighborhood Association.
DETAILS HERE
2022 Yorker Volunteers Thanking Sponsors at Dumpster
Come join us Wednesday, May 28, for our General Membership Meeting. The agenda for the meeting will be posted once our speakers have been confirmed.
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 6:30pm meeting
Location - In Person: Nelson’s Market—514 Potter Street
Rock Hill Work Party volunteers of May 2022
Date/Time: Saturday, May 31, 2025, 9am to noon
Location: 1300 Iron Street
This hidden park in the York neighborhood needs some love! Join the City and your neighbors in in removing Himalayan Blackberry and sprucing up the Butterfly Garden. All ages and abilities welcome. Participants under age 16 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Tools, gloves, and instructions are provided. Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes.
Additional information will be emailed to registered participants. If you sign up, please show up!
Register with the Parks Department early. Space is limited! (Registration is optional, but all volunteers will be asked to sign in at the event.)
Questions? Contact pkvolunteers@cob.org or 360-778-7105
This event is Parkscriptions Certified!
Rock Hill Park Refresh
Did you know that Rock Hill Park is due for a refresh? It is! The City of Bellingham is partnering with the York Neighborhood Association to make sure everyone that wants to get involved has a voice.
Let us know what’s important to you when it comes to updating your neighborhood park!
Check out the 60% Stage designs presented by the City’s Planning Department at the YNA General Meeting in February 2025! (Illustrations by Great Western Recreation)
Student Tips
Welcome to incoming York student residents!
Nestled between Downtown Bellingham and the freeway, the York neighborhood is a friendly, green, fun, peaceful haven…an eclectic mix of families and students, homeowners and renters, parks and pets, and a variety of businesses ranging from grocery stores, restaurants, and breweries to healthcare practitioners, social services, and auto shops.
Every fall, a new group of students arrive who don’t really know where they have landed. Check out the flyer at right for some tips for how you can make your time among us a good one.
Trees of York
The City of Bellingham plants thousands of trees on public property each year and is a proud Tree City USA community. Why trees? They provide a wealth of benefits for our community, including shade, cleaner air, wildlife habitat, and more. In 2024, the City began investing in efforts to encourage more tree planting on private property to help grow Bellingham’s tree canopy cover citywide, especially in neighborhoods with fewer trees. While the average canopy cover in Bellingham is 40%, York Neighborhood is much lower than that at 17.7% (learn more about this in the State of the Urban Forest Report, available on the City’s website at cob.org/wp-content/uploads/220428_Bellingham-State-of-the-Urban-Forest-Report_v2.pdf).
To help increase this number, the York Neighborhood Association applied for and received a Small & Simple Grant from the City to fund a tree giveaway. York property owners can sign up to receive a tree, free, from our local native plant nursery, Plantas Nativa, by emailing . Trees will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. You will have a list of eligible species to choose from and can pick up your trees in March or April 2025.
Want a tree sooner? The City will be giving away free shore pine and paper birch trees at the Bellingham Farmers Market on Saturday, November 30. Look for their blue tent next to the goat statue. Once you receive a tree, visit the City’s website for planting tips!
Don’t have your own property to plant a tree? No problem! Join a volunteer work party to plant trees in local trails and parks, including Rock Hill Park in January.
To protect Bellingham’s largest and most significant trees, the City also recently passed an emergency Landmark Tree Ordinance that prevents these trees from being removed or damaged without City approval. You can help grow the Landmark Tree Inventory by nominating a tree online at cob.org/landmark-tree-nomination, but first see if it’s already on the map at cob.org/services/environment/trees/tree-protection.
Big thanks from the YNA to Stefanie Cilinceon, Communications and Outreach Coordinator, City of Bellingham Public Works Department, for writing this for us!
Use these maps to explore the historic trees of the York neighborhood as well as the trees of Harriet Spanel Park.
Lights On, Please
Porch lights brighten up the neighborhood and deter unsavory behavior. An LED bulb will save tons of energy ($), alleviating the guilt of leaving outside lights on. And your mail carrier and delivery people will be grateful, too, for safer navigation to and from your door!
If you have a presentation you would like to give or a question to place before Yorkers and neighbors, we would love to hear from you. Please contact our or , and we will discuss opportunities. Please note meeting time can be limited, and contacting us well in advance really helps us allocate time for your topic.
Click here for the latest issue of The Yorker newsletter (March 2026)