Real Estate in Bellingham, WA: Peace Arch to Kick Out Residents
Real Estate in Bellingham, WA: Peace Arch to Kick Out Residents
Expansion of the hugely-congested Peace Arch border crossing facilities is creating some unhappy neighbors on the Blaine side. In order to double the number of lanes and generally increase the on-site facilities needed by the Homeland Security Department for properly administering inspections of incoming vehicles and persons, Uncle Sam is going to evict about a dozen homes from a neighborhood dating back to the early 20th century.
It's a very uncomfortable situation for the City of Blaine and for the affected residents, although the residents have been anxiously concerned about possible Port of Entry expansion plans for some time. Blaine's Northern Light article on the subject points out the anxiety of neighbors, who have been kept waiting since the project's announcement in 1999. The slow pace in submitting draft Environmental Impact Statements and other regulatory aspects have not helped matters.
One very serious concern facing displaced homeowners: GSA's budget assumed property acquisition costs from the year 2000, when Blaine's real estate market was in a serious deflation related to the very depressed Canadian dollar and a very weak Whatcom County economy. Blaine real estate prices have dramatically skyrocketed during the past three years as Whatcom County has been "discovered" by many Americans moving to the area from other regions of the country (i.e. retirees) and Canadian-related investing and transactions have sharply increased with the loonie's upswing from 62-65 cents US to 82-86 cents US.
Stay tuned!
Expansion of the hugely-congested Peace Arch border crossing facilities is creating some unhappy neighbors on the Blaine side. In order to double the number of lanes and generally increase the on-site facilities needed by the Homeland Security Department for properly administering inspections of incoming vehicles and persons, Uncle Sam is going to evict about a dozen homes from a neighborhood dating back to the early 20th century.
It's a very uncomfortable situation for the City of Blaine and for the affected residents, although the residents have been anxiously concerned about possible Port of Entry expansion plans for some time. Blaine's Northern Light article on the subject points out the anxiety of neighbors, who have been kept waiting since the project's announcement in 1999. The slow pace in submitting draft Environmental Impact Statements and other regulatory aspects have not helped matters.
One very serious concern facing displaced homeowners: GSA's budget assumed property acquisition costs from the year 2000, when Blaine's real estate market was in a serious deflation related to the very depressed Canadian dollar and a very weak Whatcom County economy. Blaine real estate prices have dramatically skyrocketed during the past three years as Whatcom County has been "discovered" by many Americans moving to the area from other regions of the country (i.e. retirees) and Canadian-related investing and transactions have sharply increased with the loonie's upswing from 62-65 cents US to 82-86 cents US.
Stay tuned!
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